#OutNow
Using nationally representative Pew American Trends Panel data, @walkerwestbrewer.bsky.social and colleagues examine how parental identity, alternative media use, and broader uncertainty around gender norms relate to public opinion on transgender rights in the 🇺🇸.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1748...
🔗 Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1080/1748...
At the same time, some programs challenge these stereotypes by portraying older characters as wise, capable, humorous, self-aware, and active in intergenerational relationships.
The study reveals a tension between ageist shortcuts and more nuanced portrayals of later life in children’s media.
Based on a qualitative content analysis of 653 TV episodes, the study shows that older characters are often marginal to the narrative, yet their age is strongly emphasized.
Ageing is frequently framed as decline: frailty, unattractive appearance, forgetfulness, loneliness, and proximity to death.
#OutNow
How is ageing represented in children’s television available in Flanders 🇧🇪?
A new study by Linde Bossuyt examines how older adults and ageing are portrayed in children’s TV, a key issue given that these representations can shape views on age and ageing from an early age. 📺👩🦳
At the same time, some programs challenge these stereotypes by portraying older characters as wise, capable, humorous, self-aware, and active in intergenerational relationships. The study reveals a tension between ageist shortcuts and more nuanced portrayals of later life in children’s media.
Based on a qualitative content analysis of 653 TV episodes, the study shows that older characters are often marginal to the narrative, yet their age is strongly emphasized.
Ageing is frequently framed as decline: frailty, unattractive appearance, forgetfulness, loneliness, and proximity to death.
Key findings:
▶️Voice assistants are already widely used (84%), while generative AI use remains rare (5%).
▶️Both forms of AI use are linked to higher problematic media use.
▶️Voice assistants relate to higher internalizing problems, while generative AI relates to higher externalizing behaviors.
Empirical research on how children use AI and what this means for their development remains limited. The authors examined how using AI voice assistants and generative AI relates to problematic media use and internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
#OutNow
How does children’s use of #ArtificialIntelligence relate to problematic media use and socioemotional problems?
Sarah M. Coyne, J. Sheffield, T. Hirschi, S. Ashby & A. Rose used survey data to examine those relationships among 🇺🇸 children aged 6-8 and their parents.
doi.org/10.1080/1748...
Quantification becomes associated with responsible and “scientific” parenting but also brings pressure, comparison, and heightened anxiety.
The article introduces the concept of “quantifying intimacy”, showing how care and affection are increasingly mediated through data.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1748...
More and more parents use apps to track and quantify their children’s development. These tools are becoming embedded in daily care routines and reshape how intimacy is practiced. Three processes emerge:
1️⃣ Quantified co-parenting
2️⃣ Visualized archived intimacy
3️⃣ A quantified caring culture
#OutNow
How do datafied parenting practices reshape intimacy-making in urban China? 📊
In this qualitative study, @hazelwy.bsky.social & Jin Qian interviewed 12 🇨🇳 parents about their use of parenting apps in everyday caregiving.
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
For instance, families describe relational and developmental benefits alongside trade-offs, and “readiness” is tied to responsibility and maturity, though parents and adolescents do not always agree.
Full article open access: doi.org/10.1080/1748...
Using a qualitative dyadic design with parents and teens aged 12-14, the study finds that smartphone delay is seen as a form of everyday media resistance within families. They identify perceived relational consequences, criteria families use to assess readiness, and phased introduction strategies.
#OutNow
How do parents and children experience and negotiate delaying smartphone access?
Vaterlaus, Carney & Kroemer-Spiess examine 🇺🇸 families who delay smartphone ownership in adolescence, at a time when access is nearly universal and often a developmental milestone.
🔓 doi.org/10.1080/1748...
Volume 20, issue 1 (2026) is out! With theoretically and methodologically diverse studies from 🇮🇩 🇮🇳 🇳🇱 🇧🇪 🇸🇪 🇮🇱 🇳🇿 🇨🇦 and 🇺🇸, two commentaries from @desireeschmuck.bsky.social and Yağmur Gümüşboğa and two book reviews by Djoymi Baker and @devinasarwatay.bsky.social.
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/toc/rchm20/2...
With our wrap-up of last year’s JoCAM research now complete, here is a look at the 10 most-read articles of 2025. They reflect a diverse interest in children’s digital rights, expressive citizenship, well-being, self-presentation & emerging technologies.
www.tandfonline.com/action/showM...
A 🇨🇭 study from @leoroe.bsky.social using latent class analysis identified 4 ICT use types in 7–10-yo: heavy users, moderate entertainment users, educational explorers & non-users. Higher SES linked to limited or learning-oriented use; lower SES to entertainment-heavy use.
doi.org/10.1080/1748...
From Vol.19(4): A 3-wave study in 6 European countries by @cybermarie.bsky.social et al. shows that perceived discrimination predicts intentional & unintentional cyberhate exposure. Digital literacy dimensions play distinct roles in increasing or reducing exposure.
doi.org/10.1080/1748...
JoCAM Vol.19(4) brings work from the US, Europe, Asia & Africa, covering children’s TV, parental roles, problematic media use, data-generating tech at home, digital disparities, teens’ digital dating, caregiver–child interactions, war news mediation & cyberhate.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rchm20/1...
This article by K. Foulds et al evaluates Takalani Sesame in 🇿🇦 showing that play-based educational media can support children’s problem-solving like strategy use, monitoring progress & positive affect in a low & middle-income context where evidence is limited. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
In Vol19 n°3 Jian Xu & Xinyu Zhao look at a group of mothers in Beijing who monitor harmful online content and support initiatives against internet addiction. They compare this with Western NGOs and highlight digital parenting as micro-level internet governance.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Best wishes for 2026 from the Journal of Children and Media! Thank you for being part of our community. looking forward to another year of brilliant and insightful research.
Below is an overview of vol19 issue3 with great studies from the US, the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Austria & Belgium, a book review of Digital Girlhoods by Nancy Jennings & a commentary on digital parenting as internet governance by Jian Xu & Xinyu Zhao
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rchm20/1...
Reviewed Parents Talking Algorithms by @profranjanadas.bsky.social for @journalcam.bsky.social must-read for all interested in datafication of family life & digital sociology
I highlight the book’s methodological rigour conceptual innovations implications here: doi.org/10.1080/1748...
#CityStGSCC
We are also excited to welcome Alex Bonus as the new editor of @JOCAM_online, and we look forward to his contributions as he takes the journal into its next chapter.
We would like to warmly thank @vikkikatz.bsky.social as she concludes her time as editor of JOCAM. Thank you, Vikki, for your care and commitment to the journal; we are so grateful for your dedication to the community and efforts to make JOCAM more representative of the field's diverse scholarship.
Honored and stoked to be awarded the best dissertation award from the Children, Adolescents, and Media (CAM) division of @icahdq.bsky.social ! 🎉