Laura Römer 
Socialization of children and adolescents through media. Influence on identity and self-image 

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Pedagogy – Media Pedagogy, grade: 2, 7, University of Duisburg-Essen, language: English, abstract: How do media affect the identity and self-image of six to eighteen-year-olds? The goal of this study is to determine whether the Internet and television have an influence on children and adolescents as a means of socialization.

‚Today, socialization is no longer conceivable without media; it takes place under the sign of an active subject who deals with the media from an early age, uses them purposefully and makes use of them to shape his everyday life, to examine, expand, revise the value and norm structure of his social environment, his personality and life concepts.‘ This statement exemplifies the (ever-increasing) role of media in socialization. Particularly noteworthy here is the Internet, which offers many opportunities for self-expression in addition to research and communication. In addition to the Internet, television is an important medium for humanity and thus also for this study.

Often the media use by children and young people is judged critically by scientists. For example, media would have a negative influence on development and are manipulative. However, socialization research hardly deals with the increasing importance of media. Dagmar Hoffmann sees the reason for this neglect in the fact that socialization research is of the opinion that there is no reciprocal relationship between people and the media and that media can therefore not be counted as a socialization instance.