The doctoral dissertation reconceptualises media education for children growing up in a digitalised, algorithmically structured, and datafied everyday life. This contemporary context is marked by the omnipresence of digital technologies, constant connectivity, and the demand for immediate access to people and information. The conceptual framework critically examines how societal understandings of children are constructed and how these relate to the media landscapes that shape their everyday experiences. Particular attention is paid to the mediatization of childhood and the role of children as active agents within media practices. The dissertation explores digitalisation and datafication in three key social domains of childhood: families, education, and peer groups. It investigates the relationship between the transformations of childhood and media education. The original empirical study, conducted with lower secondary school children, integrates qualitative and quantitative methods of data gathering (focus groups, media maps, survey) and analysis (qualitative thematic analysis, statistical analysis). Findings reveal that schools adopt a predominantly protectionist approach to media education, often informed by technological determinism—framing digital media either as a risk or an opportunity for their future jobs. In families, media education is shaped by social and cultural capital that relates to children's access to digital media and the regulation of their media practices. Economic capital connects to material access, while cultural capital is linked to parental regulation of media practices and media literacy formation. Schools struggle to bridge the digital divide, as access to devices is often limited to what children already possess. Peer groups emerge as the most influential domain in fostering advanced media practices and literacy. The study concludes with a holistic model of media education, comprising six interconnected elements across four levels: (1) environmental stimuli; (2) material access to media; (3) cognitive access to media; and (4) advanced forms of media literacy, including critical-analytical, creative-productive, and civic-participatory competences. This research contributes to contemporary understandings of media education by contextualising it within the broader transformations of childhood in the digital age.
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