Young People and New Media: Childhood and the Changing Media Environment

Sonia Livingstone is a full professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has been visiting professor at the Universities of Bergen, Copenhagen, Harvard, Illinois, Milan, Oslo, Paris II, and Stockholm and is a fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Royal Society for the Arts and fellow and past president of the International Communication Association. She is author or editor of 20 books, including The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age (2016, NYU Press); Digital Technologies in the Lives of Young People (2014, Routledge); and Children, Risk and Safety Online: Research and Policy Challenges in Comparative Perspective (2012, Policy Press), along with many academic articles and chapters. She has received honorary doctorates from the University of Montreal, University of Panthéon Assas (Paris II) and the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. She serves on the Executive Board of the UK’s Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2014 for services to children and child Internet safety. Taking a comparative, critical and contextualized approach, her research asks why and how the changing conditions of mediation are reshaping everyday practices and possibilities for action, identity, and communication rights. Her empirical work examines the opportunities and risks afforded by digital and online technologies, including for children and young people at home and school, for developments in media and digital literacies, for media regulation and children’s rights, and for audiences, publics, and the public sphere. Her recent projects include Global Kids Online, Preparing for a Digital Future, and EU Kids Online. See her personal webpage, publications, blog posts on media policy and parenting for a digital future, and TEDX talk on How children engage with the Internet.