What will be the fate of childhood in the twenty-first century?Will children increasingly be living 'media childhoods', dominatedby the electronic screen? Will their growing access to adult mediahelp to abolish the distinctions between childhood and adulthood?Or will the advent of new media technologies widen the gaps betweenthe generations still further?In this book, David Buckingham provides a lucid and accessibleoverview of recent changes both in childhood and in the mediaenvironment. He refutes simplistic moral panics about the negativeinfluence of the media, and the exaggerated optimism about the'electronic generation'. In the process, he points to thechallenges that are posed by the proliferation of new technologies,the privatization of the media and of public space, and thepolarization between media-rich and media-poor. He argues thatchildren can no longer be excluded or protected from the adultworld of violence, commercialism and politics; and that newstrategies and policies are needed in order to protect their rightsas citizens and as consumers.Based on extensive research, After the Death of Childhoodtakes a fresh look at well-established concerns about the effectsof the media on children. It offers a challenging and refreshingapproach to the perennial concerns of researchers, parents,educators, media producers and policy-makers.

Acknowledgements viIntroduction1 In Search of the Child 3Part I2 The Death of Childhood 213 The Electronic Generation 41Part II4 Changing Childhoods 615 Changing Media 806 Changing Paradigms 103Part III7 Children Viewing Violence 1238 Children as Consumers 1459 Children as Citizens 168Conclusion10 Children's Media Rights 191Notes 208References 223Index 241