Navigating Media’s Influence Through Childhood And Adolescence: A Question and Answer Guide for Professionals. Kate S Kurtin and Mary Ellen McCormick (2022). New York

The growth in the influence and presence of media and digital immersion has become an omni-present aspect of childhood and adolescence. This has perhaps been exacerbated by the impact of the recent pandemic and adjustments of the post-pandemic way of life. Therefore, this book is of the moment in terms of its relevance to considering childhood developmental issues. The text provides an exploration of the impact of media set against childhood development and the challenges faced in providing a safe environment for children, young people and those seeking to help them navigate growing up in the digital world. The book is organised into clear chapters exploring a specific area of media and digital concern. The chapters are organised using a developmental perspective and explore the issues facing young people and how the digital world is influential in shaping behaviours and as a source of influence on developmental schema. It explores relevant research and evidence to aspects of the digital world. Alongside this, the authors present a series of questions relevant to the topic that they seek to answer within the context of the research and childhood development. The book covers topics such as childhood media environments and current guidelines on digital media; growing up and learning in the digital age. These more broad issues are accompanied by relevant topics such as video games and internet safety. In addition, the book examines childhood and adolescent wellbeing with chapters on body image; disordered eating; gender identity and sexuality; pornography; risk taking behaviours and attitudes to drugs, alcohol and sex. The book aims to provide practitioners with a supportive source of information to assist in answering concerns parents and teachers may have around digital and media exposure on childhood development, consider what is “normal” and decide what to be concerned about. In this goal, the authors are