Media and the American Child summarizes the research on all forms of media on children, looking at how much time they spend with media everyday, television programming and its impact on children, how advertising has changed to appeal directly to children and the effects on children and the consumer behavior of parents, the relationship between media use and scholastic achievement, the influence of violence in media on anti-social behavior, and the role of media in influencing attitudes on body image, sex and work roles, fashion, & lifestyle. The average American child, aged 2-17, watches 25 hours of TV per week, plays 1 hr per day of video or computer games, and spends an additional 36 min per day on the internet. 19% of children watch more than 35 hrs per week of TV. This in the face of research that shows TV watching beyond 10 hours per week decreases scholastic performance. In 1991, George Comstock published Television and the American Child, which immediately became THE standard reference for the research community of the effects of television on children. Since then, interest in the topic has mushroomed, as the availability and access of media to children has become more widespread and occurs earlier in their lifetimes. No longer restricted to television, media impacts children through the internet, computer and video games, as well as television and the movies. There are videos designed for infants, claiming to improve cognitive development, television programs aimed for younger and younger children-even pre-literates, computer programs aimed for toddlers, and increasingly graphic, interactive violent computer games. - Presents the most recent research on the media use of young people - Investigates the content of children's media and addresses areas of great concern including violence, sexual behavior, and commercialization - Discusses policy making in the area of children and the media - Focuses on experiences unique to children and adolescents

Praise for the First Edition: "This book argues convincingly that children's cultural differences need to be recognized for any accurate understanding of their development. Pointing out the need for additional and more effectively designed research, Harris and Graham provide a valuable foundation for further investigations. This nonpolemic book should be in all libraries, filling an unfortunate gap. Highly recommended." --Choice This is an evenhanded examination of the challenges affecting the lives of African American children that emphasizes their strengths and resiliency rather than deficits. It is the only text to comprehensively consider the biological, emotional, social, and cultural domains of development in this population. The second edition reflects an acceleration of research on the development of racial identity in African American children, a shift from the dictates of "No Child Left Behind" to a more flexible approach to student academic evaluation, and changes in the economic conditions of African American children and their families. The book also reflects the increase in the number of African American children in foster care and those with incarcerated parents. New coverage also includes new information about the mental health of African Americans, and a new chapter on adolescent development. This new edition features updated statistical information on health problems, healthcare access, new diagnostic techniques, new treatment approaches, and the number of children of African origin. It provides an expanded discussion of the value of qualitative methodology, ethical issues in research, and a discussion of the characteristics of middle and upper class African American families. End-of-chapter discussion questions, an "Insiderís Voice" in each chapter that highlights important elements, and an "Issues Box" that highlights historic and legal issues also enhance the second edition. New to the Second Edition: New inclusion of information on African American adolescents A discussion of the impact of parental incarceration on the long- and short-term outcomes of African American children Updated statistical information on health, academic performance, language and literacy, and other issues Information about children of African origin and their families Information about middle and upper class African American families Expanded discussion of the value of qualitative methodology and ethical issues in research on African American children New diagnostic techniques and treatment approaches for sickle cell anemia Update on work with AA families and children in therapy and the role of community focused therapy A discussion of the role of self-efficacy on academic competence, the influence of NCLB on academic performance, and current initiatives to improve academic outcomes for African American children The current status of Oakland School Boardís Ebonics Resolution New information on Prosocial Behavior and Empathy and Aggressive/Antisocial behavior among African American children Expanded section on how communities affect the lives of African American children including research on African American children and the media End-of-chapter discussion questions "Insiderís Voice" and "Issues Box" features in each chapter

Cyber-bullying, sexting, and the effects that violent video games have on children are widely discussed and debated. With a renowned international group of researchers and scholars, the Second Edition of the Handbook of Children and the Media covers these topics, is updated with cutting-edge research, and includes comprehensive analysis of the field for students and scholars. This revision examines the social and cognitive effects of new media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, iPads, and cell phones, and how children are using this new technology. This book summarizes the latest research on children and the media and suggests directions for future research. This book also attempts to provide students with a deliberate examination of how children use, enjoy, learn from, and are advantaged or disadvantaged by regular exposure to television, new technologies, and other electronic media.

Today, we have occurrences that are unprecedented in the history of America: a vast divide between the rich and poor, irreversible environmental damage, over half of African American children living in single-parent households, and high incarceration rates among African American young people. When oppressed folk are driven into desperate channels, criminal activity is likely to follow. Thus it is imperative to take a good look at what black people are doing and not doing as parents or immediate caregivers, which ultimately will determine the future of the black race. It is equally imperative to study the past. Indeed, when a people don't know who they are---their history---they perish. This fact should motivate us to move in unparalleled directions toward survival. (Back cover).

"The forcible separation of Black children from their parents was first used as a means of controlling Black families in the United States over 400 years ago as a practice of human chattel slavery. This practice of forcibly and involuntary separating Black children from their families was used by the state as a means of maintaining power and control by a system of White supremacy that is foundational to this country's origins. This foundation was firmly established hundreds of years earlier through the philosophy of settler colonialism upon which the United States began. This philosophy required both the removal and dispossession of the Indigenous population from their land, which included the separation of children from their families, and the importation of forced labor to work in and profit from the land. The philosophy of settler colonialism also firmly established the White settler, and thus Whiteness, as the normalized identity of those who would become citizens of the United States-with all others established as the "Other," disposable and exploitable, whether indigenous or enslaved. This legacy of violence and exploitation that began through settler colonialism and continued through human chattel slavery laid the foundation for the violence and exploitation that occurs today through the modern child welfare system"--

Scholars analyze the emergence of youth culture in music and powerful trends in gender and ethnic-racial representation, sexuality, substance use, and violence in the media in this text. It shows the evolution of teen portrayal, the potential consequences, and the ways policy-makers and parents can respond.

Most in the United States likely associate the concept of the child bride with the mores and practices of the distant past. But Nicholas L. Syrett challenges this assumption in his sweeping and sometimes shocking history of youthful marriage in America. Focusing on young women and girls--the most common underage spouses--Syrett tracks the marital history of American minors from the colonial period to the present, chronicling the debates and moral panics related to these unions. Although the frequency of child marriages has declined since the early twentieth century, Syrett reveals that the practice was historically far more widespread in the United States than is commonly thought. It also continues to this day: current estimates indicate that 9 percent of living American women were married before turning eighteen. By examining the legal and social forces that have worked to curtail early marriage in America--including the efforts of women's rights activists, advocates for children's rights, and social workers--Syrett sheds new light on the American public's perceptions of young people marrying and the ways that individuals and communities challenged the complex legalities and cultural norms brought to the fore when underage citizens, by choice or coercion, became husband and wife.

New technologies are dramatically changing the face of education and the nature of childhood itself. In Shift to the Future, Nicola Yelland examines the ways in which these technologies are reshaping the social, personal, and educational experiences of childhood, and explores the curricular revisions such changes demand. With a focus on the various information and communications technologies (ICTs) available to young students and the possibilities these ICTs offer for teaching and learning, Shift to the Future provides inspiring examples of teachers who have innovatively incorporated new technologies into their classrooms to engage their students in contemporary times.

From the time that the infant colonies broke away from the parent country to the present day, narratives of U.S. national identity are persistently configured in the language of childhood and family. In The American Child: A Cultural Studies Reader, contributors address matters of race, gender, and family to chart the ways that representations of the child typify historical periods and conflicting ideas. They build on the recent critical renaissance in childhood studies by bringing to their essays a wide range of critical practices and methodologies. Although the volume is grounded heavily in the literary, it draws on other disciplines, revealing that representations of children and childhood are not isolated artifacts but cultural productions that in turn affect the social climates around them. Essayists look at games, pets, adolescent sexuality, death, family relations, and key texts such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the movie Pocahontas; they reveal the ways in which the figure of the child operates as a rich vehicle for writers to consider evolving ideas of nation and the diverse role of citizens within it.