1. 1 Ch 2: The Death of Childhood Children deprived of childhood Growing violent crime Early sexual activity Disintegration of family life Safety & innocence lost The Hurried Child by Elkind (1981) Growing up too fast too soon Children without Childhood by Winn (1984) Growing too fast in the world of sex and drugs

2. 2 Elkind’s Argument “Stress” in Children’s Lives Psychological disturbance caused by divorce Rise in pregnancy and venereal disease Escape thru drug-taking, crime, suicide, religious cults Children being Hurried by parents, schools and media

3. 3 Elkind’s Argument (p.22) The media both reflect and produce this ‘hurrying’… By simplifying their access to information, it opens them to experiences that were once reserved for adults: ‘scenes of violence or of sexual intimacy that a young child could not conjure up from verbal description are presented directly and graphically upon television screen.’

4. 4 Elkind’s Argument (p.22) Following Piaget’s model of child development… children will only truly learn when they are ready to do so. Forcing them to skip developmental stages will make it much harder for them to establish a secure sense of of their personal identity, and hence leave them unprepared for the difficulties of adolescence.

5. 5 Winn’s Argument Echoes many Elkind’s concerns “Loss of control” on the part parents, a “decline in child supervision” Previously in lower classes, now widespread in middle-class children Media indoctrinating into the “secrets of adult life” – primarily sex & violence

6. 6 Winn’s Argument (p.23-25) Regardless of what they watch… television deprives children of play, and of other forms of healthy interaction. It is used by too many parents simply as a ‘babysitter’. * These two authors’ diagnoses and prescriptions for change are rather different.

7. 7 Winn’s View (Position of Moral Conservative) Diagnoses: Decline in nuclear family Growing financial independence of woman Loosening of sexual standards Diminished role of organized religion Moral backlash … parents should be actively reinforcing these boundaries between adults and children. They should be doing less preparing and more protecting… reassert their authority, and thereby restore to children the right ‘to be a child’.

8. 8 Winn vs. Elkind Moral backlash against ‘permissiveness’ Aware of ‘Golden Age’: Children to be prepared for future ‘slowly and painfully’ Need to reinforce boundaries between adult and children Concerned about ‘Self-expression’ in child-rearing Aware of ‘Golden Age’: Children relatively docile as dependent being Need to give children time to learn and grow

9. 9 Literacy Myths The Disappearance of Childhood by Postman No Sense of Place by Meyrowitz A is for Ox by Sanders Kinderculture by Steinberg & Kincheloe All four books: Villain of the piece - the electronic media (one-dimensional analysis)

10. 10 Literacy Myths: TV vs. Print Electronic Media (TV) ‘Total disclosure’ Visual Irrational Makes ‘backstage’ behavior visible Reintegrates children and adults Print Requires literacy Symbolic & Linear Cultivates abstraction Logic thinking Segregates children and adults

11. 11 Author’s and Others’ Argument (pp. 33-40) Childhood -- Ultimately representations Technological determinism -- Oversimplification TV supplanted reading? Or equivalent activities Audience passive & defenseless? No intellectual? Electronics requires particular ‘literacy’ Protection with resistance to media (turning off TV)?

12. 12 Ch 3: Children & Electronic Media  Negative Relation (mostly defined & perceived) Children ’ s vulnerability exploited Individuality undermined Innocence destroyed Parents ’ fear? Nostalgia? Scholars ’ pessimism?  Emerging positive view (about technology … ) Powerful media literacy possessed by children New opportunities to learn; empowerment, liberation For creativity, community, self-fulfillment

13. 13 Nightmares & Utopia  Digital and Interactive Computer good? Television bad? Prev. AKA “ teaching machine ”  Educational Potentials  Imitative Violence (with realistic graphics)  Effects on Imagination and Academic Achievement  Addition, Anti-Social, Less Human Interaction  New Form of Learning, Literacy, Democracy  Mythology about Children? About Technology?

14. 14 Technological Determinism  Technology is seen to emerge from a neutral process of scientific research and development, rather than from the interplay of complex social, economic and political forces  Hard sphere transferred to Soft sphere

15. 15 Four Key Books (Utopian View) 1. Growing Up Digital by Tapscott 2. The Connected Family by Papert 3. Virtuous Reality by Katz 4. Playing the Future by Rushkoff  Postman: Death of childhood Powerful media influence children  Authors above (Social decline vs. Social progress) Mirroring ‘ death of childhood ’ Powerful children empowered by new media technology

16. 16 Binary Opposition  TV as passive  Singular view of the world  Isolation  Conservative, hierarchical, inflexible  The Net as active  Democratic & interactive  Community  Hungry for expression, discovery, development

17. 17 Optimism about Digital  Democratization  Freedom of choice & expression  Openness  Innovation  Collaboration

18. 18 Things to Consider (1)  Technology-Rich vs. Technology Poor Equipment? Social Structure? Technical Expertise? Pedagogical Perspectives?  Democracy or More Surveillance?  New Technology = New Learning?

19. 19 Things to Consider (2)  Sexual content harmful? Centralized control undermined by technology Subversive nature of children culture Not to prevent access but to enable them to cope with  New, old media vs. New, old cultural forms  Natural Wisdom of Youth?  Evolution of the Species?

20. 20 Limits of Optimism  Children as active agents dealing with media? What is omitted?  How technologies are designed, marketed, and actually used by real children?  “ Diversity ”, “ freedom of choice ”, …..proven? Or increase in quantity (hence in profitability)  Educational benefits realized? By who?  Issues about cultural and technological “ capital ” ; Social context.

21. 21 怪異現象 : 電腦展 & 書展辣妹 AV 女星到處 秀 書展也不例外 引發家長憂心