London: Sage. Editors ’ introduction

Questioning childhood, media and culture In many parts of the world, and for many decades, children have been early and avid adopters of new media. Indeed, they often challenge normative socio-cultural practices through the ways in which they use media. Yet at the same time, many parents, educationalists and marketers consider that media permeate, even control, children’s lives to a degree that was unknown just a generation ago. Is it, then, the case that children’s media practices differ in both scale and scope from what today’s adults knew from their own childhoods? It seems undeniable that the global reach of many recent media technologies such as satellite television, the internet and mobile devices have been instrumental in recontextualising children’s media practices, not merely for the prolific young blogger or texting enthusiast, but equally for children for whom these activities are beyond practical reach – nearly all youngsters around the world know of transnational television series, of mobile conversations and internet chats, of the top music stars and, of course, the global brands of Nike, Coca Cola, McDonalds and many more. More profoundly, it als