ABSTRACT
The dizzying pace of change in the televisual media landscape provides stark realities, significant challenges, and notable opportunities for children’s growth, education, and socialization. How those realities, challenges, and opportunities will translate into the lives, bedrooms, and futures of young children will depend largely on how revolutionary new technologies are implemented, funded, distributed, and consumed. Tarpley (chap. 2) sketched the daily lives and experiences of two hypothetical families-the Smiths and the Joneses. Although both had the latest televisual technologies at their fingertips, their daily family experiences differed dramatically. The heart of the difference lay in the parental tone, guidelines, and values expressed within the family setting, and this difference-like an intricately woven quilt-permeated their respective households. Carefully monitored, informative use at the Smiths paralleled laissez-faire, unlimited use and access at the Joneses: one set of technologies, two families, and a world of difference in the lives and development of consuming children.
