Projects

UK children go online: Emerging opportunities and dangers

Aims

• To contribute to a theoretical understanding of the domestic diffusion, adoption and appropriation of new information and communication technology.
• To provide in-depth qualitative data to reveal the everyday understanding and practices which are emerging among children and young people in relation to the Internet.
• To provide detailed, rigorous and systematic data from a national survey sample of 9-19 year olds which charts the extent and nature of beliefs, behaviours and conditions of use relating to Internet use.
• To target original empirical research on four policy - relevant domains (inequalities, safety and exploitation, informal learning, communication and identity) in order to inform the evolving policy agenda in relation to children and the Internet.
• To ensure that children´s own voices are heard and understood in a fast-moving public and policy debate, both through qualitative work and by asking sensitive and contextualised questions using survey methods.

Methodology

The project will triangulate qualitative work with children in families with a substantial, national, survey of children (users and non-users) and their parents in order to map the emerging practices of Internet use among 9-19 year-olds.

Keywords

children, young people, Internet use, risk, digital divide, pornography, e-learning, online communication, participation, parental responsibility, Internet policy.

Publications

Livingstone, S. (2005) UK Children Go Online - Final report on key project findings. (pdf)

Livingstone, S. (2003) Children’s use of the internet: Reflections on the emerging research agenda. New Media and Society, 5(2), 147-166. Reproduced on website for McQuail’s Mass Communication, 5 th Ed., www.sagepub.co.uk.

Livingstone, S. (2003) Mediated childhoods: A comparative approach to the lifeworld of young people in a changing media environment. In The Wired Homestead: An MIT sourcebook on the internet and the family, J. Turow and A. L. Kavanaugh (Eds.), Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press (pp.207-226).

Livingstone, S. (2004) Media literacy and the challenge of new information and communication technologies. Communication Review, 7: 3-14.

Livingstone, S. (2004) The challenge of changing audiences: or, what is the audience researcher to do in the internet age? European Journal of Communication, 19(1), 75-86.

Livingstone, S. (2004) Internetkompetenz – Entwicklung und Grundzüge: Beobachtungen der internetnutzung bei Kindern. In J. Lauffer (Ed.), In 8 Sekunden um dei Welt: Kinger, Jugendliche, Damilien – Interntnutzung im europäischen und internationalen Kontext ((In 8 Seconds around the World: Children, Youngsters, Families - Internet use in European and International Context). Bielefeld: AJZ-Druck & Verlag (pp. 100-118).

Livingstone, S., and Bober, M. (2004) Taking up opportunities? Children’s uses of the internet for education, communication and participation. E-Learning, 1(3), 395-419. Available at http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ELEA/

Livingstone, (S). (2005) Mediating the public/private boundary at home: Children’s use of the internet for privacy and participation. Journal of Media Practice, 6(1), 41-51.

Livingstone, S. (2005) In defence of privacy: varieties of publicness in the individualised, privatised home. In S. Livingstone (Ed.), Audiences and Publics: When Cultural Engagement Matters for the Public Sphere. Bristol: Intellect Press (pp.163-185).

Livingstone, S. (2005) Critical debates in internet studies: Reflections on an emerging field. In Curran, J., and Gurevitch, M. (eds), Mass Media and Society, Fifth Edition. London: Sage, pp.9-28.

Livingstone, S., Bober, M., and Helsper, E. J. (2005) Active participation or just more information? Young people’s take up of opportunities to act and interact on the internet. Information, Communication and Society, 8(3), 287-314.

Lievrouw, L., and Livingstone, S. (2006) Introduction to the updated student edition. In Lievrouw, L., & Livingstone, S. (Eds), Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping and Social Consequences. Fully revised student edition. London: Sage. pp.1-14.

Press, A., and Livingstone, S. (2006) Taking audience research into the age of new media: Old problems and new challenges. In M. White and J. Schwoch (Eds.), The Question of Method in Cultural Studies. Oxford: Blackwell.

Livingstone, S. (2006) Children's privacy online. In R. Kraut, M. Brynin, and S. Kiesler (Eds.), Computers, Phones, and the Internet: Domesticating Information Technologies. New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 145-167.

Livingstone, S., and Bober, M. (2006) Regulating the internet at home: Contrasting the perspectives of children and parents. In D. Buckingham and R. Willett (Eds.), Digital Generations. Mahwah, NJ.: Erlbaum. Pp. 93-113.

Livingstone, S. (2006) Drawing conclusions from new media research: Reflections and puzzles regarding children's experience of the internet. The Information Society, 22(4), 219-230.

Livingstone, S. (2006) Opportunities and constraints framing children and young people's internet use. In M. Consalvo et al. (Ed.), Internet Research Annual, Volume 4 (pp. 59-75). New York: Peter Lang.

Livingstone, S. (2007) Strategies of parental regulation in the media-rich home. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(3), 920-941.

Livingstone, S., Couldry, N., and Markham, T. (in press) Youthful steps towards civic participation: Does the internet help? In B. Loader (Ed.). Young Citizens in the Digital Age: Political Engagement, Young People and New Media. London: Routledge. (new publication)

Livingstone, S. (in press) Do the media harm children? Reflections on new approaches to an old problem. Journal of Children and Media, 1(1).

Livingstone, S. (in press) Internet literacy: Young people's negotiation of new online opportunities. For The MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning, Volume on 'Unexpected outcomes and innovative uses of digital media by youth' (Ed. T McPherson).

Livingstone, S. (in press). Computers and the Internet. In The Chicago Companion to the Child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Livingstone, S., and Vandergraaf, S. (in press) Media Literacy. International Encyclopedia of Communication. Oxford: Blackwell.

Livingstone, S., and Van Couvering, E. (in press) Information Literacy. International Encyclopedia of Communication. Oxford: Blackwell.

Livingstone, S. (in press) Young people and the new media: Processes of diffusion, appropriation and use. To appear, translated into German, in Angela Schorr (Ed.), Grundlagen der Jugendmedienforschung – fünf Perspektiven. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.

Livingstone, S. (in press) Children’s privacy online. In R. Kraut, M. Brynin, and S. Kiesler (Eds.), Domesticating Information Technologies. New York: Oxford University Press

Livingstone, S., and Bober, M. (in press) UK children go online: A child-centred approach to the experience of using the internet. In B. Anderson, M. Brynin and Y. Raban (Eds.), e-Living: Life in a Digital Europe.

Livingstone, S. (in press) Interactivity and participation on the internet: A critical appraisal of the online invitation to young people. Chapter for P. Dahlgren (Ed.), Young Citizens and New Media: Strategies for learning democratic engagement. London: Routledge.

Livingstone, S. (in press) The challenge of changing audiences: or, what is the audience researcher to do in the internet age? In P. Cobley (Ed.), Communication Theories. London: Routledge.

Livingstone, S. (in press) Youthful experts? A critical appraisal of children’s emerging internet literacy. In C. Ciborra, R. Mansell, D. Quah and R. Silverstone (Eds). Oxford Handbook on ICTs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Livingstone, S. (in press). Media at home: From the street corner to bedroom culture. In E. Devereux (Ed.), Media Studies: Key issues and Debates. London: Sage.

Livingstone, S., van Couvering, E., and Thumim, N. (in press) Converging traditions of research on media and information literacies: Disciplinary, critical and methodological issues. In D.J. Leu, J. Coiro, M. Knobel and C. Lankshear (Eds.) Handbook of Research on New Literacies. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Livingstone, S., and Helsper, E. J. (in press) Gradations in digital inclusion: Children, young people and the digital divide. New Media and Society.

Livingstone, S. (in prep.). Contrasting producer and recipient views of youth participation websites. Manuscript to be submitted to European Journal of Communication.

Livingstone, S., and Helsper, E. J. (in press) Taking risks when communicating on the internet: The role of offline social-psychological factors in young people’s vulnerability to online risks. Information, Communication and Society.

Livingstone, S., and Bober, M. (2003) UK children go online: Listening to young people’s experiences. London: LSE Report, launched 16 October 2003. Available at www.children-go-online.net.

Livingstone, S. (2004) Children online – consumers or citizens? ESRC/AHRB Cultures of Consumption Working Paper Series. http://www.consume.bbk.ac.uk/publications.html

Livingstone, S. (2005). People living in the new media age: rethinking ‘audiences’ and ‘users’. Oxford Internet Institute/MIT Workshop: New Approaches to Research on the Social Implications of Emerging Technologies. http://www.oii.ac.uk

Livingstone, S., and Bober, M. (2004) UK children go online: Surveying the experiences of young people and their parents. London: LSE Report, launched 21 July 2004. www.children-go-online.net.

Livingstone, S., Bober, M., and Helsper, E. J. (2004) Active Participation or Just More Information? Young people's take up of opportunities to act and interact on the internet. London: LSE Report, 22 October 2004. www.children-go-online.net.

Livingstone, S., and Bober, M. (2005) Selected data tables from ‘UK Children Go Online’, in 2005 Social Trends. London: Office of National Statistics.

Livingstone, S., Bober, M., and Helsper, E. J. (2005) Internet literacy among children and young people. London: LSE Report, February 2005. www.children-go-online.net.

Livingstone, S., Bober, M., and Helsper, E. J. (2005) Inequalities and the digital divide in children and young people’s internet use. London: LSE Report, April 2005. www.children-go-online.net.

Livingstone, S. and Bober, M. (2005) UK children go online: Final report of key project findings. London: LSE Report, April 2005. www.children-go-online.net.

Livingstone, S. (2005). Media literacy – challenges ahead. In Implementing Media Literacy – Empowerment, participation and responsibility. London: Westminster Forum Seminar Series.

Livingstone, S. (in press). Consumption and the Internet. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Oxford: Blackwell.

Project Reports

Report of Findings, Activities and Outputs (pdf)

Final report 'UK Children Go Online: Final report of key project findings' (published 28 April 2005)

This report presents a summary of integrated project findings with main conclusions and policy recommendations.
Download report (pdf)
Press release (pdf)
To receive a free hard copy of the report, email e.j.helsper@lse.ac.uk

Fifth report 'Inequalities and the Digital Divide in Children and Young People's Internet Use: Findings from the UK Children Go Online project' (published 28 April 2005)

This report presents findings from the UK Children Go Online survey (UKCGO) in relation to internet access, low users and the digital divide.
Download report (pdf)

Fourth report 'Internet Literacy Among Children and Young People: Findings from the UK Children Go Online project' (published 9 February 2005)

This report presents findings from the UK Children Go Online survey (UKCGO) focusing on young people's internet literacy and its relation to the take up of online opportunities and risks.
Download report (pdf)
Press release (pdf)

Third project report 'Active Participation or Just More Information? Young people's take up of opportunities to act and interact on the internet' (published 22 October 2004)

This report presents findings from the UK Children Go Online survey (UKCGO) in relation to young people's participation on the internet.
Download report (pdf)
Press release (pdf)

Second project report 'UK Children Go Online: Surveying the experiences of young people and their parents' (launched 21 July 2004)

This report presents the findings of the UK Children Go Online survey (UKCGO), a UK-wide survey, mapping internet related attitudes and practices of 1,511 children aged 9-19 and 906 of their parents.
Executive summary (pdf)
Full report (pdf)
Press release (pdf)
The results have been persented at the Digital Generations conference and the AoIR conference.

First project report 'UK Children Go Online: Listening to young people's experiences' (launched 16 October 2003)

This report presents the findings of 14 focus groups with children, investigating their experiences with and attitudes towards the internet.
Executive summary (pdf)
Full report (pdf)
Press release (pdf)