Extract from 'Ill Effects'

‘Finally, researchers within cultural studies have also drawn attention to the complexity of children’s readings of the media, and of the social relationships within which they are situated. In common with constructivists, such researchers regard children as ‘active’ producers of meaning, rather than passive consumers, although they are also concerned with the ideological and formal constraints which are exerted by the text. One important emphasis here is on the social processes through which meaning is constructed, and the ways in which children define and negotiate their social identities through talk about the media.’ - David Buckingham