Quick links:
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 13:00 – 18:30 | Registration |
| 13:30 – 13:45 | Welcome |
| 14:00 – 16:00 | Session 1 |
| 16:30 – 18:00 | Keynote |
| 18:00 – 19:30 | Reception |
Thursday, 23 April 2026
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Coffee |
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Session 2 |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Break |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | Session 3 |
| 12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | Session 4 |
| 15:30 – 16:00 | Break |
| 16:00 – 17:30 | Special sessions |
| 18:30 – 20:30 | Dinner |
Friday, 24 April 2026
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Coffee |
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Session 5 |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Break |
| 11:00 – 13:00 | Session 6 |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | Plenary Gambling, Childhood & the Digital Consumer Landscape |
| 15:00 – 15:15 | Close |
| 16:00 – 17:30 | Optional: Young V&A |
Detailed programme
Presenting authors are marked with an asterisk * or a dagger † if presenting remotely.
CTCC 2026 Organising Committee Welcome to CTCC 2026! In this short session, we will take you through a few housekeeping items.
Advertising to Children and Young People in Japan: Current Issues and Challenges
Emiko Amano* This qualitative study clarifies the current situation and challenges of digital advertising to which children and young people in Japan are exposed. Through interviews with parents, corporations, and industry associations, it analyzes advertising cases such as cosmetic surgery promotion to teens and overly sexualized content, highlighting vulnerabilities and offering practical and policy implications.
Emiko Amano* This qualitative study clarifies the current situation and challenges of digital advertising to which children and young people in Japan are exposed. Through interviews with parents, corporations, and industry associations, it analyzes advertising cases such as cosmetic surgery promotion to teens and overly sexualized content, highlighting vulnerabilities and offering practical and policy implications.
Dear Kings, I Want a Brand: Children’s Letters as Mirrors of Advertising Influence
Ainhoa García Rivero* and Belén Moreno Albarracín This research examines 417 letters to the Three Kings written by children in Spain, uncovering the impact of branding, advertising, and social influence on holiday gift requests. The letters reveal both consumer behavior and emotional expression, offering a unique lens into childhood perceptions of desire and value.
Ainhoa García Rivero* and Belén Moreno Albarracín This research examines 417 letters to the Three Kings written by children in Spain, uncovering the impact of branding, advertising, and social influence on holiday gift requests. The letters reveal both consumer behavior and emotional expression, offering a unique lens into childhood perceptions of desire and value.
That's my dad: Children and their fathers in contemporary advertising
David Marshall* This paper examines the nature of the child-father relationship in a selection of Western fatherhood advertising (2012-2025). Analysing semiotic elements it highlights a more balanced child-father dynamic across a number of categories signalling a transformation in the representation of child-father relationships.
David Marshall* This paper examines the nature of the child-father relationship in a selection of Western fatherhood advertising (2012-2025). Analysing semiotic elements it highlights a more balanced child-father dynamic across a number of categories signalling a transformation in the representation of child-father relationships.
Retouched advertisement and the rise of AI in marketing: A multi-stakeholder perspective
Kamilla Knutsen Steinnes, Clara Julia Reich, Dag Slettemeås, Mikko Laamanen* and Henry Mainsah This study investigates the implementation and effects of the Norwegian retouched person label in advertising through a qualitative multi‑stakeholder design. Complementing experimental research on the topic of advertising image impact on body pressure, our analysis illustates implications of an actual label on youth and larger societal interests. We demonstrate that while the current labelling regime raises awareness, it remains problematic in implementation and ill‑equipped to address emergent challenges posed by synthetic media in youth‑oriented marketing.
Kamilla Knutsen Steinnes, Clara Julia Reich, Dag Slettemeås, Mikko Laamanen* and Henry Mainsah This study investigates the implementation and effects of the Norwegian retouched person label in advertising through a qualitative multi‑stakeholder design. Complementing experimental research on the topic of advertising image impact on body pressure, our analysis illustates implications of an actual label on youth and larger societal interests. We demonstrate that while the current labelling regime raises awareness, it remains problematic in implementation and ill‑equipped to address emergent challenges posed by synthetic media in youth‑oriented marketing.
Institutional and inclusive school meals: Participation, acculturation and learning among diverse pupil populations in Finland
Riikka Pajulahti*, Dina Fedorova*, Emmi Tilli, Carola Ray and Maijaliisa Erkkola* In Finland, all primary and secondary school pupils receive a free, hot lunch daily to promote growth, learning, and food competence while addressing nutritional disparities. Research on school meals in Finland is limited. We contribute to knowledge in school lunch participation, its link to learning, and its role in acculturation using data from three sources: 1) survey from 540 Finnish pupils aged 7 to 12, 2) survey from 122 resettled Ukrainian pupils aged 6 to 18, and 3) focus groups with 16 Ukrainian mothers and 12 children aged 8 to 13.
Riikka Pajulahti*, Dina Fedorova*, Emmi Tilli, Carola Ray and Maijaliisa Erkkola* In Finland, all primary and secondary school pupils receive a free, hot lunch daily to promote growth, learning, and food competence while addressing nutritional disparities. Research on school meals in Finland is limited. We contribute to knowledge in school lunch participation, its link to learning, and its role in acculturation using data from three sources: 1) survey from 540 Finnish pupils aged 7 to 12, 2) survey from 122 resettled Ukrainian pupils aged 6 to 18, and 3) focus groups with 16 Ukrainian mothers and 12 children aged 8 to 13.
Institutional Food, Migration, and the Everyday Lives of Young Children in Chile
Fernanda Ahumada-Medina† This paper draws on ethnographic research with Venezuelan and Peruvian migrant families in a public preschool in Santiago, Chile, to examine how institutional food policies intersect with the everyday lives of young children and their caregivers. The study explores how food operates across multiple domains—as material sustenance, as a practice of care, and as a tool of governance. Focusing on the state school food programme JUNAEB, it interrogates initiatives such as “Cocinas Escolares del Mundo”, revealing how claims to cultural inclusion often mask homogenising and disciplinary practices.
Fernanda Ahumada-Medina† This paper draws on ethnographic research with Venezuelan and Peruvian migrant families in a public preschool in Santiago, Chile, to examine how institutional food policies intersect with the everyday lives of young children and their caregivers. The study explores how food operates across multiple domains—as material sustenance, as a practice of care, and as a tool of governance. Focusing on the state school food programme JUNAEB, it interrogates initiatives such as “Cocinas Escolares del Mundo”, revealing how claims to cultural inclusion often mask homogenising and disciplinary practices.
Dealing with Dietary Varieties. Ethnographic Insights into Meals in German Day-Care Centres
Friederike Schmidt*, Cano Amely* and Anneli Haase* Germany is characterised by family-centred Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)- policies. The importance of daycare centres in the last 20-25 years has changed childhood in Germany accordingly. In this context, these institutions are addressed as relevant places for nutritional education – especially regarding health issues. Yet, little is known about the daily consumption in the institutions and what role dietary variety plays in this. Against this background, the presentation will draw on material from an ethnographic study on eating situations in daycare centres.
Friederike Schmidt*, Cano Amely* and Anneli Haase* Germany is characterised by family-centred Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)- policies. The importance of daycare centres in the last 20-25 years has changed childhood in Germany accordingly. In this context, these institutions are addressed as relevant places for nutritional education – especially regarding health issues. Yet, little is known about the daily consumption in the institutions and what role dietary variety plays in this. Against this background, the presentation will draw on material from an ethnographic study on eating situations in daycare centres.
Norms on the Menu: Perspectives on School Meals among Students Diagnosed with ASD or ADHD
Susanna G. Sandberg* This study analyses how school meals function as a norm-driven practice, where expectations of eating together and “proper eating” influence the everyday conditions of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Swedish schools, including observations and interviews with five 12-year-old boys diagnosed with ASD or ADHD, the findings show how assumptions about meal composition, social participation, and behaviour become visible.
Susanna G. Sandberg* This study analyses how school meals function as a norm-driven practice, where expectations of eating together and “proper eating” influence the everyday conditions of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Swedish schools, including observations and interviews with five 12-year-old boys diagnosed with ASD or ADHD, the findings show how assumptions about meal composition, social participation, and behaviour become visible.
Data Tracking Children’s Everyday Lives: A Scoping Review
Bjørn Nansen* and Helena Sandberg This scoping review maps current research on data-tracking technologies in children’s lives, focusing on key activities, platforms, and methods. It analyses 119 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025. Findings highlight limited child perspectives and ethical concerns, calling for more critical, child-centred, and context-rich research approaches.
Bjørn Nansen* and Helena Sandberg This scoping review maps current research on data-tracking technologies in children’s lives, focusing on key activities, platforms, and methods. It analyses 119 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025. Findings highlight limited child perspectives and ethical concerns, calling for more critical, child-centred, and context-rich research approaches.
Young adults’ privacy under datafication
Rivka Ribak* We live in an economy of datafication, where practices and relationships are increasingly viewed as potential commodities. Contributing to the literature that explored the consequences of growing up datafied, this study is designed to gain insight into young adults’ agency, asking about life under, and the management of, third-party surveillance.
Rivka Ribak* We live in an economy of datafication, where practices and relationships are increasingly viewed as potential commodities. Contributing to the literature that explored the consequences of growing up datafied, this study is designed to gain insight into young adults’ agency, asking about life under, and the management of, third-party surveillance.
“The first thing you're going to do is, you know, take away their phone”: Canadian Parents’ Perspectives on Navigating Young People’s Digital Rights
Madison Moore*, Christine Goodwin De Faria and Daniella Bendo This presentation examines the perspectives of Canadian parents on youth digital rights. Drawing on interviews with parents of 13–18-year-olds, we highlight tensions between safety and privacy, the perceived importance of communication, and views on government policy and corporate responsibility in upholding the rights of young people in digital spaces.
Madison Moore*, Christine Goodwin De Faria and Daniella Bendo This presentation examines the perspectives of Canadian parents on youth digital rights. Drawing on interviews with parents of 13–18-year-olds, we highlight tensions between safety and privacy, the perceived importance of communication, and views on government policy and corporate responsibility in upholding the rights of young people in digital spaces.
The principle of « The Best Interests of the Child » applied to digital realms : a boundary object ?"
Inés de La Ville* This presentation examines the discussions that seek to reinforce the protection of children’s rights online and highlights the tensions around key topics such as child-prosumer, safety, privacy, government policies and corporate responsibility. The principle of « the Best Interests of the Child » appears to be a boundary object Star & Griesemer (1989) around which different points of view cristallise and tensions to attempt upholding the rights of minors in risky digital spaces.
Inés de La Ville* This presentation examines the discussions that seek to reinforce the protection of children’s rights online and highlights the tensions around key topics such as child-prosumer, safety, privacy, government policies and corporate responsibility. The principle of « the Best Interests of the Child » appears to be a boundary object Star & Griesemer (1989) around which different points of view cristallise and tensions to attempt upholding the rights of minors in risky digital spaces.
The platform paradox: Conceptualising the youth V social media debate
Ysabel Gerrard* In her keynote address, Ysabel will discuss 'the platform paradox', a key concept explored in her new book (The Kids Are Online: Confronting the Myths and Realities of Young Digital Life, UC Press, 2025). Taking a case study approach, the book explores how young people navigate their identities across platforms and how they really feel about their digital lives. Emerging as a theoretical and empirical contribution to the field, the 'platform paradox' describes how social media are neither purely good nor bad. The talk will show how, paradoxically, it is sometimes only by taking a risk or exposing themselves to harm that young people can experience the benefits and pleasures that social media have to offer.
Ysabel Gerrard* In her keynote address, Ysabel will discuss 'the platform paradox', a key concept explored in her new book (The Kids Are Online: Confronting the Myths and Realities of Young Digital Life, UC Press, 2025). Taking a case study approach, the book explores how young people navigate their identities across platforms and how they really feel about their digital lives. Emerging as a theoretical and empirical contribution to the field, the 'platform paradox' describes how social media are neither purely good nor bad. The talk will show how, paradoxically, it is sometimes only by taking a risk or exposing themselves to harm that young people can experience the benefits and pleasures that social media have to offer.
Following the talk, we are delighted to host a discussion with Jonathan Baggaley (PSHE), Colette Collins-Walsh (5Rights) and Cliff Manning (Parent Zone).
Finfluence: money, gender and youth on social media
Ana Jorge* To better understand how circulating narratives about financial autonomy evoke different gender roles, as well as values and job aspirations among young audiences, this qualitative study analyses the discourses (marketing, content, and audience response) of 5 female and 5 male finfluencers on YouTube and TikTok in Portugal.
Ana Jorge* To better understand how circulating narratives about financial autonomy evoke different gender roles, as well as values and job aspirations among young audiences, this qualitative study analyses the discourses (marketing, content, and audience response) of 5 female and 5 male finfluencers on YouTube and TikTok in Portugal.
Longitudinal Effects of Exposure to YouTube Influencer Videos on Dutch Teenagers' Materialism and Advertised Product Desire
Suzanna J. Opree*, Eva van Reijmersdal, Serena Daalmans and Esther Rozendaal This study presents the results of a 2-wave panel survey among 218 12- to 15-year-olds and examines media effects and processes by zooming in on the cross-lagged effects between children’s consumption of YouTube influencer videos, wishful identification, parasocial relation, advertised product desire, and materialism.
Suzanna J. Opree*, Eva van Reijmersdal, Serena Daalmans and Esther Rozendaal This study presents the results of a 2-wave panel survey among 218 12- to 15-year-olds and examines media effects and processes by zooming in on the cross-lagged effects between children’s consumption of YouTube influencer videos, wishful identification, parasocial relation, advertised product desire, and materialism.
What’s in it for Me? Methodological Challenges of Researching Children and Young People as Influencers
Ylva Ågren* and Anna Sparrman This paper explores methodological challenges in researching child influencers, including limited access, blurred account ownership, platform restrictions, and overloaded inboxes. We reflect on recruitment strategies, children’s reluctance to participate, and ethical dilemmas, asking what it means when children’s voices remain unheard in debates on their digital labour.
Ylva Ågren* and Anna Sparrman This paper explores methodological challenges in researching child influencers, including limited access, blurred account ownership, platform restrictions, and overloaded inboxes. We reflect on recruitment strategies, children’s reluctance to participate, and ethical dilemmas, asking what it means when children’s voices remain unheard in debates on their digital labour.
Generation Shein? - Consumer Imaginaries of Young Teens
Lars Pynt Andersen*, Anders Stig Christensen and Maria Gaarsmand Young teens are already very active economical actors, navigating consumption, desires and challenges of sustainability. This qualitative study asks: How do 8th graders understand their own agency as consumers and their role in shaping the future, and what reflections (if any) do they have on sustainability issues?
Lars Pynt Andersen*, Anders Stig Christensen and Maria Gaarsmand Young teens are already very active economical actors, navigating consumption, desires and challenges of sustainability. This qualitative study asks: How do 8th graders understand their own agency as consumers and their role in shaping the future, and what reflections (if any) do they have on sustainability issues?
Natural, different, and rather local than green: adolescents’ discourses on sustainable food in northern Sweden
Hilde Weiser* This study explores adolescents’ discourses about sustainable food in the context of sustainable food transitions in northern Sweden. The preliminary results show discourses drawing on, and reinforcing, stereotypical ideas of nature, locality, otherness, and sensory experiences. This contradicts transition but opens for exploring means to stimulate curiosity for food experiences.
Hilde Weiser* This study explores adolescents’ discourses about sustainable food in the context of sustainable food transitions in northern Sweden. The preliminary results show discourses drawing on, and reinforcing, stereotypical ideas of nature, locality, otherness, and sensory experiences. This contradicts transition but opens for exploring means to stimulate curiosity for food experiences.
Youth Environmental Identities and Sustainable Consumption Practices in a Post-Communist Context: Insights from Bulgaria
Turkan Firinci Orman* This Bulgarian field study, part of a multisite project across four welfare systems (England, Bulgaria, Finland, Turkey), explores youth sustainable consumption. Using geo-social methods, it identifies five performative consumer identities shaped by intergenerational and socio-spatial dynamics. These reflect Bulgaria’s transitional consumption culture and past-oriented habits, challenging top-down sustainability narratives.
Turkan Firinci Orman* This Bulgarian field study, part of a multisite project across four welfare systems (England, Bulgaria, Finland, Turkey), explores youth sustainable consumption. Using geo-social methods, it identifies five performative consumer identities shaped by intergenerational and socio-spatial dynamics. These reflect Bulgaria’s transitional consumption culture and past-oriented habits, challenging top-down sustainability narratives.
Bluey and the National Paradox of Australian Kids’ TV in the Streaming Era
Madeleine Hunter* and Jessica Balanzategui This paper combines interviews with Australian children's content producers with comparative analysis of journalistic and policy discourse around Bluey, to explore the impact of the global streaming marketplace on Australian children's TV production ecologies, and illuminate the erosion of Australian childhoods on screen unfolding in the global phenomenon’s shadow.
Madeleine Hunter* and Jessica Balanzategui This paper combines interviews with Australian children's content producers with comparative analysis of journalistic and policy discourse around Bluey, to explore the impact of the global streaming marketplace on Australian children's TV production ecologies, and illuminate the erosion of Australian childhoods on screen unfolding in the global phenomenon’s shadow.
From Fairy to Franchise: Disney Fairies and the Rise of the Girls’ Transmedia Doll Brand
Kyra Hunting* and Rebecca Hains* Doll-based transmedia franchises shape girls’ consumer culture and behavior by linking toys to expansive storyworlds. This paper analyzes Disney’s reinvention of Tinker Bell through the Disney Fairies franchise, a formative case whose feminist narrative worldbuilding established models for later franchises that continue to influence girls’ play and consumption culture today.
Kyra Hunting* and Rebecca Hains* Doll-based transmedia franchises shape girls’ consumer culture and behavior by linking toys to expansive storyworlds. This paper analyzes Disney’s reinvention of Tinker Bell through the Disney Fairies franchise, a formative case whose feminist narrative worldbuilding established models for later franchises that continue to influence girls’ play and consumption culture today.
Developing courses with and for companies specializing in children as consumers
Johanna Sjöberg* and Yelyzaveta Hrechaniuk What knowledge do companies in the child products market seek? How can we design relevant courses to meet their needs? We work to develop commissioned courses for companies specializing in children as consumers. This presentation describes our efforts and reflects on what knowledge approximately 20 companies believe they need.
Johanna Sjöberg* and Yelyzaveta Hrechaniuk What knowledge do companies in the child products market seek? How can we design relevant courses to meet their needs? We work to develop commissioned courses for companies specializing in children as consumers. This presentation describes our efforts and reflects on what knowledge approximately 20 companies believe they need.
Teen Consumption of Pornographic Internet Memes: Impacts, Risks, and Socio-Cultural Challenges
Abirlal Mukherjee* and Sweta Mukherjee The proliferation of internet memes has reshaped youth digital culture, often blurring the boundaries between humor, entertainment, and harmful content. Among these, the circulation of pornographic or sexually explicit memes raises critical concerns regarding adolescent exposure, interpretation, and consumption patterns. This paper explores how teenagers engage with such memes, considering both the appeal of transgressive humor and the risks associated with normalization of inappropriate sexual content.
Abirlal Mukherjee* and Sweta Mukherjee The proliferation of internet memes has reshaped youth digital culture, often blurring the boundaries between humor, entertainment, and harmful content. Among these, the circulation of pornographic or sexually explicit memes raises critical concerns regarding adolescent exposure, interpretation, and consumption patterns. This paper explores how teenagers engage with such memes, considering both the appeal of transgressive humor and the risks associated with normalization of inappropriate sexual content.
The Cuteness Haze: Blurring the Boundaries of Adult and Child Markets, One Labubu at a Time
Halle Singh* This paper explores "cute consumption" that transcends age boundaries. Products like Labubus and blind boxes, once marketed to children, now attract adult consumers. Drawing on Cute Studies, it examines how "healing your inner child" legitimizes adult spending on traditionally childhood-associated products and explores how the democratization of cuteness presents broader implications for childhood studies in late capitalist cultural realms.
Halle Singh* This paper explores "cute consumption" that transcends age boundaries. Products like Labubus and blind boxes, once marketed to children, now attract adult consumers. Drawing on Cute Studies, it examines how "healing your inner child" legitimizes adult spending on traditionally childhood-associated products and explores how the democratization of cuteness presents broader implications for childhood studies in late capitalist cultural realms.
Exploring the potentially exacerbated harm of gambling-like products due to Kidulting: International psychology surveys and product characteristics
Leon Xiao*, Chelsea Ren* and Kuma X. Xiong* ‘Kidulting,’ adults spending money on products originally intended for children, is increasing the price, availability, and social acceptability of gambling-like products bought by children like Pokémon card packs and Labubu blind boxes. We present international survey results linking spending to problem gambling and on the product characteristics of gambling-like products.
Leon Xiao*, Chelsea Ren* and Kuma X. Xiong* ‘Kidulting,’ adults spending money on products originally intended for children, is increasing the price, availability, and social acceptability of gambling-like products bought by children like Pokémon card packs and Labubu blind boxes. We present international survey results linking spending to problem gambling and on the product characteristics of gambling-like products.
Consuming Childhood: Private Early Education and Shifting Notions of Childhood in Vietnam
Thi Thanh Nga Mai* This study examines the concept of childhood through the lens of early education consumption in Vietnam. The findings suggest that shifting notions of childhood have contributed to the proliferation of private educational institutions oriented around Western pedagogical models.
Thi Thanh Nga Mai* This study examines the concept of childhood through the lens of early education consumption in Vietnam. The findings suggest that shifting notions of childhood have contributed to the proliferation of private educational institutions oriented around Western pedagogical models.
“Hacking” the Learner Script: Micro-politics and Gamified Literacy in Norwegian Classrooms
Ingvild Kvale Sørenssen* and Pål Aarsand This focused ethnography investigates how Norwegian 5th graders reshape learner identities in classrooms. Using a sociomaterial lens, it reveals how children tactically “hack” gamified learning platforms/programs—collaborating, resisting, and reconfiguring institutional scripts—highlighting their agency and challenging dominant views of children as passive digital consumers.
Ingvild Kvale Sørenssen* and Pål Aarsand This focused ethnography investigates how Norwegian 5th graders reshape learner identities in classrooms. Using a sociomaterial lens, it reveals how children tactically “hack” gamified learning platforms/programs—collaborating, resisting, and reconfiguring institutional scripts—highlighting their agency and challenging dominant views of children as passive digital consumers.
"Baking a Bigger Pie": Cultivating Collaborative Habitus in a Competitive Tech-World
Anthea Ameer* This qualitative study examines how University Maths Schools cultivate a collaborative institutional habitus. Drawing on alumni and teacher interviews, it analyses how students renegotiate notions of talent and STEM identity. Findings show that collective problem-solving and widening participation enable equity and excellence to coexist, challenging class-stratified logics of access and recognition that privilege dominant capital in elite STEM education.
Anthea Ameer* This qualitative study examines how University Maths Schools cultivate a collaborative institutional habitus. Drawing on alumni and teacher interviews, it analyses how students renegotiate notions of talent and STEM identity. Findings show that collective problem-solving and widening participation enable equity and excellence to coexist, challenging class-stratified logics of access and recognition that privilege dominant capital in elite STEM education.
Researching Sensitive Topics in Child and Teen Consumption: Ethics, Emotions and Methodological Challenges
Emily Moorlock* and Pallavi Singh* The session will engage with the ethical, emotional and methodological complexities and challenges of researching sensitive consumption topics with children and teens. The session will include short case study presentations and an interactive roundtable to critically examine researcher positionality, stigma and safeguarding in fieldwork practices across diverse cultural contexts.
Emily Moorlock* and Pallavi Singh* The session will engage with the ethical, emotional and methodological complexities and challenges of researching sensitive consumption topics with children and teens. The session will include short case study presentations and an interactive roundtable to critically examine researcher positionality, stigma and safeguarding in fieldwork practices across diverse cultural contexts.
The Transformation of Children’s Play Culture: From Playgrounds to Screens
Gülden Demir* and Gülsün Bozkurt This study examines how children’s play culture is reshaped in the digital age, where traditional games and digital play coexist. Using participant observation, focus groups, and interviews with 11–14-year-olds in public and private schools, it highlights peer relations, gendered dynamics, and the role of digital technologies in shaping leisure practices.
Gülden Demir* and Gülsün Bozkurt This study examines how children’s play culture is reshaped in the digital age, where traditional games and digital play coexist. Using participant observation, focus groups, and interviews with 11–14-year-olds in public and private schools, it highlights peer relations, gendered dynamics, and the role of digital technologies in shaping leisure practices.
“It’s Just a Pet… But It’s Everything”: Gifting, Symbolic Capital, and Moral Economies of Childhood in Roblox
Zineb Kamal*, Vitor Lima and Geraldine Michel This study explores how children use virtual pets and items in Roblox’s Grow a Garden as affective currencies of recognition and moral worth. Combining netnography and interviews, it shows how gifting, trading, and display practices shape peer culture, identity-making, and moral economies within platform-mediated childhoods
Zineb Kamal*, Vitor Lima and Geraldine Michel This study explores how children use virtual pets and items in Roblox’s Grow a Garden as affective currencies of recognition and moral worth. Combining netnography and interviews, it shows how gifting, trading, and display practices shape peer culture, identity-making, and moral economies within platform-mediated childhoods
AI in the Early Years: Examining the implications of GenAI toys for young children
Emily Goodacre* TBC
Emily Goodacre* TBC
Minimalism as key element of Gen Z identities and value orientation: Transformation of Consumer Culture and Well-being
Blandina Sramova* and Jiri Pavelka* Generation Z is reshaping consumer behaviour by rejecting hyper-consumption and embracing minimalism. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study explores how anti-consumption practices relate to identity, consumer culture, and well-being. Findings reveal micro, meso, and macro-level drivers of change, with implications for marketing, education, and policy in addressing young consumers’ values.
Blandina Sramova* and Jiri Pavelka* Generation Z is reshaping consumer behaviour by rejecting hyper-consumption and embracing minimalism. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study explores how anti-consumption practices relate to identity, consumer culture, and well-being. Findings reveal micro, meso, and macro-level drivers of change, with implications for marketing, education, and policy in addressing young consumers’ values.
Grab Food Marketing! Assessing the persuasive power of teen-targeted food marketing in Canada
Charlene Elliott* This paper examines the nature of teen-targeted food marketing in Canada, using participatory research to reveal its products, platforms and “persuasive power”. I explore the various “digital palates” promoted through this advertising, as well as the implications (for teen identities, public health and public policy) of food marketing’s persuasive appeals.
Charlene Elliott* This paper examines the nature of teen-targeted food marketing in Canada, using participatory research to reveal its products, platforms and “persuasive power”. I explore the various “digital palates” promoted through this advertising, as well as the implications (for teen identities, public health and public policy) of food marketing’s persuasive appeals.
(Digital) Food diaries and Everyday Consumption among Japanese University Students
Anando Ghosh* This paper uses food diaries to explore everyday digital food practices among Japanese university students. It examines how young people negotiate tensions between tradition and modernity, individuality and conformity, and sustainability and convenience, offering insights into youth consumer cultures and the role of digital methods in researching everyday life.
Anando Ghosh* This paper uses food diaries to explore everyday digital food practices among Japanese university students. It examines how young people negotiate tensions between tradition and modernity, individuality and conformity, and sustainability and convenience, offering insights into youth consumer cultures and the role of digital methods in researching everyday life.
Therians, the therianthropic in children´s identity-forming and consumption in a Swedish context
Sandra Hillén* and Jeanette Sundhall* In times of rapid changes and uncertainty about what the future holds Swedish children are embracing a global phenomenon called therians, and in the public sphere of schools this have attracted media attention. We analyze how ideas about age and childhood are expressed and adulthood produced in these public debates.
Sandra Hillén* and Jeanette Sundhall* In times of rapid changes and uncertainty about what the future holds Swedish children are embracing a global phenomenon called therians, and in the public sphere of schools this have attracted media attention. We analyze how ideas about age and childhood are expressed and adulthood produced in these public debates.
Trying to fit in: Teenage stories of connecting through digital content
Elizabeth Dempsey* and Emily Moorlock* We explore how young people navigate friendship across digital and physical spaces. Using creative qualitative methods we put forward a more nuanced insight into the role that digital content plays in shaping young people’s fleeting and meaningful peer connections online and offline.
Elizabeth Dempsey* and Emily Moorlock* We explore how young people navigate friendship across digital and physical spaces. Using creative qualitative methods we put forward a more nuanced insight into the role that digital content plays in shaping young people’s fleeting and meaningful peer connections online and offline.
Fashioning Elite Youth in late Seventeenth-Century England, 1650-1700
Marlo Avidon* This paper uses surviving accounts, bills and correspondence to evaluate the significance of fashionable consumption to late seventeenth-century English youths. It argues that clothing had a crucial function in their identity construction, affording them the opportunity to demonstrate their sartorial agency and consumer acumen within the household.
Marlo Avidon* This paper uses surviving accounts, bills and correspondence to evaluate the significance of fashionable consumption to late seventeenth-century English youths. It argues that clothing had a crucial function in their identity construction, affording them the opportunity to demonstrate their sartorial agency and consumer acumen within the household.
Toy Theatre - 200 years of miniature melodrama
Alan Powers* and David Powell* David Powell and Alan Powers will explore the sudden growth of toy theatre production in the Wych Street area, now the Aldwych, from 1811. This activity connected adolescent boys to what was happening on the live London stage, allowing for re-enaction in the home. The practice mirrored the spectacular, exotic, comic and sentimental genres of the time and perpetuated these stereotypes, none more so than the play The Miller and his Men, first performed at Covent Garden in 1813 and thereafter regarded as the classic of toy theatre, which the speakers will perform as part of their presentation.
Alan Powers* and David Powell* David Powell and Alan Powers will explore the sudden growth of toy theatre production in the Wych Street area, now the Aldwych, from 1811. This activity connected adolescent boys to what was happening on the live London stage, allowing for re-enaction in the home. The practice mirrored the spectacular, exotic, comic and sentimental genres of the time and perpetuated these stereotypes, none more so than the play The Miller and his Men, first performed at Covent Garden in 1813 and thereafter regarded as the classic of toy theatre, which the speakers will perform as part of their presentation.
Writers, most of all Robert Louis Stevenson, recalled their childhood experiences as timid customers of the shops where toy theatre prints were sold up to the Second World War. Post-war, the material survivals and traditions of its use were revived and enthusiasts have combined physical production with demonstrating and passing on this practice.
Stay & Play
The Digital Humanities Game Lab led by Feng Zhu* Join us in exploring popular video games on gaming laptops, Switches, and a PS5. Game titles will include the Roblox platform, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and Mario Kart.
The Digital Humanities Game Lab led by Feng Zhu* Join us in exploring popular video games on gaming laptops, Switches, and a PS5. Game titles will include the Roblox platform, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and Mario Kart.
To find the games room, please follow the signs to the Macadam building. It is a maze, so a conference helper will depart from the Great Hall at 15:50 to show you the way.
Healthy but Not Too Healthy: Navigating the Compartmentalised Worlds of Food Rules and Pleasure
Ingela Bohm*, Cecilia Lindblom, Gun Åbacka, Carita Bengs and Agneta Hörnell Based on interviews and classroom observations in Swedish secondary schools, this paper explores how students balance institutional rules for healthy, sustainable eating with personal and cultural food preferences. Findings reveal a persistent split between public health ideals and everyday tastes, leaving young people to negotiate their own uneasy balance.
Ingela Bohm*, Cecilia Lindblom, Gun Åbacka, Carita Bengs and Agneta Hörnell Based on interviews and classroom observations in Swedish secondary schools, this paper explores how students balance institutional rules for healthy, sustainable eating with personal and cultural food preferences. Findings reveal a persistent split between public health ideals and everyday tastes, leaving young people to negotiate their own uneasy balance.
“Food what makes me happy”: the meaning and purposes of ‘good food’ for children in hospital
Claire Thompson* Campaigns to promote good food in UK hospitals have a long history. However there is little empirical research on what good food means and whether or not it is being provided. This paper critically examines child and parent accounts of hospital food.
Claire Thompson* Campaigns to promote good food in UK hospitals have a long history. However there is little empirical research on what good food means and whether or not it is being provided. This paper critically examines child and parent accounts of hospital food.
The Third Word is Coca: Responsive Caregiving, Nutrition Discourse, and the Politics of Early Childhood in Mexico
Jean Yves Taranger* My paper examines how responsive caregiving discourses in Mexican early childhood programs are co-opted by corporate actors, notably FEMSA Coca-Cola, to normalize sugar consumption and delay regulation. Drawing on nine months of ethnographic research, it highlights how care, love, and junk food intertwine within institutional and cultural practices.
Jean Yves Taranger* My paper examines how responsive caregiving discourses in Mexican early childhood programs are co-opted by corporate actors, notably FEMSA Coca-Cola, to normalize sugar consumption and delay regulation. Drawing on nine months of ethnographic research, it highlights how care, love, and junk food intertwine within institutional and cultural practices.
Fright, frame, and reframe: Children transforming personal fears via horror media
Nadia Di Leo† This study explores how pre-teens process fears through horror manga/anime. Using photo-elicitation and creative writing, it investigates how engaging with frightening narratives can foster emotional literacy and coping mechanisms, offering insights into children’s agency in contemporary media landscapes.
Nadia Di Leo† This study explores how pre-teens process fears through horror manga/anime. Using photo-elicitation and creative writing, it investigates how engaging with frightening narratives can foster emotional literacy and coping mechanisms, offering insights into children’s agency in contemporary media landscapes.
The Digital Camera – Optical Toy and Democratic Tool
Karolina Westling* With a digital camera, children can explore themselves, their world and visualize their desired future. The camera is both an optical toy and a tool for democratic participation. By comparing films made by children aged 4–12, I examine how age and context influence their playing and enable media literacy.
Karolina Westling* With a digital camera, children can explore themselves, their world and visualize their desired future. The camera is both an optical toy and a tool for democratic participation. By comparing films made by children aged 4–12, I examine how age and context influence their playing and enable media literacy.
Creativity and Autonomy: Children making their own toys in historical, global and contemporary perspective
Mary Clare Martin* In contrast to the frequent focus on manufactured goods and technology in debates about teen consumption, this paper analyses topics of child-made toys, agency, and sustainability, past and present, in the context of the author's research on global play, past and present, using historical and sociological research methodologies.
Mary Clare Martin* In contrast to the frequent focus on manufactured goods and technology in debates about teen consumption, this paper analyses topics of child-made toys, agency, and sustainability, past and present, in the context of the author's research on global play, past and present, using historical and sociological research methodologies.
Social media ad repositories: A new method for studying young people’s advertising experience
Leon Xiao* Through the recent Digital Service Act, the EU requires large social media platforms to publish repositories of all advertising shown, including the demographics intended to be targeted and eventually reached. We used this novel method of advertising research to assess compliance with gambling- and video game related-advertising rules that impact young people.
Leon Xiao* Through the recent Digital Service Act, the EU requires large social media platforms to publish repositories of all advertising shown, including the demographics intended to be targeted and eventually reached. We used this novel method of advertising research to assess compliance with gambling- and video game related-advertising rules that impact young people.
Digital Media in Family Practices
Rita Braches-Chyrek and Carolin Freifrau Pastor von Camperfelden* This article focuses on negotiation processes involving children and families with regard to digital media in family practices. It provides empirical insights into the data material from the ethnographic research project, which is used to illustrate the influence and significance of digital media in everyday family life.
Rita Braches-Chyrek and Carolin Freifrau Pastor von Camperfelden* This article focuses on negotiation processes involving children and families with regard to digital media in family practices. It provides empirical insights into the data material from the ethnographic research project, which is used to illustrate the influence and significance of digital media in everyday family life.
“My Father Is Like a 21st Century Teenager”: Critical Perspectives from Youth Citizens in the Digital World
Seran Demiral* This study explores youth digital citizenship experiences in Turkey. Utilizing child- and youth-led research settings within a participatory action research (PAR) framework, the presentation focuses on two main areas. First, it examines how participants understand being young and being a citizen in digital realms. Second, it explores how participants perceive their generational and social positions.
Seran Demiral* This study explores youth digital citizenship experiences in Turkey. Utilizing child- and youth-led research settings within a participatory action research (PAR) framework, the presentation focuses on two main areas. First, it examines how participants understand being young and being a citizen in digital realms. Second, it explores how participants perceive their generational and social positions.
New International Mothers and the Role of AI-Powered Tools in Purchase Decisions
Sanam Akhavannasab* and Malene Gram* Becoming a new mother means buying unfamiliar products and services, and new international mothers may be particularly vulnerable to marketplace influences. Through interviews with new international mothers we explore how artificial intelligence (AI) influence their consumer choices when navigating unfamiliar markets and cultural expectations while striving to ensure good childhoods.
Sanam Akhavannasab* and Malene Gram* Becoming a new mother means buying unfamiliar products and services, and new international mothers may be particularly vulnerable to marketplace influences. Through interviews with new international mothers we explore how artificial intelligence (AI) influence their consumer choices when navigating unfamiliar markets and cultural expectations while striving to ensure good childhoods.
How and How Much Money Do Adolescents Manage? A Contrast Between Youth and Parental Perceptions
Beatriz Feijoo*, Patricia Núñez-Gómez and Erika Fernández-Gómez This study analyzes how and how much money adolescents manage, contrasting their responses with those of their parents. Based on 1,088 parent–child dyads, results reveal significant gaps in reported monthly amounts, sources, and financial guidance. Findings highlight the need to reinforce financial education and responsible consumption during adolescence.
Beatriz Feijoo*, Patricia Núñez-Gómez and Erika Fernández-Gómez This study analyzes how and how much money adolescents manage, contrasting their responses with those of their parents. Based on 1,088 parent–child dyads, results reveal significant gaps in reported monthly amounts, sources, and financial guidance. Findings highlight the need to reinforce financial education and responsible consumption during adolescence.
Devouring Power: Consumption and Adolescence in Holly Black's The Cruel Prince
Harley Tillotson* This paper examines food as a site of otherness, power, and ecological anxiety in The Cruel Prince (2018), focusing on child protagonist Jude. Through an ecogothic lens, it explores how food, feasting, and self-starvation reflect bodily discipline, resistance, and the pressures of consumption in a supernatural and modern world.
Harley Tillotson* This paper examines food as a site of otherness, power, and ecological anxiety in The Cruel Prince (2018), focusing on child protagonist Jude. Through an ecogothic lens, it explores how food, feasting, and self-starvation reflect bodily discipline, resistance, and the pressures of consumption in a supernatural and modern world.
Emerging from the Death House and reclaiming the Park: Cartography of childhood and resistance in Mariana Enriquez's "Kids Who Come Back" (2021)
Amrita Das* This paper studies how Enriquez nurtures the trope of consumption, initially writing how the city consumes the children, then subverting the hierarchy where the “empty” children return to consume the city. Reading the city as a “blank space”, I study how the shifts in the children’s consumption shakes the “rigidly codified spaces”, thus charting an alternate geography of childhood.
Amrita Das* This paper studies how Enriquez nurtures the trope of consumption, initially writing how the city consumes the children, then subverting the hierarchy where the “empty” children return to consume the city. Reading the city as a “blank space”, I study how the shifts in the children’s consumption shakes the “rigidly codified spaces”, thus charting an alternate geography of childhood.
Negotiating the (Non)Consumer Child: Representations of Working-Class Childhoods from Türkiye in Gaye Hiçyılmaz’s “Against the Storm” (1990)
Betul Gaye Dinc* This study examines children’s negotiation of migration, labour, and consumption in post-1980s Türkiye in Gaye Hiçyılmaz’s novel, Against the Storm (1990). Drawing on archival research and imagological analysis, it explores the novel’s transposition of British children’s literary traditions to Türkiye and children’s consumer desires and agency amid social inequalities.
Betul Gaye Dinc* This study examines children’s negotiation of migration, labour, and consumption in post-1980s Türkiye in Gaye Hiçyılmaz’s novel, Against the Storm (1990). Drawing on archival research and imagological analysis, it explores the novel’s transposition of British children’s literary traditions to Türkiye and children’s consumer desires and agency amid social inequalities.
Supporting children through bereavement via children’s picturebooks
Stephanie O'Donohoe* This qualitative study examines how ten picturebooks, recommended by a UK children’s charity, situate bereaved children as socially, culturally and relationally situated beings and becomings. It also analyses online book reviews, seeking preliminary insight into adult experiences and concerns around using these books to help children engage with loss.
Stephanie O'Donohoe* This qualitative study examines how ten picturebooks, recommended by a UK children’s charity, situate bereaved children as socially, culturally and relationally situated beings and becomings. It also analyses online book reviews, seeking preliminary insight into adult experiences and concerns around using these books to help children engage with loss.
From Box Braids to Bantu-Knots : Black Girl Digital Enclaves in Hair-Centred #GRWM Videos
Frésange Maleka* Explores how #GRWM ideos disrupt the pervasive expectation that Black hair must always be discussed through the lens of activism or as a site of political tension. While hair has undeniably been central to conversations about racism, cultural appropriation, and resistance, #GRWM centre community and joy.
Frésange Maleka* Explores how #GRWM ideos disrupt the pervasive expectation that Black hair must always be discussed through the lens of activism or as a site of political tension. While hair has undeniably been central to conversations about racism, cultural appropriation, and resistance, #GRWM centre community and joy.
Digital Identities & Intersectional Considerations: Black Youth Media Engagement in the GTA
Kisha McPherson* Black youth actively engage with gaming platforms, social media, and digital creative spaces. However, due to persistent racism and discrimination, their identities require additional navigation strategies within these spaces. This presentation examines how Black youth in the Greater Toronto Area explore, create and engage in digital media spaces, focusing on the unique intersectional considerations that shape their online experiences.
Kisha McPherson* Black youth actively engage with gaming platforms, social media, and digital creative spaces. However, due to persistent racism and discrimination, their identities require additional navigation strategies within these spaces. This presentation examines how Black youth in the Greater Toronto Area explore, create and engage in digital media spaces, focusing on the unique intersectional considerations that shape their online experiences.
Roblox, Girls, and the Navigation of Branded Content
Natalie Coulter* This paper explores how girls aged 7-14 navigate Roblox. By centering young people as experts in their own experiences and as agentive social actors who engage in meaning-making practices by asking How do girls engage in these spaces? What does it mean to play? How are girl’s play experiences shaped by the commercial logics of digital capitalism and surveillance? And what does it mean to be a girl?
Natalie Coulter* This paper explores how girls aged 7-14 navigate Roblox. By centering young people as experts in their own experiences and as agentive social actors who engage in meaning-making practices by asking How do girls engage in these spaces? What does it mean to play? How are girl’s play experiences shaped by the commercial logics of digital capitalism and surveillance? And what does it mean to be a girl?
Obituary for a Platform: Disabled Girlhood, Intimacy, and the Death of TikTok
Anastasia Todd* This presentation explores disabled girls’ and young women’s responses to the impending 2025 US TikTok ban. I investigate what it means to grieve a platform and what this tells us about disabled young people’s affective attachment to platforms, and to their smartphone, as a material, intimate, and survival object.
Anastasia Todd* This presentation explores disabled girls’ and young women’s responses to the impending 2025 US TikTok ban. I investigate what it means to grieve a platform and what this tells us about disabled young people’s affective attachment to platforms, and to their smartphone, as a material, intimate, and survival object.
Gambling, Childhood, and the Digital Consumer Landscape
Hilde Voorveld*, Glen Dighton*, Leon Xiao*, Raffaello Rossi and Saeid Moradipour* This panel examines how digital gambling marketing targets and influences children and young people. Through interdisciplinary research and international case studies, it explores themes such as the normalisation of gambling, exposure to gambling through social media, livestreams, and in-game purchases. The panel highlights the urgent need for stronger regulation to protect young people from gambling harms.
Hilde Voorveld*, Glen Dighton*, Leon Xiao*, Raffaello Rossi and Saeid Moradipour* This panel examines how digital gambling marketing targets and influences children and young people. Through interdisciplinary research and international case studies, it explores themes such as the normalisation of gambling, exposure to gambling through social media, livestreams, and in-game purchases. The panel highlights the urgent need for stronger regulation to protect young people from gambling harms.
Award ceremony
Join us in celebrating the Best Paper Award and wrapping up the conference.
Join us in celebrating the Best Paper Award and wrapping up the conference.
Guided Tour
Alex Newson Join us for a guided tour of the Young V&A (formerly the Museum of Childhood) with Chief Curator Alex Newson. Spaces are limited, but feel free to join the group and explore the museum yourself if you haven't received a spot on the tour. Note that the museum will close at 17:45 sharp.
Alex Newson Join us for a guided tour of the Young V&A (formerly the Museum of Childhood) with Chief Curator Alex Newson. Spaces are limited, but feel free to join the group and explore the museum yourself if you haven't received a spot on the tour. Note that the museum will close at 17:45 sharp.