journal of digital research & publishing - The Sydney eScholarship ...

1 P M J O U R N A L O F D I G I T A L R ESEARCH & P UBLISHING
Peppler and Kafai, 2007 explore media production as an important aspect to media
literacy and emphase the importance of children being creative producers and enhancing
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While there are many concerns and questions being asked cognitively, how can the youth
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technology? Are children the future creators of the 21 st century or are they at the hands of
marketing and advertising companies who vandalise children’s intellectual property and
thus destroy and undermine a child’s cultural participation’? Or does this culture move on
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From a developmental perspective of the child, the debate concerning the age in which
young children begin to use the Internet is another concerning issue where regulation is
now focused on parental responsibility. Eagle (2003) considers this lack of knowledge an
important focus for research as she states, there is ‘little understanding between advertising,
parental concern and children’s awareness and intent of the use’ of ‘Advergame’ sites.
The need for policy change to ‘mitigate the parental knowledge gap’ on new media and
increase awareness of both parents and young children’s educational gaps should be
further considered by regulators
Government regulation
On top of this phenomenon, child consumerism culture is shifting away from government
regulation in some countries such as England, Australia and the US. With an emphasis
on parents and schools to educate children in their use of the Internet. Australia has its
own website, the Australian Communication and Media Association (ACMA) which is
responsible for regulation on the internet, however this site also has a ‘how to’ section for
children 2 ­18years and how to navigate safely within this sphere.
With the responsibility being passed to the parent, child, and schools the notion of
researching and promoting a new ‘media literacy’ is a relatively new concept for supporting
the child consumer in the hypertext highways.
Parents/children and advertising on the Internet
According to some researchers, the use of ‘Advergames’ by preschool children unveils
some of the hidden truths behind consumerism and the future perils of a hypertext
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