David Buckingham

What will be the fate of childhood in the 21st century? Will children increasingly be living "media childhoods", dominated by the electronic screen? Based on extensive research, this book looks at established concerns about the effects of the media on children.

Based on research conducted in Britain and the US, The Making of Citizens traces the dynamic complexities of young people's interpretations of news, and their judgements about the ways in which key social and political issues are represented. Rather than bemoaning young people's ignorance, he argues that we need to rethink what counts as political understanding in contemporary societies, suggesting that we need forms of factual reporting that will engage more effectively with young people's changing perceptions of themselves as citizens. The Making of Citizens provides a significant contribution to the study of media audiences and a timely intervention in contemporary debates about citizenship and political education.

Based on research conducted in Britain and the US, The Making of Citizens traces the dynamic complexities of young people's interpretations of news, and their judgements about the ways in which key social and political issues are represented. Rather than bemoaning young people's ignorance, he argues that we need to rethink what counts as political understanding in contemporary societies, suggesting that we need forms of factual reporting that will engage more effectively with young people's changing perceptions of themselves as citizens. The Making of Citizens provides a significant contribution to the study of media audiences and a timely intervention in contemporary debates about citizenship and political education.

Concerns about the effects of television on young children are a recurrent focus of public controversy. Yet amid all the anxiety, children's voices are rarely heard. In this book, one of Britain's leading television researchers investigates children's own perspectives on what they find frightening, moving and upsetting. From "Nightmare on Elm Street" to "My Girl", from "The Colour Purple" to "The News at Ten", what children find upsetting is often difficult to predict. David Blackburn gives a detailed insight into children's responses to horror films, to "weepies" and soap operas, to news and to "reality programmes". He looks at how they learn to cope with their feelings about such material, and how their parents help or hinder them in doing so. This study offers a new approach to studying the role of television in children's lives, and should be of interest to parents and teachers, as well as policy makers and educationalists.

In the context of the growing diversity of contemporary societies and the central importance of the electronic media, the place of popular culture in the school curriculum has become an increasingly controversial political issue. Based on in-depth research in an ethnically mixed, working-class secondary school, Cultural Studies Goes to School is concerned with the relationships between young people's involvement in popular culture outside school and their experiences of media education within the formal school curriculum. The first part of the book provides a detailed analysis of students' readings and uses of popular media, ranging from computer games and soap operas to comics and rap music. It offers a further challenge to received notions of young people as passive victims of ideological manipulation by the media and develops a social theory of reading that acknowledges the complex roles of gender, race and social class. The second part describes a number of classroom projects involving both critical and practical aspects of media education. Through analysis of students' work in a range of media, including photography, video and print, the authors develop a challenging theory of learning about popular culture and its place in the school curriculum. This book offers an exciting and accessible account of young people reading and making popular culture, which challenges many of the political claims and received wisdoms of academic Cultural Studies.

In the context of the growing diversity of contemporary societies and the central importance of the electronic media, the place of popular culture in the school curriculum has become an increasingly controversial political issue. Based on in-depth research in an ethnically mixed, working-class secondary school, Cultural Studies Goes to School is concerned with the relationships between young people's involvement in popular culture outside school and their experiences of media education within the formal school curriculum. The first part of the book provides a detailed analysis of students' readings and uses of popular media, ranging from computer games and soap operas to comics and rap music. It offers a further challenge to received notions of young people as passive victims of ideological manipulation by the media and develops a social theory of reading that acknowledges the complex roles of gender, race and social class. The second part describes a number of classroom projects involving both critical and practical aspects of media education. Through analysis of students' work in a range of media, including photography, video and print, the authors develop a challenging theory of learning about popular culture and its place in the school curriculum. This book offers an exciting and accessible account of young people reading and making popular culture, which challenges many of the political claims and received wisdoms of academic Cultural Studies.