*CFP* “FIRST MONOGRAPH ON CHILDREN’S ONLINE ACTIVITIES, MEDIATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND ONLINE RISKS IN THE ERA OF CONVERGENT MEDIA”, ISSUE 48, ZER JOURNAL

We are planning the special issue n. 48 (May 2020) for ZER journal (UPV / EHU) on Children´s online activities, mediation, opportunities and online risks in the era of convergent media

This call for papers is made on behalf of the EU Kids Online (Spain) research team based at the University of the Basque Country (EHU) and part of the multinational research network EU Kids Online (Better Internet for Kids -EC) comprised of members in 33 countries in Europe and beyond and partner of the European SIC- Spain project for the promotion of a Safer Internet for Children, coordinated by the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) through the IS4K Internet

Security Center.

EU Kids Online (Spain) invites scholars from the area of  Human/ Social Sciences, or similar, who wish to submit original contributions which might be related to any of the research topics listed at the end of this document.

This monograph takes its title from the recent national report published by EU Kids Online Spain (Garmendia et al., 2019), which presents results on Spanish children´s digital experiences and their implications for the children's well-being. This report - focused on responses from children aged 9 to 17- followed the new theoretical and methodological approaches and research models outlined by the EU Kids Online and Global Kids

Online research networks (see, Barbosvschi, Green and Vandoninck, 2013; Livingstone, Mascheroni and Staksrud, 2015 and Livingstone, 2016) and hopes to be a useful reference source for those researchers willing to contribute with new evidence to this monograph.

Compared to previous findings (Garmendia et al., 2011; Garmendia et al., 2016) significant changes to Spanish children´s digital experiences (Garmendia et al., 2019) have been detected. The appropriation of mobile devices as well as the amount of time they spend online has increased in all age groups. What new implications does the penetration of the mobile Internet (mobile and wearable devices, the internet of things) can have on children´s well-being and their rights? When and under what circumstances can we call it digital difference or digital inequality? (Garmendia et al., 2016, Mascheroni and Olafsson, 2016).

In parallel, the incidence of risks or "risky activities" has increased among all age groups of Spanish children, with noticeable rise in "new risks" - especially those of content generated by other users (hate speech). The incidence of harm is strikingly lower than the risks they encounter. Do we talk about risks or risky situations?  What children and in what contexts, or considering what factors, may be more vulnarable to what harm? (Staksrud, 2013).

Spanish children and adolescents priority for communication, entertainment and school work activities are not balanced with their involvement in more sophisticated civic and creative activities defined by the "ladder of opportunities" (Livingstone and Helsper, 2007). What new goals (content) can we offer them in order to draw them up the "ladder of opportunities" for the benefit of the complete digital development of the child?

Younger children are at a disadvantage compared to older children when it comes to the development of digital competencies used to cope with risks. Who, why and depending on which contexts are children more resilient to risks? Can they become more resilient when coping with risky situations? How significant are digital skills and literacies for their -being? Is it feasible to educate them digitally to be resilient to a constantly evolving digital context? (Vandoninck and D´Haenens, 2018).

The peer group, as the main source of support, has become even more important than parents or teachers when solving problems related to Internet use. The evidence also shows the importance of children´s agency in the parental mediation processes. At the same time, parents seem to be increasingly aware of their children's right to privacy and autonomy when applying more communicative parental mediation strategies, which involve more opportunities. How do the different social agents (peer group, school, family) influence in children´s digital experiences?

Objective of this monograph

The main objective of EU Kids Online (Spain) with this call for papers is the same that it has been pursued, together with the rest of the countries in the network, since its creation in 2006: to contribute to the research agenda with new empirical evidence, from the perspective of the rights of the child, which help to promote evidence-based policies at the Spanish, European or international level, addressing the needs, rights and well-being of children in the digital context.

This monograph will accept contributions (national, European and beyond Europe) related to, but not limited to, the following topics:

• The importance of children's identity (beyond demographic aspects): psychological characteristics, abilities, interests, motivations or vulnerabilities and their relationship with digital experiences.
• The new concept of Internet access (mobile devices, locations and connectivity levels) and the implications that access limitations may have for minors; "The Internet of things".
• Internet use (beyond frequency and location), communication, security, coping strategies and opportunities.
• Skills and competencies
• Risks vs. harm and resilience excessive use of the Internet or addiction?, negative content generated by other users, new pornography models.
• Parental mediation processes and their relationship with the opportunities and risks (harm) for the child and their agency in this process.
• The school context as a social mediation agent.
• Sharenting and its relationship with the rights of the child (protection, provision, participation).
• Internet regulation policies from the perspective of the rights and well-being of the child
• Strategies of producers and / or distributors of children´s online contents
• Media and Platforms
• Children´s audiences approach, cross-national analysis
• Multitasking: use of social networks simultaneously under the contents perspective
• Big data, recommendation systems and algorithms specifically designed for children and adolescents.

Contributions should be between 5,000 to 8,000 words.

Guest editor:  Gemma Martinez PhD, member of EU Kids Online (Spain)

If you wish to submit an article, please read the acceptance criteria of the journal, which are indicated on this page. 

Please consult the rules for authors.

And then you send us your article through Zer's OJS platform.

VERY IMPORTANT FOR AUTHORS Manuscripts must be sent prior to March the 20th of 2020 Languages Manuscripts in Spanish, English and Basque are accepted

Evaluation All articles published in ZER are double blind evaluated by 2 or more members of the international Scientific Committee of the journal, and other evaluators, always external to the Editor. The journal is committed to responding to questions regarding the acceptance process.