Texting Toward Utopia: Kids, Writing, and Resistance

Ben Agger

Nov 2015 · Routledge

About this eBook

This book examines the contemporary era where parents complain that children today don't do their homework because they are distracted by the Internet, texting, and video games. Texting Toward Utopia presents the writings of todays children and develops the argument that this is actually a time of mass literary, in which young people write furiously, albeit often below the adult radar. Agger argues that where texting replaces textbooks, the writing may be emoticon-laden, slangy, or terse, but it is still profound, as children (and their parents) engage in resistance and write for a better world. This book is a guide to understanding the meeting point between a new generation of children and new communication technologies.

About the author

Ben Agger is Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas, Arlington, where he directs the Center for Theory. His most recent book is Oversharing: Presentations of Self in the Internet Age.