News

Screens, tweens and teens: a good thing?

Published 9 May 2013

Event 20 May 2013

Are screens changing childhood for the better? Space Invaders, a free Festival fringe event on 20 May will consider whether new technologies, gaming and social media like Facebook and Twitter could be a boon to children rather than a nightmare for parents.

Novelist and Guardian columnist, Tim Lott, is MC for the event, which includes a debate by students from the universities of Brighton and Sussex and screening of some of the entries to the #iMedia Competition run by the Space Invaders project.

The Space Invaders project asked young people in Brighton and Sussex to let adults know how they use social media and new technologies in their lives by making three-minute films about what’s hot (or not) in their media lives and what the media allow them to achieve.

The free family-friendly event will see prizes awarded to the winners and runners-up in two categories: 6-11 and 12-18 years, as judged by a panel including young people from local schools, educators and people working in creative industries. The event has been picked by I-Likes, the national media partner for the Brighton Fringe Festival.

Space Invaders is run by the Centre for Research and Innovation in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY) at the University of Sussex in collaboration with the School of Education at the University of Brighton.

The finalists in the #iMedia Competition can be viewed via the CIRCY blog. Space Invaders: Children, Youth and Public Spaces takes place on Monday 20 May, 6-8pm, at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade, Brighton BN2 0JY.

Space Invaders poster