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The Technologisation of Childhood? Young Children and Technology in the Home
Author(s) -
Plowman Lydia,
McPake Joanna,
Stephen Christine
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00180.x
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , psychology , early childhood , sociology , history , archaeology
We describe an 18‐month empirical investigation of three‐ and four‐year‐old children’s uses of technology at home, based on a survey of 346 families and 24 case studies. The findings are reported in the context of social commentators’ anxieties about the ways in which childhood is being transformed by technology. Although we report evidence of some parental disquiet about the role of technology in children’s lives, we illustrate some of the complexities in families’ attitudes to, and uses of, technology and conclude that it is not perceived by parents to be the threat to modern childhood that is claimed.