Children and the Internet: Great Expectations, Challenging Realities - Softcover

"[Livingstone's] unashamedly sociological approach brings out the fine detail and subtle nuances of everyday life in the digital age." British Journal of Educational Technology "Looking beyond exaggerated hype and panic, Sonia Livingstone offers a balanced and comprehensive assessment of the role of the internet in children's lives. Combining rigorous quantitative and qualitative research with a critical awareness of broader theoretical questions, this is a definitive work that takes the debate to a new level." David Buckingham, Institute of Education, University of London "Sonia Livingstone is equally at home with statistical and ethnographic insights as she digs deep into the paradoxes and contradictions surrounding young people's online lives. She punctures myths and tips over sacred cows here, but in the process, she's modeling a process of healthy skepticism about the claims being made on all sides about what it means to grow up digital. Throughout, Children and the Internet offers us a guide to how we might seize the potentials and avoid the risks of this new and uncharted cultural terrain." Henry Jenkins, Massachussetts Institute of Technology "Rich and up-to-date information. An excellent assessment of the various risks and opportunities of children's internet use in the home and at school. Sonia Livingstone thoughtfully integrates insights from published work with lucid descriptions of her own research. An invaluable contribution to the field of children and the media." Patti Valkenburg, University of Amsterdam

This is a major new study of the role the internet is playing in the lives of children. Written by a leading researcher in the field, it interprets children's everyday practices of internet use in relation to the complex and changing historical and cultural conditions of childhood in late modernity.