Politics, media and youth: understanding political socialization via video production in secondary schools

Abstract

Research on the lack of civic and political engagement on the part of today's youth has relied on traditional, often quantitative, measures of political knowledge that may miss important elements of the process. Using an ethnographic approach with a group of inner-city high school students, our study reveals a richer construction of students' awareness of political issues, or political socialization than previously documented by conventional survey measures. Notably present is a sophisticated awareness of and identification with non-news television formats which suggests that sources such as TV talk and reality shows may be important sources of political discourse and even civic engagement. Our study also supports the value of hands-on media production projects for understanding youth political knowledge and awareness, suggesting an additional tool for political communication and civic engagement research.

Tracing children’s politics

“…Following national guidelines, the procedure endeavors to promote children's political socialization and their engagement in official politics (cf. Buckingham, 2000;Sapiro, 2004;Dunsmore & Lagos, 2008;Claes et al, 2009). The system aims at establishing for children a new societal position that is 1) attainable to everyone through school, child care and public activities; 2) anchored at municipal government; 3) directly connected to national and supra-national policy-making.…”

“…Laying emphasis on the state's role and school's potential in promoting political socialization, this entails that children's politics is considered more or less on a par with adults' politics (cf. Buckingham, 2000;Sapiro, 2004;Dunsmore & Lagos, 2008;Claes et al, 2009). At the same time, it implies that in their everyday life practices, children do not normally act politically, at least to any sufficient or satisfying extent.…”

Congregating to create for social change: urban youth media production and sense of community

“…In-depth studies of the effects of active engagement with media and video technologies on young people’s sense of community, social capital, or empowerment are rare (Burnett 1996; McLeod 2000). One exception is an ethnographic study by Dunsmore and Lagos (2008) who found high levels of student awareness and interest in engaging with community members about social issues through video production, which had not been fully documented through prior conventional survey measures.…”

Managing Political Behavior of University Students

“…Future U.S. physicians may be more receptive to liberal messages than conservative ones, and their political orientation may profoundly affect their health system attitudes (Dunsmore & Lagos, 2008). Some of the political and resource issues are importance in proposing and obtaining support for a mandatory student clerkship (Alam, 2003).…”