Running Head: MEDIA AND POLITICS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Relationship Between Media and Political Involvement in High School Students

Jeremy Ippolito

Ancaster High School

Mrs. Davies

Due Friday October 26th, 2018

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Research Analysis

The main idea being discussed is how the exposure of certain types of media affect

political involvement amongst high school students, as well as how political identity is

developed through one’s values and analysis of current events. The findings were very diverse,

as students use many different forms of media to access what is occurring politically, and other

current events. The level of political knowledge amongst teens surveyed was also surprisingly

high, as students had gotten the majority of the questions correct. Going into the future, students

are anticipated to be very politically active, with statistics proving that this generation is ready

for change.

Research Question

What is the relationship between media, and political involvement in high school students?

Hypothesis

It is predicted that many teens that expose themselves to different forms of media, will be

better exposed to what is happening across Canadian politics. Whether it is through the internet,

social media or TV, it is anticipated that there will be many forms of media consumption. From

there, the more active teens should have a stronger political identity, according to their values

and analysis of current events. When predicting a possible percentage of how many teens are

“politically active”, 50% is a strong estimation. According to Stats Canada’s website, it is

recorded that “47% of 15-19 year olds across Canada would vote in the next federal election.”

(2013) Using this statistic, a reasonable prediction can be made, as the age criteria and other

demographics used in this secondary data matches what is being researched in this assignment.
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Method

This survey is intended to be released to the public through an link on google forms. The

link was also accessible through Instagram and Snapchat, to reach as many people as possible.

Students were to answer honestly, to ensure accuracy and decrease errors. The survey contains

multiple choice questions, checkbox questions, and semantic differential scales. Most questions

were based on personal opinion/experiences, yet some were factual to test political knowledge.

Name (Optional)

(Short paragraph)

1. What is your current grade?

• Grade 9

• Grade 10

• Grade 11

• Not in High School

2. What is your gender?

• Male

• Female

• Other:

3. Where do you get most of your news/media?

• TV

• Social Media (Twitter, Instagram etc.)

• Newspaper/Magazines

• From others around you (word of mouth)

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4. Check off all sources you get most of your news from.

¨ CTV

¨ CHCH

¨ CBC

¨ Twitter Accounts

¨ Snapchat Subscriptions

¨ Instagram Accounts

¨ Hamilton Spectator

¨ Toronto Star

¨ New York Times

¨ From Family and/or Friends

¨ In School

¨ Other:

5. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you care about what is happening in Canadian

Politics?

6. Which political party do you most identify with?

• Conservative

• Liberal

• NDP

• Do not know/Do not identify with one

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7. Without looking it up, who is Canada's Governor General?

• Caroline Mulroney

• Julie Payette

• Justin Trudeau

• The Queen

• I Don’t Know

8. In your opinion, should Hamilton build an LRT system?

9. What is your favourite sport?

• Soccer

• Football

• Basketball

• Baseball

• Other:

10. In your opinion, how serious do you think opioid and fentanyl use is Hamilton is?
MEDIA AND POLITICS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 6

11. Without looking it up, who is our current Premier?

• Kathleen Wynne

• Doug Ford

• Justin Trudeau

• I Don’t Know

12. Do you agree with Canada's decision to legalize Marijuana?

13. Without looking it up, which area of government is education under?

• Federal

• Municipal

• Provincial

• I Don’t Know

14. If you could vote in the upcoming municipal election, would you?

• Yes

• No

• Maybe

• Other

15. Do you think you will vote once you are 18?

• Yes

• No

• Maybe
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Results

Options Include:

¨ CTV

¨ CHCH

¨ Twitter Accounts,

¨ Snapchat Subscriptions

¨ Instagram Accounts

¨ Hamilton Spectator

¨ Toronto Star

¨ New York Times

¨ From Family and/or Friends

¨ In School

¨ Other

(Cnn, BBC, Youtuber Philip Defranco, news section on my home page, Youtube, Good Morning

America and CNN all branch under the “Other Category)

This question asked respondents to check off all of the sources that they get their news

from. There were a total of 61 responses, with participants choosing a wide variety of responses.

The leading response was “From Family and/or Friends”, with 48 respondents. This was

followed by “Instagram Accounts” with 43 responses, “In School” with 39 responses and

“Snapchat Subscriptions” with 38 responses. These findings prove that even though many forms

of media are used through technology, traditional forms of communication of news/political

information still exist today through means such as word of mouth and direct communication.
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This survey question had asked Ancaster High students on a scale of 1-10 how much they

care about what is happening in Canadian politics, with “1” being “Do Not Care Whatsoever”,

and “10” being “Very Politically Active”. 61 responses were gathered. The intention of this

question was to see how interested students at Ancaster High are in Canadian politics. The

responses varied, with there being multiple responses for each number. Most students rated their

political interest at “5” with 13 responses, and “7” came in second place with 12 responses. “1”

and “2” had the least responses of the survey, which each only having 2 responses. The

calculated average/mean was rounded up to 6 (5.9), and the mode was previously stated as “5”.

Overall, the statistics show that Ancaster High students have moderate interest in what is

occurring in Canadian politics. It was also shown that some students are very involved in what is

taking place, while others have no interest whatsoever. These results accurately reflect the

political interest amongst students across Ancaster High School.

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This question had asked respondents to rank their opinion on Canada’s decision to

legalize Marijuana on the scale of 1-5, with “1” being “Should Never Happen” and “10” being

“Great Idea”. 61 responses were recorded. The intention of this question was to see the general

opinion of Ancaster High students regarding this legislation. Just like the results analyzed prior,

the responses were quite diverse with there being at least 8 responses for each number. “3” came

in with the most responses (8), with 4 following after with 16 responses, “2” with 11 responses,

and “1” as well as “5” having 8 responses each. The mean/calculated average was rounded to 3,

which matched the mode. Generally speaking, these results prove that Ancaster High students

are unsure with how they feel with the legislation, due to the mode and median being at 3. You

could also assess the data by saying that students may agree with the legislation, as the total

number of responses for “4” and “5” combined come to 24, as the combined total of “1” and “2”

comes to 19 total responses. Yet when looking at the total data, the numbers prove that the main

consensus is 3. Therefore when assessing this quantitative data in a qualitative manner, Ancaster

High students are not sure about how they feel about Canada’s decision to legalize marijuana.
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• Kathleen Wynne (7 People/11.5%)

• Doug Ford (46 People/75.4%)

• Justin Trudeau (4 People/6.6%)

• I Don’t Know (4 People/6.6%)

This question had asked who Ontario’s current Premier is. 61 responses were recorded.

The intention of this question was to test the political knowledge of students across Ancaster

High, to see the level of political knowledge across the school. Since Ontario has recently elected

a new Premier, and you would need to be following Canadian politics to know that this occurred

The correct answer was “Doug Ford”, with 46 correct responses being recorded. A total of 15

people got this question wrong, with 7 of those people choosing “Kathleen Wynne”, who was

Ontario’s Premier prior to Doug Ford. 4 people also chose “Justin Trudeau”, who is Canada’s

current Prime Minister, which is also incorrect. 4 students did not know the answer. These results

show that majority of students know who Ontario’s current Premier is, which proves that most

students have at least some political exposure through the media, or other mediums. However,

errors could have occurred, as students could have cheated and looked the answer up.
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Discussion

Through the data gathered, the statistics prove that students are anticipated to have an

increased political involvement going into the future. Respondents were asked if they would vote

in the upcoming (at the time) municipal election in Hamilton. 59% (36 people) of participants

had answered “yes”, with 31.1% (19 people) answering “maybe”. Although 59% does not seem

that high, the Hamilton Spectator (2018) reported that “just over 137,000 people voted in the

recent municipal election, which was a 38.4% voter turnout.” When comparing this information,

the voting numbers are extremely favourable going into the future. Another question asked in the

survey was “Do you think you will vote once you are 18?” 86.9% (53 people) had answered yes,

which is also another favourable result compared to this year’s 38.4% voter turnout. This data

may be considered quantitative, yet the results can apply greatly into how this generation follows

government as a whole. Not only would this increase political involvement, but this would also

increase positive change throughout all levels of government.

The Guardian (2018) provided a great example of how young people are contributing to change:

In a political climate where most adults are inert with despair, a growing number of

teenagers are responding with action. After 14 children and three adults were massacred

at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, it was students – not

parents, teachers or political representatives – who organized themselves to campaign for

changes to US gun laws.

This situation transformed such a terrible tragedy, into a gateway for change. Even though this

article focused on an American issue, it still relates greatly to Canada in the sense of how active

the students from this school were to make their community safer. When assessing the survey,

and secondary data, it is evident that students are ready to become more politically involved.
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Through my research gathered, it is clear that high school students get most of their

political information through social media. One of the questions asked in my survey asked where

students get most of their news from, with the choices being “TV”, “Social Media”,

“Newspaper/Magazine”, “From Others Around You (Word of Mouth) and “Other”. Students

could only choose one response, as “Social Media” had the most responses, with a total of 50

people (82%). One could say that this outcome was surprising, as the other choices are

considered to be the more traditional forms of following politics/the news. A similar survey had

determined that students aged 13-19 get their news from social networking sites before anything

else, with 49% of students choosing these sites as their primary source. (marketingcharts.com,

2017) Marketingcharts.com (2017) also found that only 25% of teens in this survey also

mentioned that have confidence in news organizations. There are many different factors, yet I

believe the main reason why many teens go to social media to see what is occurring in current

events is because there are so many ways to access what you want to see. For example,

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat give users very simple ways to access information

about current events. News outlets such as CTV and CBC are able to post videos, updates and

articles to these apps, which make it easy for the user to access this information according to

their interests. It also an ensure accuracy, as there are multiple sources that one could follow. It

could definitely warrant the question why people spend money on cable or newspaper when they

can access this information on their device for free? (aside from the cost of the device) Another

strong aspect of getting your news through social media is that you can have global access.

When following the news on TV, you are limited to what your provider offers you according to

your geographical location or the cable plan you play for. With the information gathered through

secondary research and survey data, social media where students get most of their news.
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After looking at where and how students follow politics, as well as assessing how

politically active the respondents were, it is interesting to see the overall opinion on certain

current events that effect the community. Participants were asked to rate how serious they

believed opioid and fentanyl use in Hamilton was on a scale of 1-5 according to their personal

opinion. “1” being “Not an Issue”, and “5” being “Very Serious”. The highest number of

responses came in at “5”, with a total of 78%. This shows that the respondents have knowledge

on the actual subject, and understand it’s serious consequences. The crisis in itself revolves

around two very addictive and serious drugs that are growing traction across Hamilton, and the

world. The number of overdoses have been very high, as it was reported that there were 359 so

far this year in Hamilton. (Hamilton Public Health, 2018) This subject is very scientific, and to

have a thorough understanding, you would need to be doing research or be following the

situation through different forms of media. Someone who would be reading the word opioid or

fentanyl for the first time would most likely have no clue what it is. This example is intended to

show how media consumption, and political activity go hand in hand. People first learn about the

issue through media, and then from there form an opinion and push for change. Since this issue

is unfortunately growing, it is a positive sign that students who took the survey understand it is

serious, and that change needs to occur. Going forward, it is imperative that members of

government combat this issue.

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Conclusion

When assessing the hypothesis, the results were accurate. Many of the participants use

different forms of media consumption as predicted. The level of political involvement was

slightly higher then anticipated, yet it was close. One surprise that was not noted in the

hypothesis was the amount of knowledge students had across the school. Most of the factual

questions were answered correctly, which proves that students know more than basic political

information. Overall, this research information provides a lot of hope that according what form

of media you use, the better your political knowledge would be.

There were many factors that could have ultimately developed errors amongst the

research gathered. Some students may have inputted inaccurate information, which could not be

monitored. Honesty was important, to ensure the highest possible level of accuracy. Students

may have also lost interest, or wanted to rush through the survey which could have also formed

inaccurate responses amongst respondents. Since the survey was posted on social media, anyone

with access can respond to the survey. There was no way of making sure that everyone

answering even fit the criteria of being a high school student at Ancaster High. Fear of

judgement could have been another factor, as students could have felt that their answers were

“wrong” when in fact many questions (except for the knowledge based ones) were solely based

on opinion. When taking the knowledge based questions into consideration, students could have

easily cheated and looked up the answers which could have also skewed some data. This also

could be due to no form of monitoring taking place, as well as students possibly feeling judged if

they got the question incorrect.

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There were multiple ethical factors that were taken into consideration, with the main ones

being privacy and respecting the opinions of the respondents. Although there was a “name”

section, students were not required to input their name, therefore allowing people responding to

stay anonymous if they would like. None of the results have been seen by anyone other than the

actual mediator, and the data will not be released or used for purposes other than for this

assignment. Doing these things keeps the respondents answers kept private, which is crucial.

Respecting the opinions of those participating was also important. Everyone is different, and

everyone shares different opinions. When going along with privacy, it was important to stay

unbiased and respect the opinions of others, as well as inputting the data appropriately. Doing so

will increase errors, as well as keeping the data accurate. Society today also focuses greatly on

political correctness, and it is imperative to ensure that participants do not feel discriminated

against or offended. One way of combatting this issue was by adding an “other” category when

asking what gender the participant was. This ensures that I am not infringing on someone’s

identity, and it can also be shown as a sign of respect.

This research topic is very important today for multiple reasons. First off, the prior

majority population of Hamilton were the baby boomers. Yet as the years go on, millennials are

starting to become the new majority in the city. (Stats Canada, 2018) It is imperative going

forward that high school students become involved and develop their political identities through

the media they use to gather political information. Everyone is capable of change, and it’s time to

build a reliable future. Increasing involvement through different forms of media will help high

school students to better their knowledge, and their ability to develop a political identity.
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References

2018 Election Results | City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.hamilton.ca/municipal-election/election-results/2018-election-results

Buist, S. (2018). Hamilton voter turnout jumps 5 per cent from 2014. Retrieved from

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8986783-hamilton-voter-turnout-jumps-5-per-cent-

from-2014/

Hamilton Opioid Information System | City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. (2018). Retrieved

from https://www.hamilton.ca/public-health/reporting/hamilton-opioid-information-system

Pires, C. (2018). ‘Young people are angry’: the teenage activists shaping our future. Retrieved

from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/13/young-people-are-angry-meet-the-

teenage-activists-shaping-our-future

Political participation and civic engagement of youth. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2015001/article/14232-eng.htm

What Are Teens' Primary News Sources? - Marketing Charts. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.marketingcharts.com/industries/media-and-entertainment-75562

Young people and politics News, Research and Analysis - The Conversation. (2018). Retrieved

from http://theconversation.com/ca/topics/young-people-and-politics-12865