Aletha C. Huston - Böcker

During middle childhood, the period between ages 5 and 12, children gain the basic tools, skills and motivations to become productive members of their society. Failure to acquire these basic tools can lead to long-term consequences for children's future education, work and family life. In this book, first published in 2006, the editors assemble contributions from fifteen longitudinal studies representing diverse groups in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to learn what developmental patterns and experiences in middle childhood contexts forecast the directions children take when they reach adolescence and adulthood. The editors conclude that, although lasting individual differences are evident by the end of the preschool years, a child's developmental path in middle childhood contributes significantly to the adolescent and adult that he or she becomes. Families, peers and the broader social and economic environment all make a difference for young people's future education, work and relationships with others.

The number of children living in poverty in the United States increased dramatically during the 1980s and remains high. Why are so many children growing up in poor families? What are the effects of poverty on children's physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development? What role can public policy and policy research play in preventing or alleviating the damaging effects of poverty on children? Children in Poverty examines these questions, focusing on the child rather than on parents' income or self-sufficiency.

The number of children living in poverty in the United States increased dramatically during the 1980s and remains high. Why are so many children growing up in poor families? What are the effects of poverty on children's physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development? What role can public policy and policy research play in preventing or alleviating the damaging effects of poverty on children? Children in Poverty examines these questions, focusing on the child rather than on parents' income or self-sufficiency.

During middle childhood, the period between ages 5 and 12, children gain the basic tools, skills and motivations to become productive members of their society. Failure to acquire these basic tools can lead to long-term consequences for children's future education, work and family life. In this book, first published in 2006, the editors assemble contributions from fifteen longitudinal studies representing diverse groups in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to learn what developmental patterns and experiences in middle childhood contexts forecast the directions children take when they reach adolescence and adulthood. The editors conclude that, although lasting individual differences are evident by the end of the preschool years, a child's developmental path in middle childhood contributes significantly to the adolescent and adult that he or she becomes. Families, peers and the broader social and economic environment all make a difference for young people's future education, work and relationships with others.

The medium of television, although a daily part of most modern lives, remains mysterious in the manner it may influence its audience. At the center of this mysery lies the debate of content vs. medium without regard to its content. This monograph presents new research in this debate by following up on a report of 570 adolescents studied as preschoolers and the long-term relationships between preschool television viewing and adolescent achievement, behavior, and attitudes. The results of the report provide stron support for content-based hypotheses then for theories emphasizing television as a medium. In an interesting twist, the results of the report trace a cognitive difference in the patterns of boys and girls and the way television influences them.

This book brings together a group of scholars to share findings and insights on the effects of media on children and family. Their contributions reflect not only widely divergent political orientations and value systems, but also three distinct domains of inquiry into human motivation and behavior -- social scientific, psychodynamic (or psychoanalytical), and clinical practice. Each of these three domains is privy to important evidence and insights that need to transcend epistemological and methodological boundaries if understanding of the subject is to improve dramatically. In keeping with this notion, the editors asked the authors to go beyond a summary of findings, and lend additional distinction to the book by applying the "binoculars" of their particular perspective and offering suggestions as to the implications of their findings.One of the goals of the conference that resulted in this book was consensus building in the area of media and family. From examining the findings and insights of a diverse group of scholars, it seems that consensus building in several areas is a distinct possibility. Addressing the concerns of educators about the influence of the mass media of communication -- entertainment programs in particular -- on children and the welfare of the nuclear family, this volume projects directions for superior programming, especially for educational television. The influence of sex and violence on children and adults is given much attention, and the development of moral judgment and sexual expectations, among other things, is explored. The critical analysis of media effects includes examination of positive contributions of the media, such as the search for missing children and exemplary educational programs.