Stephanie Ricker Schulte

Correlates of Political and Civic Engagement Among Youth During the 2012 Presidential Campaign

A national mail survey of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 (n = 876) was conducted immediately before the U.S. presidential election (October 2012) to investigate socialization agents that may correlate with political and civic engagement. The relative importance of potential correlates of engagement including demographics, parents, peers, schools, religion, traditional media, social networks, and digital communication were evaluated. Regression analysis revealed that civically engaged youth identify with a religion, participate in civic education activities at school and extracurricular activities, take action (e.g., boycotting or buycotting), develop attitudes about citizenship, and engage in online/social media political activities. Politically engaged youth come from higher income households, discuss news and politics, take action, and are very prone to engage in online/social media political activities. While a wider range of activities appear to be related to civic engagement, those who are politically engaged appear to have a strong interest in online media usage. Implications are discussed.

Youth Political Consumerism and the 2012 Presidential Election What Influences Youth Boycotting and Buycotting

The authors examine whether predictors of adult political consumerism (i.e., boycotting and buycotting) and factors associated with youth civic and political participation also predict youth political consumerism. Data from a national mail survey of adolescents ages 12 to 17 years and their parents (n = 876) conducted in October 2012 are used to examine predictors of youth political consumerism. Factors analyzed include youth political and civic participation, parental modeling of boycotting and buycotting, and parental encouragement of following news and politics. Other factors examined include youth civic education, extracurricular participation, and youth social or civic attitudes. In addition, the authors assess differences between youth who boycott and those who buycott. The findings show that parental modeling is the most important predictor of youth political consumerism, and young political consumers also engage in civic and political activities. Moreover, youth boycotters and buycotters appear to exhibit differences in political ideology and motivations for political consumerism.

Online Environmental Engagement Among Youth: Influence of Parents, Attitudes and Demographics

Although young citizens may not always politically engage in the same fashion as their elders, research suggests they are using Facebook, Twitter, and other newer communication systems to mobilize politically both generally and around environmental issues. Given the declining environmental conditions facing young citizens, a national stratified quota sample of 1,096 U.S. parents and their children between the ages of 12 and 17 was conducted to investigate the factors potentially related to their efforts to persuade members of their online social networks to be more environmental. We believe that online peer persuasion is an important concept to investigate because peer persuasion can create subjective norms that ultimately may influence behavior. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, although parents influence youth behavior (Adj. R 2 = .11), the greatest variance in behavior was explained by the youths own environmental self-efficacy, environmental news consumption, political interest, time spent online, gender, and environmental consumerism (ΔR 2 = .29). Youth political interest and environmental consumerism were especially important variables in the final model. Structural equation modeling reinforced that parental influence is primarily indirect. This study appears to be among the first to link environmental consumerism with youth online peer persuasion.

“The WarGames Scenario”: Regulating Teenagers and Teenaged Technology (1980-1984)

WarGames (1983), the first mass-consumed, visual representation of the internet, served as both a vehicle and framework for Americas earliest discussion of the internet. WarGames presented the internet simultaneously as a high-tech toy for teenagers and a weapon for global destruction. In its wake, major news media focused on potential realities of the “WarGames Scenario.” In response, Congress held hearings, screened WarGames, and produced the first internet-regulating legislation. WarGames engaged a “teenaged technology” discourse, which cast both internet technology itself and its users as rebellious teenagers in need of parental control. This discourse enabled policy makers to equate government internet regulation with parental guidance rather than with suppression of democracy and innovation, a crucial distinction within 1980s cold war context. Thus, this article historicizes the internet as a cultural text, examining how technology and its regulation shaped and were shaped by cultural representations.

The WarGames Scenario

WarGames (1983), the first mass-consumed, visual representation of the internet, served as both a vehicle and framework for Americas earliest discussion of the internet. WarGames presented the internet simultaneously as a high-tech toy for teenagers and a weapon for global destruction. In its wake, major news media focused on potential realities of the “WarGames Scenario.” In response, Congress held hearings, screened WarGames, and produced the first internet-regulating legislation. WarGames engaged a “teenaged technology” discourse, which cast both internet technology itself and its users as rebellious teenagers in need of parental control. This discourse enabled policy makers to equate government internet regulation with parental guidance rather than with suppression of democracy and innovation, a crucial distinction within 1980s cold war context. Thus, this article historicizes the internet as a cultural text, examining how technology and its regulation shaped and were shaped by cultural representations.

The Political Power of Film: Traffic's Impact on Drug Policy Debates

This interdisciplinary study advances film effects and policy research by combining multiple methodologies to assess how a film may affect policy debates. Investigating Traffics effect on press and Congressional drug policy debates, this article illustrates how Traffic was used to push for or against legislation, to reframe the drug policy debate, and to provide symbolic attention to drug-related issues. A framing analysis shows that Traffic framed news coverage of drug abuse, and a discursive analysis illustrates how and why this occurred. Ultimately, this article suggests blockbuster films cloaked in realism, elite attention, and news coverage may shift policy debates in media spheres. It also illustrates the potentials for multimethod research strategies to reveal hegemony at work and flaws in journalistic practices.

Book Review: We Are Data: Algorithms and The Making of Our Digital Selves, by J. Cheney-LippoldWe Are Data: Algorithms and The Making of Our Digital Selves, by Cheney-LippoldJ.New York: New York University Press, 2017, pp. 320, ISBN 9781479857593,

In 2013, a 41-year-old man named Mark Hemmings dialled 999 from his home in Stoke-on-Trent. He pleaded with the operator for an ambulance, telling them that ‘my stomach is in agony’, that ‘I’ve got lumps in my stomach’, that he was vomiting and sweating and felt light-headed. The operator asked a series of questions — ‘have you any diarrhoea or vomiting?’; ‘have you passed a bowel motion that looks black or tarry or red or maroon?’ — before informing him that he did not require an ambulance. Two days later Mr Hemmings was found unconscious on the floor of his flat. He died of gallstones shortly after reaching hospital.

27.95 (hardcover).

ABSTRACT A national survey with 876 responses examined whether political consumerism is related to religious factors including beliefs about gay marriage, if the Bible is the literal word of God, religiosity or social capital, altruism or civic engagement, cognitive engagement, and the use of political social and digital media. Results suggest religious factors may be important in political consumption, with political consumers less likely to believe the Bible is the literal word of God, suggesting they perceive self-direction regarding their religious beliefs. Political consumers may exhibit universalism by participating in altruistic activities such as volunteering to help the poor, homeless and elderly. However, given their lack of support for gay marriage, traditional religious teachings may supersede universalism for certain social justice issues.

Are Religious Factors Associated with Political Consumerism?An Exploratory Study

Are you a woman of color in software development? Are you tired of the tech industry’s boys’ club? If so, the United States government wants you. Just watch its recruiting video.In 2014, President ...