Mobile media and minors: how can we manage them?

Dr. Anne-Linda Camerini

What does it mean for children and adolescents to grow up in a mobile media world? Which opportunities and risks do tablets, smartphones, and the Internet pose for their development? How do families and schools integrate and regulate the use of mobile media by youngsters? And what should policy makers do to assure the privacy and security of minors in times of social media and mobile tracking technology?  

These are only a few of many important questions currently discussed at the scientific and public level. Recent debates in France, Germany, and Switzerland about the permission to use smartphones at school as well as the introduction of the GDPR and its consequences for children’s online safety against their right to partake in the digital world are only two examples of the urge for action. However, there is still insufficient evidence on what is the best strategy to guarantee a beneficial cognitive, emotional, relational, and physical development of children and adolescents. 

In the context of ECREA 2018, the USI Institute of Communication and Health organizes the pre-conference “Children and Adolescents in a Mobile Media World”, researchers from all over Europe will convene in Lugano to share and discuss their findings and opinions related to the questions and beyond. The one-day event on October 31 at the Università della Svizzera italiana will feature 28 presentations in 6 sessions introduced by a keynote speech by Professor Patti Valkenburg from the University of Amsterdam, who is one of the top communication scholars worldwide and an expert in this field. Registration to the pre-conference is open until 28 October 2018, at: www.usi.ch/it/ecrea

ECREA 2018 is the international conference of the most important European association bringing together researchers active in the field of communication, and taking place in Lugano from October 31 to November 3 at the Palazzo dei Congressi. For details: www.ecrea2018lugano.eu

About the USI Institute of Communication and Health:
https://search.usi.ch/en/organizational-units/141/institute-of-communication-and-health