Is the internet really transforming children and youngpeople's lives? Is the so-called 'digitalgeneration' genuinely benefiting from exciting newopportunities? And, worryingly, facing new risks?This major new book by a leading researcher addresses thesepressing questions. It deliberately avoids a techno-celebratoryapproach and, instead, interprets children's everydaypractices of internet use in relation to the complex and changinghistorical and cultural conditions of childhood in late modernity.Uniquely, Children and the Internet reveals the complexdynamic between online opportunities and online risks, exploringthis in relation to much debated issues such as:* Digital in/exclusion* Learning and literacy* Peer networking and privacy* Civic participation* Risk and harmDrawing on current theories of identity, development, educationand participation, this book includes a refreshingly criticalaccount of the challenging realities undermining the greatexpectations held out for the internet - from governments,teachers, parents and children themselves. It concludes with aforward-looking framework for policy and regulation designed toadvance children's rights to expression, connection and playonline as well as offline.