New Study maps youth civic activism

Posted by on April 2, 2004

[posted from Promising Practices in After School listserv]

New Study Maps Online Political, Civic Activities of Generation Y, Documents Youth Involvement on the Web

AU’s Center for Social Media Expects Internet to Draw Youth into Community Involvement, Activism and Collaborative Communication

Contact: Barb Gottlieb, AU Center for Social Media, 202-885-2082
Maralee Csellar, AU Media Relations, 202-885-5952

WASHINGTON, DC (March 23, 2004) – An online youth civic culture, largely unnoticed by the general public, has taken root on the Internet and is fostering Generation Y’s participation in U.S. politics and community affairs, according to a report released today by American University’s Center for Social Media. The report can be viewed at http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/youthreport.pdf.

“So much of the debate over young people and the media culture has focused on protecting youth from indecent, violent, or pornographic content,” explained the study’s principal author, Kathryn C. Montgomery, Ph.D., professor in AU?s School of Communication and co-director of the Center for Social Media. ?What this study reveals is that young people also use the Internet for civic and political engagement. They go online to register to vote and to volunteer; some of them are also writing about world events, launching projects for community improvement, and learning skills for political action.”

The 155-page report, Youth as E-Citizens, identifies and analyzes almost 400 websites, created for and in some cases by young people, that engage youth in civic activities. An “online tour” of this new online youth civic sector (http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/index.htm)
provides links to seventy-five websites that vividly embody this new digital civic landscape.

Youth as E-Citizens received major funding from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). The study is part of the Center for Social Media’s new Youth, Media, and Democracy Project, which is supported by the Surdna Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

For more assistance, contact Barb Gottlieb, AU Center for Social Media, at 202-885-2082/ gottlieb@american.edu or Maralee Csellar, AU Media Relations, at 202-885-5952/ csellar@american.edu.