Children as Media Consumers

Catalog description

This course aims to provide a forum for advanced Communication students to explore the patterns of children's media consumption, focusing primarily on children's use of the so-called "screen media" (television, video games, and the internet), and to investigate the multi-faceted consequences (both positive and negative, social and individual) of children's media consumption. Students will draw upon contemporary theories of communication to assess the content of children's media and its effects on children as a particular segment of the audience. Students will develop an informed understanding of children as media consumers, advocating for the production of "quality" content in children's media.