The digital age: an exploration of the influence of media on children’s lives

Abstract

This research looks at how technology, and in particular visual media (television, Internet and video games), has influenced the lives of young children. In the last two decades the amount of children’s media usage time has increased significantly, which affects their play, learning, interactions and development, particularly as consumers. To date there has been no in depth analysis of the nature of children’s interactions with media and, this has led to the development of the following research questions: Children for the purposes of this article will be defined as between 0-10 years of age, due to the fact that research has shown that children do not fully understand the meaning of adverts; that they can coerce and persuade the viewer to buy something, until around nine years of age. Contemporary childhood is characterised by early and frequent media use, preparing children for lifelong relationships with communication technologies. The home environment ...