Media Literacy and Child Development: Exploring Prosocial and Educational Media for Healthy Media Practices

Dear Colleagues,

We are thrilled to announce a unique opportunity for researchers and academics to contribute to an upcoming Special Issue on "Media Literacy and Child Development: Exploring Prosocial and Educational Media for Healthy Media Practices". In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the impact of media on young minds cannot be understated. As we navigate this terrain, it is imperative to shed light on the pivotal role of media literacy in shaping positive child and youth development.

This Special Issue aims to bring together a diverse range of perspectives, research methodologies, and insights to enhance our understanding of how media literacy influences the cognitive, social, and emotional growth of children. We invite original research articles, reviews, case studies, and theoretical papers that delve into various dimensions of media literacy and its correlations with healthy media engagement among children.

Possible themes for exploration include but are not limited to:

• Media literacy pedagogy: Innovative strategies and frameworks for promoting media literacy in educational settings, equipping children with the skills to critically engage with media content.
• Prosocial media impact: Examination of media's potential as a tool for fostering empathy, compassion, and prosocial behavior among children, and the role of media literacy in amplifying these effects.
• Educational media content: Analysis of the effectiveness of educational media in facilitating cognitive growth, knowledge acquisition, and skill development in children, along with strategies for optimizing its impact considering media literacy as well.
• Digital citizenship: Exploration of how media literacy contributes to the development of responsible digital citizens, capable of making informed decisions and engaging positively in online communities.
• Parental and educational involvement: Investigation into the role of parents and educators in promoting media literacy, including effective communication strategies and collaborative efforts.
• Media policy and regulation: Discussion on policy implications, regulatory frameworks, and industry practices that support the creation and dissemination of high-quality, age-appropriate media content, and/or media literacy curricula.

Dr. Sara Pereira
Dr. Sarah Pila
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journalism and Media is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• children
• cognition
• learning
• media literacy
• media
• social emotional learning (SEL)
• technology
• television