Abstract

ALBUQUERQUE  and  KERN, Caroline. REFLECTIONS ON DIGITAL GAMES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD. ETD - Educ. Temat. Digit. [online]. 2019, vol.21, n.3, pp.662-673.  Epub Sep 23, 2019. ISSN 1676-2592.  https://doi.org/10.20396/etd.v21i3.8649928.

Digital games are considerably new artifacts in the history of childhood and they can be understood from various perspectives. In this article, we reflect on digital games and children from the perspective of the sociology of childhood. The first reflection encompasses the stigma suffered by digital gamers due to the symbolic relation between games and children, mediated by an adultcentric view. The second describes digital games as framing structures for play, consequently influencing the ways children are initiated in their culture. We discuss, thus, not only the potential influences of digital gaming, but also children’s possibilities to transgress and construct their own meanings, actively interacting with those cultural artifacts. The third problematizes the notion of ‘game generation’, highlighting the heterogeneity of each generation. The fourth emphasises the importance of listening to children’s voices in academic research when games and childhood are addressed. The reflections aim to enrich the academic discussions, both in the field of digital games and in the field of childhood, raising elements which deserve further and deeper attention and problematizing the role of adults in the relations between children and digital games.

Keywords : Digital games; Sociology of Childhood; Playfulness; Child; Adultcentrism.

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