A research-creation thesis by Miriam Verburg for Concordia’s MA in Media Studies
http://thesis.mirverburg.net/
This community-oriented research project presents a series of video clips collected from interviews with people who work on youth media projects at three sites in Montreal.
Interviewees discuss their experience working in community youth media, addressing issues such as collaboration, institutionalization of practice, motivation, emergent literacy practices, and the effect of the ‘new economy’ on community learning projects. Of particular concern is how ‘youth’ as a political and social category is conceptualized and mobilized in media projects, in ways that both compliment and challenge existing institutional and educational norms.
The body of evidence presented here is not a complete study. However, these nine interviews offer many insights into youth media production, and the interplay between institutions and grass-roots learning initiatives.
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Report on SSHRC -funded Research Project: Children, Young People, and New Media in the Home (2002-06)
My objectives for this research project were to examine young people’s use of the internet by focusing on the overall media environment at home. In particular I was keen to give children and youth the opportunity to actively discuss their everyday uses of the internet, without having their voices filtered through adult perspectives. This was a timely project as for many Canadian families the internet was quickly becoming a domestic utility, used alongside (and sometimes more than) television, radio and newspapers. The research questions that guided my research included those focusing on access, lifestyle, uses, social change, content, and commercialization.
As the research developed it took on two distinct trajectories: 1) interviews with children and youth in their home; and 2) research on policy issues related to youth and new media as well as research on the commercial aspects of new media products for kids.
Papers published from this research project (see below) reinforced the findings from the interviews. Papers looked at the creation of internet communities by and for youth (NeoPets, Gurl.com, MySpace, Mary-Kate and Ashley, the Pro-Ana sites) with a focus on critically assessing the commercial implications of these sites and the policy issues they raised, particularly privacy and data mining practices. A focus on gender differences was evident in papers on the Pro-Ana community, efforts to protect young girls from sexual predators on the internet, and the design of mobile phones marketed to young girls. Policy issues played a central role in all of the papers, from an analysis of the federal SchoolNet program and its purported attempts to ‘wire’ up all K-12 schools in Canada, to free speech issues (Pro-Ana), to debates over downloading.
The 35 semi-structured interviews took place in Ottawa, Windsor, Montreal and Toronto and were conducted by the student research assistants. Securing ethics clearances from the universities including both parental assent and children’s consent forms proved to be time-consuming but the processes in both institutions were professional and diligent. Locating children and youth was time-consuming and necessitated creating trust amongst the student interviewers and the parents and children. The Canadian Journal of Communication (Shade, Porter & Sanchez, 2005) article outlines the research analysis from the interviews. Topics included: time spent online, uses of the internet for leisure and schoolwork, perceptions about privacy and attitudes towards online advertising, music downloading practices, and identity play. Our study indicates that while children and youth are active and intrepid internet surfers, they use the internet to extend their local and school-based ties, and that they have very little concern for offensive or illegal content issues. Furthermore, while parents and policymakers raise concerns about violence and pornography, our research indicates that there are more insidious potential areas of concern that raise important ethical and political considerations: a lack of awareness of privacy information and a proliferation of data mining targeting youth; a lack of discussion of questions surrounding copyright, downloading, and online plagiarism; and a tendency of policymakers to address children as consumers of entertainment rather than as potential citizens or active media producers. These findings are of special interest for government policy. Canadian internet policy has tended to ignore how children and young people have become a viable and integral online target market, which is a disquieting omission when considering the overall political economic framework of the internet and the profitable demographic that marketers are seeking to attract. Although PIPEDA (the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) legislation protects personal information collection, used or disclosed by commercial interests, Canada does not yet have the equivalent to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). On the popular practice of peer-to-peer downloading of music, video, and film, continued vilification of these youth practices by industry will not work when trying to solve this complex social and policy issue. Policymakers need to think critically – and creatively – about developing digital literacy skills that consider children and young people as valid and active citizens. Policymakers might want to shift their focus to the proactive development of digital literacy skills, particularly those focusing on the authenticity and prevalence of commercial content, raising awareness of privacy rights, and copyright education.
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Globe and Mail, Tues., January 3 1994…
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