Poofy Dresses and Big Guns: A poststructuralist analysis of gendered positioning through talk amongst friends

This article uses data collected from a class of eight to nine year-olds to show the specific ways children are defining their gendered positions within the context of their same-sex friendship groups. Children‘s subjectivities are described as both actively formed but also positioned within the surrounding (gendered) discourses. This article will show specific ways that structure and agency is played out through talk amongst friends. Importantly, the analysis of the talk indicates that children are able to both align themselves as well as challenge dominant gendered discourses. The article argues that informal talk amongst friends is an important space for children to make sense of masculinities and femininities and to develop their identities, particularly in the context of schools

Technology, Pedagogy and Digital Production: A Case Study of Children Learning New Media Skills

This article presents an analysis of data from a project which investigated children and young people's learning of digital cultures in informal settings in Britain. The project aimed to build links between young peoples' leisure and learning experiences, by engaging with the content and styles of learning connected with digital cultures in homes and community centres. The focus of this article is on a computer games making course for young people age 9 – 13. The article looks specifically at issues around technology and pedagogy. Questions are raised about types of software used with this age range, and the article includes a discussion of the models of learning which describe young people?s interactions with digital cultures

New Models of Learning for New Media: Observations of Young People Learning Digital Design

There are numerous discourses that seek to define the relationships between young people and digital media. These discourses have different and sometimes contradictory ways of constructing learners and the learning environment (Facer et al. 2001). On the one hand there are panics around new media which position children and young people as being at risk from the dangers of digital technology. In this view children are in need of careful teaching and controlling, as they are unable to learn the correct and safe way to use digital technology on their own. In complete contrast, there are discourses around new technologies which position children as ready learners and technology as offering endless easy-to-use resources for worthwhile learning. This latter view of children as „natural cyberkids’ overlooks many aspects of learning and digital technology, not least the socio-cultural aspects of learning or the possibility that there might be a developmental progression of skills related to learning new technologies.There are numerous discourses that seek to define the relationships between young people and digital media. These discourses have different and sometimes contradictory ways of constructing learners and the learning environment (Facer et al. 2001). On the one hand there are panics around new media which position children and young people as being at risk from the dangers of digital technology. In this view children are in need of careful teaching and controlling, as they are unable to learn the correct and safe way to use digital technology on their own. In complete contrast, there are discourses around new technologies which position children as ready learners and technology as offering endless easy-to-use resources for worthwhile learning. This latter view of children as „natural cyberkids’ overlooks many aspects of learning and digital technology, not least the socio-cultural aspects of learning or the possibility that there might be a developmental progression of skills related to learning new technologies

"What exactly is a paedophile?" Children talking about Internet risk

Reports tell us that the internet is opening new dangers to children, including online grooming, exposure to pornography and financial scams (Carr 2004; Gardner 2003; UK Home Office 2001; O'Connell 2003). The result has been various initiatives which attempt to teach children safe surfing habits. The UK Home Office "ThinkUKnow" campaign featured advertisements on the radio, internet and cinemas, targeting teens and preteens with the message that the person they are chatting to "may not be who you think they are". There are indications that such campaigns have had an impact on children's awareness of "stranger danger" on the internet (Livingstone/Bober 2003). However, many organisations are still struggling with the question of how best to prevent internet-related harm to children. Children are exposed not only to advertising campaigns about stranger danger but also sensationalist stories about, for example, what happens to girls who enter chat rooms. When a teenage girl goes missing, police investigations routinely include looking at the girls' online activities, and tabloid media frequently make the connection between missing school girls and chat room activities. These connections are firmly embedded in the minds of the children we interviewed for the study we will be discussing. Alongside the very rational and prohibitive discourse coming from campaigns which warn children against any chat with strangers, sit the folkloric stories about girls meeting up and getting killed by paedophiles. The challenge to educators is to find an approach which will engage with both sets of discourses.Reports tell us that the internet is opening new dangers to children, including online grooming, exposure to pornography and financial scams (Carr 2004; Gardner 2003; UK Home Office 2001; O'Connell 2003). The result has been various initiatives which attempt to teach children safe surfing habits. The UK Home Office “ThinkUKnow” campaign featured advertisements on the radio, internet and cinemas, targeting teens and preteens with the message that the person they are chatting to “may not be who you think they are”. There are indications that such campaigns have had an impact on children's awareness of “stranger danger” on the internet (Livingstone/Bober 2003). However, many organisations are still struggling with the question of how best to prevent internet-related harm to children. Children are exposed not only to advertising campaigns about stranger danger but also sensationalist stories about, for example, what happens to girls who enter chat rooms. When a teenage girl goes missing, police investigations routinely include looking at the girls' online activities, and tabloid media frequently make the connection between missing school girls and chat room activities. These connections are firmly embedded in the minds of the children we interviewed for the study we will be discussing. Alongside the very rational and prohibitive discourse coming from campaigns which warn children against any chat with strangers, sit the folkloric stories about girls meeting up and getting killed by paedophiles. The challenge to educators is to find an approach which will engage with both sets of discourses

Home Truths?

An academic approach to the popular use of video production technolog

Home Truths?: Video Production and Domestic Life

Over the past decade, the video camera has become a commonplace household technology. With falling prices on compact and easy-to-use cameras, as well as mobile phones and digital still cameras with video recording capabilities, access to moving image production technology is becoming virtually universal. Home Truths? represents one of the few academic research studies exploring this everyday, popular use of video production technology, looking particularly at how families use and engage with the technology and how it fits into the routines of everyday life. The authors draw on interviews, observations, and the participants' videos themselves, seeking to paint a comprehensive picture of the role of video making in their everyday lives. While readers gain a sense of the individual characters involved in the project and the complexities and diversities of their lives, the analysis also raises a range of broader issues about the nature of learning and creativity, subjectivity and representation, and the ""domestication"" of technology—issues that are of interest to many in the fields of sociology and media/cultural studies