Plugging In

The Appeal and Potential of Digital Media to Engage Youth

In a case study involving 19 innercity school youth who were using the Internet in a school-based community development project, Valaitis (2005) found that most participants “perceived that using computers and the Internet reduced their anxiety concerning communication with adults, increased their control when dealing with adults, raised their perception of their social status, increased participation within the community, supported reflective thought, increased efficiency, and improved their access to resources” (p. 4).

Coleman (2008) refers to the application of digital media technologies to engage youth in civic discourse as “youth e-citizenship” (p. 189). Because the virtual public sphere is cheaper and less burdensome to participate in compared with the traditional, physical public sphere, it is particularly attractive to young people who may otherwise be excluded from civic participation. The Internet also provides an opportunity for youth to be involved in community discussions without being immediately judged on the basis of their age. When young people contribute to the civic dialogue online, their words are evaluated on the merit of their meaning, not on the appearance of the speaker.

Rheingold (2008) describes modern youth as “digital natives” who have grown up “learning how to learn” new technologies (p. 99). And while they are self-directed and have high aptitude in acquiring the skills to participate in the online civic discussion, they need guidance from adults to find ways to apply these skills so that they facilitate genuine engagement.

Opportunities in Scholastic and Nonscholastic Youth Media

Online youth media outlets offer direct opportunities for adults to capitalize on young people’s technological aptitude and to promote connections between youth and their communities. Looking specifically at nonscholastic youth media, Soep (2006) describes the primary goals of these programs as youth learning, community and workforce development, civic engagement, creative expression, and social justice. These outlets are generally characterized by what Soep calls “collegial pedagogy” (p. 38), a concept that frames young people as valuable assets to community development through their access, understanding, experience, and analysis relevant to youth-related issues. Collegial pedagogy, Soep argues, not only allows youth to have a voice in the dialogue of community development, but also supports their educational and professional opportunities, promotes a sense of attachment and social responsibility, and allows them to participate in positive social change.

Looking at youth involvement in scholastic journalism, Harvey (2007) suggests that school-based youth media programs offer an opportunity for students to participate in “provocative and active service-learning experiences” (p. 16). In communities where local newspapers have gone under, scholastic journalism, Harvey argues, can and has filled such gaps by providing citizens with important information about local events and issues. “The students are compelled to leave their comfort zones in the name of benefit to their communities, while the businesses, organizations, individuals, and professionals of these communities provide the youngsters with realistic experiences outside the school walls” (p. 16).

Effective Engagement, School Attachment, and Positive Youth Development

Particularly in cases where young people come into direct contact with the needs and needy individuals of their communities, youth media involvement has the potential to promote a genuine and lasting efficacy for service (McLellan & Youniss, 2003). Benson (2006) suggests that involving youth in service to others can help them internalize values like caring, equality, and social justice. Moreover, to the extent that these programs can promote voluntary service of youth in their communities, they may offer opportunities to instill in young people a commitment to community service that research suggests will last well into their adulthood (Flanagan & Faison, 2001; Levine, 2007; Planty et al., 2006). However, Collier and Reitenauer (2005) caution that molding young people into engaged citizens requires more than just putting them to work; it requires “critical thinking, clear communication skills, the ability to collaborate with others, and problem-solving expertise” (p. 139).

There is evidence to suggest that youth media programs are providing these necessary social and critical skills for young people to become active members of their communities. Clark and Monserrate (2011) argue that scholastic media programs help youth to experience themselves as a part of a collective and to become socialized into citizenship. In their interviews with high school journalists, Clark and Monserrate also found that many youth said their scholastic media program helped them to feel “a sense of connection to their larger high school community” and promoted personal “concern for how the rights and experiences of those in their community were respectfully addressed” (p. 429).

Eccles and Appleton (2002) suggest that attachment to community institutions like schools, faith-based organizations, families, and other community nodes is a core human need. The importance of school attachment specifically (composed of factors such as regular school attendance, feelings of closeness with people at school, and feeling a part of one’s school) has been found, among other benefits, to be associated with lower levels of drug use and general delinquency (Murray & Belenko, 2005), and thus lower levels of adult criminality and overall community disorganization (Sampson & Groves, 1989).

Wentzel (1991) notes that the school is one of the primary community nodes for teens. It is where they connect with their peers and other nonfamilial adults, and it is one of the primary sites for learning about social norms. Thus, the findings of Clark and Monserrate (2011) suggest that fostering bonds of school attachment in teens through scholastic youth media is beneficial not only for those youth who participate in these programs, but also for their specific school ecology and the local community as a whole.

Turow (2001) points out that there are numerous negative online influences as well, and that the Internet provides greater availability for teens to access content focused on sex, violence, commercialism, and other objectionable material. Thus, online youth media programs that promote positive messages may offer healthy, constructive alternatives to these negative influences for both teen producers and consumers. Nicholson, Collins, and Holmer (2004) argue that structured outlets for creative expression also help “young people release tension and explore their individuality” (p. 62). Scales and Leffert (1999) count—among their 40 developmental assets—personal power, self-esteem, sense of purpose, and positive view of personal future as specific components of positive identity formation that function as internal developmental assets to promote healthy youth development. And positive youth development is important not only for teens as individuals, but also for “a socially just, democratic, civil society” (Lerner, Brentano, Dowling, & Anderson, 2002, p. 14).

Goldman, Booker, and McDermott (2008) suggest that today’s youth perceive themselves as victims of “adultism,” or systematic discrimination by adults, whereby teens are “searched, followed, monitored, disrespected, and silenced” (p. 187). In contrast, Zeldin (2002) argues that when youth and adults partner together for the good of their communities, both groups come to recognize and reinterpret their previously existing stereotypes. Youth media programs may offer young people a positive platform to have their voices heard and to contribute to conversations of community development. Kim and Ball-Rokeach (2006) argue, however, that regardless of the form or technology involved, media that are to be considered integral to building local communities must be producing messages specifically about the local community.

Trend data from a 2011 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicate that 95% of all teens use the Internet, and 62% of them go online to get information or news about current events or politics. boyd (2008) suggests that the online lives of young people are direct extensions of their offline peers and social network. This sort of peer attachment is particularly important for teens in terms of relational exploration and other issues pertaining to their present life situation (Meeus, Oosterwegel, & Vollebergh, 2002). Grusin and Edmondson (2003) point out that teens want information written by their peers, and they are going more and more frequently to the Internet to get this information and to interact with other teens. Thus, it seems that any effort to help youth feel more connected to their communities and to become more involved in them will necessarily capitalize on the appeal of the Internet for members of this younger generation.

Self-Expression

The most significant theme across all the website content was self-expression. Teens seemed to gravitate toward online youth media venues as a way of fulfilling their “passion,” “love for writing,” or a desire to express their feelings—not only in explicit opinion articles, but also in articles covering sports, arts, local events, personality profiles, and a host of other topics. Connecting to the work of Nicholson et al. (2004), the content produced on these sites showed vividly that these youth were using their expressive platform as a way of exploring issues of individuality, or as a means of self-narration. Likewise, the opportunity for positive self-expression also appeared to offer a contrast to the “adultism” described by Goldman et al. (2008), as demonstrated in the mission statement of VOX Teen Newspaper, which proposed to offer youth a voice to respond to “the sense of powerlessness and isolation that many teens often feel every day” (VOX Teen Newspaper, 2013, p. 1).

One article on VOX titled “Heck Yeah, I’m Adopted!” was a first-person account by a teen who had been adopted through the foster care system (Wright, 2009). In the article, the youth recounted her experience of adjusting to a new family and the novelty of affectionate parents who gave her “lots of hugs and kisses” (p. 2). In concluding the article, the youth shared her curiosity to meet her birth family and show them that she was “not the same scared, timid little girl they once knew.” (p. 14).

The theme of self-expression was marked in a number of the webpages examined by a clear intention for the writer to express him- or herself about a particular issue, or in some cases, by a recognition that other youth involved in a story had something valuable to say. That is, many times youth used these websites to provide their direct personal commentary on various subjects, but they would also include quotes from their peers or fun teen profile articles that gave voice to other youths’ perspectives on a variety of common youth concerns. In both cases, scholastic and nonscholastic youth media websites demonstrated the value of young people in their access, experience, and firsthand understanding of youth issues (Soep, 2006).

One of the most direct indications of self-expression was in the use of first-person perspective, again particularly so on nonscholastic youth media sites (Figure 3). One nonscholastic article appearing on the New York-based site New Youth Connections used a first-person perspective and illustrated Soep’s (2006) argument that youth media can support teens’ educational and professional opportunities. Titled “The Right Choice for Me,” the article provided a teen’s introspective look at his decision to go to college (Holoman, 2009). Ultimately deciding to go, the author wrote, “I’ve made myself proud. My future is all up to me, and I know I’ve made the right choice for myself” (p. 25).

OPEN IN VIEWER Figure 3.

Likewise, in an opinion article on The Grantonian, a student provided commentary about current social conventions in teen culture, specifically for teen girls, in celebrating Halloween (Quinn, 2009). The writer told of the peer pressure among high school girls to dress “slutty” for the holiday. She wrote about how in going to a Halloween party of her peers the year before, she was confronted with a “hot sweaty hump mass” of “horny adolescents” and said, “as a 16-year-old girl, I was supposed to be wearing lingerie” (p. 1) instead of the more conservative self-made cat costume she had chosen. As the article progresses, the author concedes that in spite of recognizing and disapproving of this objectifying practice, “this year I dressed up as Tinkerbell because I wanted to show skin. For one day out of the year I wanted to be desired. . . But where does that leave girls who are not comfortable conforming?” (p. 1).

In this transitional period of life from childhood to adulthood, these teens seem to be using the platform of youth-generated media outlets—both scholastic and nonscholastic—to express themselves and work out issues of identity, self-esteem, life goals, family dynamics, social relationships, and even their overall world view as a tool in their personal development. The developmental assets proposed by Scales and Leffert (1999) suggest then that under the guidance of positive nonfamilial adults, these youth media programs offer opportunities for positive youth development, which then contributes to stronger, healthier communities (Lerner et al., 2002).

While most of the articles examined in this study did not show a strong connection between self-expression and commentary directly about people, issues, or events in the broader community, there were notable exceptions pointing to the importance of explicitly local storytelling (Kim & Ball-Rokeach, 2006). On the nonscholastic site HarlemLIVE, one youth writer told the story of Evelyn Cunningham, a 93-year-old Harlem resident who had worked for more than 50 years as a media professional (Crosdale, 2009). The writer offered a reverential and glowing account of this woman’s life as a journalist during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s and her travels around the globe.

At Teenlink, a youth media site in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, one youth posted an article called “This is our generation, people” (Radman, 2009), in which she expressed her concerns about a rash of teen-on-teen violence taking place “merely minutes” from her home in South Florida. Her general sentiment was one of befuddlement and alarm.

This is morally wrong. This cannot be how our generation is turning out. We are the ones who will be taking charge soon. Are we going to let this continue? Are we going to raise our own kids in a crime driven, violence induced world where acts such as these become commonplace? (p. 7)

In cases such as these, there was clear evidence of these youth media websites serving the function of “youth e-citizenship” described by Coleman (2008). And in these cases self-expression was consistent with informing youth audiences about topics directly related to their communities. The detached objectivity of mainstream professional journalism seems to have been put aside in favor of the authenticity provided by firsthand anecdotal examples that the audience (particularly other youth) could relate to. So while these examples offer promise about explicit use of youth media to promote direct, positive connections between teens and their communities, the fact that they were generally the exception also point to the merit of Rheingold’s (2008) claim that youth interest and technological aptitude do not necessarily translate into genuine engagement.

Peer Support

The theme of peer support was emphasized across the content. There was a clear message that youth in the target audience were not alone in their interests, emotions, and struggles to grow into adults. This type of content points to the importance of peer attachment for the present life situations of teens (Meeus et al., 2002) It also suggests that youth media content creators are aware that their target audience of peers wants online information written by fellow teens about common teen concerns. (Grusin & Edmondson, 2003). Many times the content examined demonstrated an affective connection between the theme of self-expression and peer support. That is, teens connect their own personal, emotional, and relational experiences with those of their peers.

One webpage on The Mash, a nonscholastic website from Chicago, demonstrated the peer support theme through its discussion of shared fashion tastes among groups of friends at different local schools (Bator & Thompson, 2009). Along with a small photo gallery showing teens posing together in similarly styled outfits, the article described how members of various high school “cliques”—which seemed to carry a positive rather than negative connotation in this article—used fashion as a way to identify with one another. “We want everybody to see us as a classy group of young ladies and want to inspire other girls to dress appropriate and original,” one of the group’s members was quoted as saying. “We want other cliques to realize that friendship is important, and when you find a group of close friends, you need to hold on to them” (p. 14).

Other webpages demonstrated teen peer support through content directly related to common youth life goals. On its “Cool Links” page, the nonscholastic site L.A. Youth provided teens with links to resources like job search websites, Southern California colleges and universities, testing services, and scholarship information. Similarly from the scholastic context, under the “News” section on The Pointer there was a webpage simply titled “Scholarship Opportunities.” This page was continually updated so students could find the most recent information about scholarships, including the monetary amounts, how to apply, and the application deadline. Thus, in both scholastic and nonscholastic contexts these sites again confirmed Soep’s (2006) assertion that youth media can support teens’ educational and professional opportunities.

School Attachment

A third emergent theme in this study was school attachment. Not surprisingly, this theme was more evident in scholastic sites than nonscholastic sites. However, both in and outside of school, teens seem to enjoy talking and writing about school activities, their fellow classmates, school policies, and other school-related topics. While the work of Clark and Monserrate (2011) was based on interviews, the textual evidence in this study offers support to their findings that participation in scholastic journalism programs (and here extended to nonscholastic youth media programs) promotes in youth “a sense of connection to their larger high school community” (p. 429).

The websites examined in this study demonstrated numerous examples of promoting positive connections among students, parents, teachers, administrators, school staff, policymakers, and other vested parties, all of which can be seen to facilitate broad inclusion in building better schools, and ultimately better communities (Murray & Belenko, 2005; Wentzel, 1991). On nonscholastic pages, youth often identified themselves and fellow students by the school they attended (e.g., a senior at . . . High School), showing the power of school attachment as a component of identity for youth (Wentzel, 1991).

One of the primary ways in which school attachment was demonstrated on scholastic sites was through coverage of school events or recent accolades for other students, teachers, or the school as a whole. One scholastic article on The Pointer in Baltimore supportively described how the school’s science magnet program was engaged in a tree-planting project as part of an effort to “save Chesapeake Bay” (The Pointer, 2009). Moreover, the story pointed out that money for the project came from the sale of specialty license plates. “People in our community help to pay for this project without even realizing it,” the author wrote (p. 3). Thus, while emphasizing school attachment by recognizing student work, this article also promoted the view of youth as community assets and demonstrated how school attachment can link to broader community connections.

On other more limited occasions, webpages demonstrated the school attachment theme through more critical scrutiny. That is, youth writers used their platform to express an opinion critical of a school policy or to consider a school issue in a less congratulatory way. In one article on The Grantonian in Portland, OR, the writers described the frustration of students and teachers alike with the fact that Portland Public Schools (PPS) had decided not to let schools out early on the day of the upcoming Junior Rose Parade (Robinson, Swift, & Bailey, 2009). While the writers identified the bureaucratic reasons for the PPS decision, the article was clearly framed in opposition. The story ended with a quote from a teacher who said, “PPS has decided to rain on our parade.” Such articles, while expressing critical perspectives, demonstrated school attachment through the youths’ investment in their schools and issues relevant to them. Examples like those above also demonstrated further opportunity for how youth media can directly connect teen concerns with the broader local community (Kim & Ball-Rokeach, 2006).

Diversity

A fourth emergent theme in the textual analysis was diversity, which addressed issues including race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and generational differences. The content examined suggests that youth media websites serve to promote diverse, positive ties and attitudes among teens and people outside of their immediate peer group.

One article on VOX, a nonscholastic site in Atlanta, demonstrated the importance of diversity through an African American teen’s encouragement for her fellow Black peers to take pride in their heritage, and to honor that legacy by exhibiting good character and valuing education (Bryant, 2009). In a story on Teenlink, the youth media site in Ft. Lauderdale, one youth gave an account of her experience moving from South Florida—an area known for its ethnic diversity—to go to school at Central Washington University (Calavia-Lopez, 2009). The teen writer, whose father was Spanish and mother was Nicaraguan, told of how she discovered that Hispanic culture was not as familiar everywhere as in South Florida. “At Sedano’s supermarket, a Cuban-owned supermarket chain popular in South Florida, Hispanic and American products have always sat side by side,” she wrote. “A can of Folger’s coffee next to a can of La Llave or Bustelo has always been what’s normal to me” (p. 15-16).

Both scholastic and nonscholastic content also demonstrated generational diversity. For example, teens often used adults and fellow youth as sources in their stories to incorporate a cross-generational perspective on the topics they covered. The constructive interaction of youth and adult viewpoints in the texts can be seen to help dispel the false stereotypes some adults may have about teens (Zeldin, 2002), as well as help teens realize that there are supportive adults available to them in their communities. Likewise, through promoting a general appreciation of diversity, these sites encourage teens to respect and appreciate people whose lives and social experiences are very different from their own.

Pop Culture

Finally, in a fair amount of the content examined, more so on nonscholastic sites, topics of celebrity, professional sports, popular music, movies, and other forms of popular culture often appeared. One article on The Mash expressed the importance of television as a common interest and bond that youth find in pop culture (Myatt & Pollard, 2009). “It’s always a good conversation starter,” one local high school student was quoted as saying with reference to the hit series “Glee.” “When you know you have nothing to talk about, you can always mention something about last night’s episode” (p. 4).

In many cases, however, pop culture served as more than just lighthearted space filler on these websites. It was a reference point by which youth sorted through the complexities of life, connected to their peers, expressed themselves, wrestled with their identities, and found emotional resonance for the issues and concerns they experienced personally. A staff editorial on the broadview: online (2009), the scholastic news website for the private, all-girl Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco, emphasized the importance of pop culture during the difficult teen years of emotional development.

In brooding over a first crush or a bad grade or a fight with parents, an emotionally unstable adolescent can simply switch on the radio or an iPod and listen to her favorite artists sing about her own troubles mirrored in the lyrics. (p. 2).