Author: Mariya Stoilova – CO:RE WP5 – Theories

A truly multidisciplinary scholar, Prof Ellen Wartella captures my attention early on in our conversation by arguing that grand theorising is beyond its “prime time” and we should not try to shoehorn our understanding of children’s internet use into a single disciplinary approach. Grand theorising has been replaced, in her view, by a new rubric which focuses on understanding children and how their experiences might differ – across age, social background, or digital contexts. For this, a developmental perspective can offer interesting insights into the interaction of social emotional and cognitive development and how this affects children’s wellbeing. It can also help refute the popular myth that technologies harm children’s development:

We talk about the imbalance between paying too much attention to the negative experiences of children and technologies and the insufficient acknowledgement of the positive aspects when we theorise children’s engagement with the digital environment. Ellen recalls an insightful contribution by a shy girl she interviewed who explained that the internet has helped her make more friends in “real life” because she can find their common interests and later summon the courage to talk to them when they meet in person. But such stories are not voiced often enough, she argued.

As we sum up the takeaways from our conversation, Ellen talks about the importance of paying attention to marginalised children’s experiences, the outliers that challenge dominant understandings and enrich our conceptualisation of children’s media use.

Watch the full vlog with Ellen Wartella

About Ellen Wartella

Ellen Wartella is Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Communication, Professor of Psychology, Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, and Professor of Medical Social Sciences. She is the Director of the Center on Media and Human Development at the Northwestern University. Prof Wartella is a leading scholar of the role of media in children’s development studying social policy, media studies, psychology and child development at the University.

Further reading

Grossberg, L. Wartella, E. and Whitney, D. C and Wise, J. M. (2006). Mediamaking : mass media in a popular culture. (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Wartella, E. and Pila, S. (2020). Piagetian Accounts of Child Development in Media Research. In The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology, J. Bulck (Ed.). https://doi-org.gate3.library.lse.ac.uk/10.1002/9781119011071.iemp0162

Wartella, E., Lovato, S. Pila, S. Lauricella, A., Echevarria, R., Evans, J. and Hightower, B. (2019) Digital Media Use by Young Children: Learning, Effects, and Health Outcomes. In Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Media, Beresin, E. and Olson, C (eds). St Louis: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-54854-0.00016-3.

Further resources from work package 5 Theories

Theories and concepts: vlog series

Children with disabilities in the digital environment: turning disadvantage into opportunity (blog)

Empowering young people in the digital world: digital skills, literacies and citizenship (blog)

Understanding children online: Theories, concepts, debates (blog)

Chasing rainbows: children’s well-being in a digital world (blog)

Digital technologies in the lives of children and young people (webinar)

Other vlog episodes in this series:

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