Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media

Institute of Education, University of London

Children today spend more time watching television than they spend in school. If we add to this the time they devote to films, magazines, computer games, the internet and popular music, it is clear that the media constitute by far their most significant leisure-time pursuit. Many have argued that the media have now taken the place of the family and the school as the major socialising influence in contemporary society.

Public debate on these issues needs to be informed by serious, in-depth research; and it is vital that educators are able to use the media in constructive and creative ways. We need to move beyond a merely defensive approach, and to find new ways of empowering young people, both as critical consumers of media and as producers in their own right.

The Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media aims to provide a focus for existing work and for developing new projects in this field. It is based at the Institute of Education, University of London, the UK’s leading graduate school of education and one of the major world centres of educational inquiry. We are based in the London Knowledge Lab, a state-of-the-art research facility newly established by the Institute in collaboration with Birkbeck College.

The Centre undertakes research and consultancies; holds conferences and public seminars; organises networks of researchers and practitioners; supervises graduate students; and works with other institutions, nationally and internationally.

The Centre works in partnership with a wide range of external bodies, including the British Film Institute, the English and Media Centre, Ofcom, The Institute for Public Policy Research, Cambridge Film Consortium, Media Smart, Immersive Education, the British Educational Communication and Technology Agency, WAC Performing Arts and Media College and the British Board of Film Classification. We also have numerous international partners: between 2001 and 2005, we worked with no fewer than 26 international partners in around 15 different countries.

Our research has been funded by (among others) the Economic and Social Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the European Commission, the Arts Council of England, the EduServ Foundation, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, and the Spencer, Gulbenkian and Nuffield Foundations.


For further information contact: the Director, Professor David Buckingham, Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media, London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education, University of London
23-29 Emerald Street, London WC1N 3QS, England


Direct line: +44 (0) 20 7763 2180. Fax: +44 (0) 20 7763 2144.

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