Communication Begins with Children

Thomas J. Socha (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is University Professor of Communication at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, specializing in family communication, children's communication, and positive communication. He is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Family Communication and recipient of numerous awards for his research, teaching, and student mentoring.

Narissra Maria Punyanunt-Carter (Ph.D., Kent State University) is Assistant Dean of International Affairs and Professor of Communication Studies at Texas Tech University specializing communication in interpersonal relationships, CMC, fathers-daughters, and media and romance. She is an award-winning teacher, extensively published scholar, and energetic leader.

Communication Begins with Children: A Lifespan Communication Sourcebook seeks to transform the field of communication, arguing that the field must stop neglecting and segregating children and instead adopt an age-inclusive lifespan approach that fully includes and fully considers children in all communication theorizing, research, and education from infancy and throughout the human lifespan. One-size-fits-all, adult-centric communication theorizing, researching, and educating is inadequate and harms the communication field's potential as a social force for positive change for all communicators. The volume contains four sections (Foundations, Relational Communication Development, Digital Communication Development, and Navigating Developmental Communication Challenges) that showcase state-of-the-art chapters about the history of children's relational and digital communication studies, methods used to study children's communication, media literacy development, communication and children's health, and much more. A must read for all communication researchers, educators, and students and an important addition to advanced and graduate level human and digital communication courses.

Communication Begins with Children argues that the field of communication must stop neglecting and segregating children and instead adopt an age-inclusive lifespan approach that fully includes and fully considers children in all communication theorizing, research and education from infancy and throughout the human lifespan.

Thomas J. Socha, Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter: Introduction - Foundations - Thomas J. Socha, Narissra MPunyanunt- Carter: Comprehensive Communication Development during Childhood: First Steps in Positive Lifespan Communication - Thomas J. Socha: End the Neglect of Children and Transform the Field of Communication: A Critical-Experiential Review and Research Agenda - Thomas J. Socha: Studying Communication during the Early Lifespan: Rationale, Approaches, and Methods - Relational Communication Development - Gary A. Beck, Kristen Carr: Children, Parents, and Resilience: Exploring Challenges and Potential of Communication's Contribution to Developmental Thriving - Malinda J. Colwell, Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo: Socio-emotional Development in Childhood and Adolescence Through Communication: An Overview - Paula S. Tompkins: Communication and Children's Moral Development -Digital Communication Development - Alexis R. Lauricella, Fashina Alade, Ellen Wartella: An Historical Look at Children and Media Research: Lessons Learned and Questions Revisited - Robin Duffee, Sydney Cox, Narissra Maria Punyanunt-Carter: Parasocial Relationships and Children - Andrea McCourt, Jillian Yarbrough: Family Communication, Media Consumption, and Teens' Body Image and Problematic Eating Behaviors: A Review - Danyella B. Jones: Arthur, Gay Marriage, and Contesting the Boundaries of Childhood: Socially Constructing Sexuality in Children's Educational Television - Ronda M. Scantlin: Media Literacy Education as a Context for Children's Communication - Navigating Developmental Communication Challenges - John Chetro-Szivos, Marit Eikaas Haavimb, Kimberly Pearce: CosmoKidz: Helping Children Make Better Social Worlds - Jenna R. LaFreniere : Lasting Impressions: Exploring Communicative Legacies of Children's Experiences in Divorced Families - Jason S. Wrench, Wendy Bower: Social (Pragmatic) Impairment: The Impact on Communication Development - Michelle Miller-Day: At the Crossroads of Prevention: Promoting Children's and Adolescents' Health - Thomas J. Socha, Narissra Maria Punyanunt-Carter: Coda: The Urgent Need for Global, Inclusive, and Comprehensive Lifespan Communication - About the Co-editors - About the Authors - Author Index - Subject Index.