Adolescent civic engagement: Lessons from Black Lives Matter

Abstract

In 2020, individuals of all ages engaged in demonstrations condemning police brutality and supporting the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Research that used parent reports and trends commented on in popular media suggested that adolescents under 18 had become increasingly involved in this movement. In the first large-scale quantitative survey of adolescents’ exposure to BLM demonstrations, 4,970 youth (meanage = 12.88 y) across the United States highlighted that they were highly engaged, particularly with media, and experienced positive emotions when exposed to the BLM movement. In addition to reporting strong engagement and positive emotions related to BLM demonstrations, Black adolescents in particular reported higher negative emotions when engaging with different types of media and more exposure to violence during in-person BLM demonstrations. Appreciating youth civic engagement, while also providing support for processing complex experiences and feelings, is important for the health and welfare of young people and society.

A practical guide for researchers and reviewers using the ABCD Study and other large longitudinal datasets

“…Understanding the contextual effects of these events on data collection in ABCD is essential for conducting nuanced and culturally relevant research. The ABCD research team has already collected and released supplemental data related to the COVID-19 pandemic (ABCD COVID Rapid Response Research Survey; ABCD Data Release 3.0), natural disaster exposures (e.g., Hurricane Irma; Hoffman et al, 2019a , Hoffman et al, 2019b ), and racial justice protests ( Baskin-Sommers et al, 2021 ). Researchers can also use residential or census data if they are interested in investigating other cohort events that may affect a subset of their participants (see Chieh Fan et al, 2021 for geocoding protocols).…”

White parents of adopted Black children in an era of racial reckoning: Challenges, tensions, and strategies

“…Their reluctance may have been fueled by anticipation of the difficult feelings that such events might engender in them (Hertz, 2008) and their children (e.g., about differences in privilege), as well as general concerns about unrest and violence. Attendance at such events likely evokes a complex set of feelings, as documented by recent findings that Black adolescents who participated in BLM protests experienced both positive emotions as well as vulnerability (e.g., exposure to risk of violence; Baskin‐Sommers et al, 2021).…”

Every Day Matters: Using Daily Methods to Understand Oppression and BIPOC Youth Development in Context

“…(2022) show that teacher support (but not parent or peer support) on the same day buffers the influence of discrimination on adolescent sleep that night. There is also an increasing recognition of youth activism in combat against discrimination, racism, and oppression (Sánchez et al., 2022 in this special issue), particularly in online spaces (Baskin‐Sommers et al., 2021). Understanding how these experiences may intersect with daily OREs is an area ripe for future research.…”