New Media, Young People and Risky Behaviour: Ethics and Policy Implications
Christian Munthe Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science flov.gu.se/english/about/staff/christian-munthe
[email protected]
The New Media Landscape •
Increasingly “a-national” and global
•
Increasingly easy to access as both consumer and producer
•
Increasingly difficult and costly to control on all levels (from the state to local community to the family)
•
Increasingly unrestrained regarding content involving violence, drugs, sex and other (potentially) risky behaviour
•
Increasingly targeting children, adolescents and young adults
•
Increasingly interactive and social (social media, gaming, video-sharing)
Media Consumption and Risky Behaviour •
Exposure to media content involving drug use, violence, et cetera makes people more prone to exhibit similar behaviour (strong support in research and expected on the basis of theory).
•
It is not the only explanatory factor, but…
•
Children and young people are more prone to be influenced than adults, and then in ways that establish patterns for their lives as adults (addiction, criminal career, victimization, et cetera), but…
•
While several aspects of the new media may be expected to function negatively in this respect, other aspects may have a contrary influence, e.g. time spent consuming media rather than doing other things, and…
•
Awareness of the potential impact on behaviour and how it works can lessen the negative impact
Underlying Issues for Ethics and Policy •
The Moral and Legal Standing and Status of Young People – also as ‘agents’
•
The Proper Allocation of Responsibility Between Individuals, Families, Communities, Society and Private Institutions
•
The Weight of Central Societal Values: Freedom of Expression and Lifestyle, Public Safety and Order, Individual Wellbeing, Economic Prosperity
•
New measures for (a) facilitating people to behave more responsibly, (b) holding properly responsible parties responsible in a way that promotes them (c) taking the responsibility they properly owe
Call for Papers! •
Special issue of Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology
•
“New Media, Young People and Risky Behaviour: Ethics and Policy Implications”
•
Guest editors: Christian Munthe & Karl Persson (University of Gothenburg)
•
Featuring a special symposium from the Alcopop TV Culture workshop, featuring contributions of leading empirical researchers, plus philosophers, ethicists and law scholars
•
Deadline: January 1, 2012
•
Send to:
[email protected]
•
See leaflet for further details!
