Digital Visions

This article describes some findings from recent research into young people's creative uses of new technologies in the home. The first section considers a range of theoretical perspectives on children's relationship with digital technologies. It interrogates popular and academic claims about the potential of the computer as a means for facilitating creativity. The main body of the article presents quantitative and qualitative data from the study, focusing on the ways in which children learn to use new technologies, parental regulation in the home and the role of new technologies in sustaining peer group cultures. The analysis therefore aims to situate the use of computers within wider social and cultural contexts and practices. This raises further questions about the relationship between digital technology and the formal educational system; the use of technology to define boundaries between childhood and adulthood; and assumptions about economic and vocational futures for young people in this area.