At a time when questions are multiplying about infoxes and the role played by social networks, the Conseil national d'évaluation du système scolaire (Cnesco) has published the results of a study that aimed to better understand the relationship that young people have with news, the media and information, as well as the way in which the school institution supports media education.
The study, which was conducted among 16,000 students in grades 9 and 12, highlights a strong interest among young people in current events in France, which increases between grades 9 and 12.
The CNESCO analysis note points out, however, that there are social differences "both in access to information and in the sources of information used and in the trust that students place in them. Thus, socially disadvantaged students tend to be much less informed and trust the "traditional" media less and social networks more than advantaged students.
While the study attests to a form of insight among middle and high school students regarding the use of the media, the authors of the analysis note that "schools do not seem to fully support young people in a changing information universe marked by strong debates about social networks and the infoxes that are propagated there. Thus, media education, as a subject of study, is only addressed in half of the middle and high schools. This seems to be limited, most often, to education through the media (using information supports such as newspaper articles or television documentaries), even if, at school, students largely consider that moral and civic education courses (EMC) allow them to better understand current events.
Entourage and social networks: "word of mouth" above all
The study, which was conducted among 16,000 students in grades 9 and 12, highlights a strong interest among young people in current events in France, which increases between grades 9 and 12.The majority of students surveyed indicate that they are informed about current events in France (political, economic, social, etc.). As early as 3rd grade, more than one in two students (54%) say they are informed about current events. In high school, 68% of students in their final year of high school are interested in current events.
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- The most frequently cited and most reliable source of information according to the students is their family and friends, ahead of the media as a whole: family and friends even appear to be the first source of information in the senior year (90%, 83% in 3rd grade) among the list of information sources proposed.
- Social networks, however, are a key part of students' access to information (71% in 3rd grade, 84% in 12th grade).
- Newspapers (31% in 9th grade, 36% in 12th grade) and radio (50% in 3rd grade, 53% in 12th grade) are less used by young people who are informed about current events.
- As with television, the use of these media does not increase between the 3rd and 12th grades, unlike social networks and online newspapers (43% in 3rd grade, 66% in 12th grade).
- 51% of ninth graders report using four or more media, 68% by senior year.
More frequent use of digital media
More generally, when it comes to getting information about national or international news at least once a week, ninth graders turn twice as much (30%) to digital media (social networks, online newspapers, other websites) as to paper media (13%).By senior year, the gap increases and digital (46%) is almost three times more used than paper (17%).
Continued trust in the "traditional" media
If friends and family are one of the first sources of information for students, it is also the one in which they have the most confidence (82% in middle school, 77% in high school).https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NnVLC/1/
- However, the "traditional" media are highly trusted by students. They trust newspapers (71% in 9th grade and 12th grade) and radio (69% in 9th grade, 67% in 12th grade), even though, paradoxically, these are media that they use little.
- On the other hand, "young people are very clearly distanced from the 'new media': only about a quarter of them trust social networks (27% in 9th grade, 24% in 12th grade) and a third trust online videos (36% in 9th grade, 30% in 12th grade). However, students tend to trust online newspapers, particularly in high school (51% in third grade, 62% in 12th grade), which suggests (according to the authors of the CNESCO analysis note) that they " distinguish between the different digital sources.
Social differences in usage and trust
Behind these overall results, there are clear differences according to the students' profiles.The survey highlights "the weight of social origin in students' interest in news, but also in the uses and trust given by students to different sources of information.
The social disparities are strong, first of all, in terms of the relationship to current events. In 9th grade, 67% of advantaged students are informed about current events, but only 46% of disadvantaged students (a 21-point difference). In the 12th grade, this gap is also found (19 points, i.e., 78% for advantaged students, 59% for disadvantaged students).Parents' interest in current events in France sheds light on social disparities and highlights the role of the family context. Students who said their parents were not interested in current affairs were much less likely to keep themselves informed, both in ninth grade (26% vs. 61% when their parents were interested) and in 12th grade (42% vs. 73%). These differences are reflected in the choice of information sources that students use for information.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/aYL0a/2/
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Thus, among those who keep themselves informed about current events, advantaged students listen to the radio more often and keep themselves informed less via social networks than their peers from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In addition, advantaged students report more trust in traditional media (television, radio, and print newspapers).
In both middle and high school, disadvantaged students trust social networks more than others. "The social weight that weighs on the relationship to news and media is reflected in the school environment. Thus, students enrolled in middle schools classified as priority education, which are socially more disadvantaged, are characterized by a lower interest in current events, a lower level of trust in the "traditional" media (television, radio, newspapers) and a higher level of trust in new sources of information (social networks, online videos, other websites)."
Media education not widespread
In order to evaluate the school's action in media education, the students were questioned about the content of the Moral and Civic Education (EMC) courses, in particular media education (as an object of study) and education through the media (using information media to tackle a subject).According to this survey, the media remains little discussed in CME.
- "Just over half of ninth graders (52%) report that the topic of the media was discussed in Moral and Civic Education (MCE) during their middle school years (56% of high school seniors regarding their high school years)."
- In both junior high and high school, "a large majority of students worked during the school year from documentaries or television programs (65% in 9th grade, 56% in 12th grade), from videos or articles on the Internet (54% in 3rd grade, 56% in 12th grade), and less frequently from newspaper articles (49% in 3rd grade, 38% in 12th grade)."
- Students in priority education schools tend to rely less often on this type of material in CSE classes.
- While two-thirds of students enrolled in a non-priority education middle school (66%) say they have worked with documentaries or television programs, only 57% of students in priority education have done so.
- In high school, there are no statistically significant differences according to the type of school, except for work on the Internet (53% in vocational high school compared to 56% in other high schools)
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