children, media, and pandemic parenting: family life in uncertain times

This book examines changes in families’ rules and routines connected with media during the pandemic and shifts in parents’ understanding of children’s media use.

Drawing on interviews with 130 parents at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the book explores specific cultural contexts across seven countries: Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, South Korea, United Kingdom, and United States. Readers will gain an understanding of family media practices during the pandemic and how they were influenced by contextual factors such as the pandemic restrictions, family relationships and situations, socioeconomic statuses, cultural norms and values, and sociotechnical visions, among others. Further, encounter with theoretical framings will provide innovative ways to understand what it means for children, parents and families to live in the digital age.

This timely volume will offer key insights to researchers and graduate students studying in a variety of disciplines including media and cultural studies, communication arts, education, childhood studies and family studies.

Rebekah Willett is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the Information School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. She conducts research on children’s media cultures, focusing on issues of play, literacy, identity, and learning. Her publications include work on makerspaces, playground games, amateur camcorder cultures, online gaming, and family media practices.

Xinyu Zhao is a Research Fellow (Digital Childhoods) at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, Deakin University, Australia. As a sociologist, he is interested in researching the political economy of digital childhoods and cultural diversity in contemporary digital parenting.