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(De)Constructing Child-Focused Media Panics and Fears: The Example of German-Speaking Countries

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Discourses of Anxiety over Childhood and Youth across Cultures

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Abstract

Within German culture, popular discourses on children’s media use are dominated by anxiety and moral panics as soon as new media, new media content, and services or new devices get popular among younger generations. In this chapter we look at this phenomenon through the concept of childhood as a social construct, while cultural histories (e.g. fascism, Catholicism etc.), as well as theoretical traditions (e.g. Frankfurt School) that inform these discourses will be analysed and compared among Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The objective is to investigate the nature of such discourses and their historical and cultural roots in comparison to international developments, as well as a discussion of its impact and effects on today’s and future discourses and policies regarding children’s media environments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Regarding the history of the perception of media and childhood as well as approaches to media education a clear distinction must be made between the two German states (FRG and GDR) until their reunion in 1990. When we are talking about “Germany”, then we are referring either to the united Germany before and during the Third Reich or after 1990. For the time in between we are differing between the FRG and the GDR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Education Salzburg Stefan Zweig, Salzburg, Austria

    Christine W. Trültzsch-Wijnen

  2. Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    Markéta Supa

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  1. Christine W. Trültzsch-Wijnen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Liza Tsaliki

  2. Department of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Despina Chronaki

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Trültzsch-Wijnen, C.W., Supa, M. (2020). (De)Constructing Child-Focused Media Panics and Fears: The Example of German-Speaking Countries. In: Tsaliki, L., Chronaki, D. (eds) Discourses of Anxiety over Childhood and Youth across Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46436-3_7

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