Cyberkids : Youth Identities and Communities in an On-line World

Draws together research in the sociology of childhood and social studies of technology to explore children's experiences in the information age. Addresses key policy debates about social exclusion, identity, friends and family.

As Tony Blair has said, "Technology has revolutionised the way we work and is now set to transform education. Children cannot be effective in tomorrow''s world if they are trained in yesterday''s skills."
Cyberkids draws together research in the sociology of childhood and social studies of technology to explore children''s experiences in the Information Age. The book addresses key policy debates about social inclusion and exclusion, children''s identities and friendships in on-line and off-line worlds and their relationships with families and teachers. It counters contemporary moral panics about children''s risk from dangerous strangers on-line, about corruption and lost innocence from adult-centred material on the web and about the addiction to life on the screen. Instead, by showing how children use ICT in balanced and sophisticated ways, the book draws out the importance of everyday uses of technology and the ways in which children''s local experiences are embedded within, and in part, constitute the global.