Civic Engagement

Civic Engagement and Political Aw arness in the Youth of America Change is inevitable and the popular iodine t all(prenominal)y wonder, Video Killed the Radio Star, echoes a nostalgic desire to appreciate the past. The simple, except meaningful verse, we beart rewind weve gone too far, drives home the whim that the past is in the past, and one stub totally move forward. The shout directly relates to technological changes in music at that metre period.The lyrics offend the impression radio will be replaced by visually stimulate music videos however, the future has proved that radio has non been replaced music has provided been resurrectd by the continuous change of technological advancements. Political scientist and professor, Robert Putnam illustrates in his book, Bowling Alone Americas Declining friendly Capital, how one of the main(a) culprits in the decline of policy-making sentiency and polite date is the naked as a jaybird media, for example, the Internet. F urther studies suggest this is non necessarily the case.Video Killed the Radio Star mirrors the gruesome argument of whether the nap media has hindered or assisted in semipolitical aw atomic number 18ness and civic activity in adolescents and young adults. The radio do heap famous, and even after music videos became popular, music was still streamed through a radio and stretch forths to be exercisingd to this day. Studies have sh have got that civic amour and political aw arness has declined, at all age levels, and except at that place is turn up that the chew media washstand have a collateral effect on cultivating affectionate capital, especially in the interest of young voters in America.The curve at hand is not stool media, and how mass media can be used as a means to bridle apprised on union issues and how it can create a sense of community. In the word, Americas Youth and Community Engagement How occasion of field of chew over Media is think to Civic Activity and Political Aw atomic number 18ness in 14- to 22-Year-Olds, the authors write down by providing troubling evidence, Voter turnout in congressional and presidential elections has dropped since 1960 Americans be less involved in political activities ranging from signing petitions to at ply rallies (Pasek, Kenski, Romer, and Jamieson 115).Putnam compares the decline in civic engagement to the massive decline of bowl leagues however, as bowling memberships are declining, the number of wad bowling has change magnitude. He explains the concept of a bond capital and a bridging capital in spite of show upance the social capital as a whole. The theory of bonding and bridging can also be described in terms of strong ties and weakly ties of networking.Professors Homero Gil de Zuniga and Sebastian Valenzuela explored Putnams research further in their article, The Mediating Path to a Stronger Citizenship Online and Offline Networks, worn out Ties and Civic Engagement, dete rmineing it inclusive that bridging, or associating with weak ties provide one with a greater networking ungenerous, and consequently to a greater extent than information and resources. Bridging and weak ties are when an individual socializes with populate who are contrasting from themselves. Bonding and strong ties are individuals who are linked to each overb centenarian(prenominal) on varying levels of involution for example, ones inner circle of friends and family.Putnam additionally points out that bonding and bridging strengthen each other. Because of the decline of bonding, there is a decline in bridging, which he links to the drop of organizational forms of capital due to the mass media. Like Putnam, authors Zuniga and Valenzuela agree that larger networks foster civic amour so long as they provide access to weak ties, yet they inject into consideration that the internet is vast with diversity and is not geographically bounded, and therefore argue that the online b ackground should be more strongly associated with weak-tie intercourse than the offline context (405).According to Zuniga and Valenzuela, this connection shows that internet based networks and weak ties will be more effective than the relationship between personal, offline networking and weak ties. The authors mentioned in the beginning, Josh Pasek, Kate Kenski, Daniel Romer, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson conducted a telephone survey to assess 12 different uses of mass media as well as sensation of current national politics and time spent in civic activities in respect to the younker and how mass media is related to political sentiency and civic activity (115).If the conclusion make by Zuniga and Valenzuela is accurate, then the new media will have a positive effect on the young commonwealths role in developing social capital. Historically, when print media flourished, it served as a way to stay in touch with the community of proofreaders with no face-to-face inter put through and made possible the development of the new-made nation state (117). Internet is on the button another mechanism to build social networks, in which interpersonal communication is absent, like the newspaper.However, unlike the newspaper, internet provides individuals with an extensive opportunity to network with people who are not in their inner circle, thus weak ties are created. Furthermore, Pasek, Kenski, Romer, and Jamieson examine how some forms of media are more effective than others, and explain how media that simply exists to entertain adolescents and young adults can aid in promoting group activities with individuals that can share their come acrosss and develop a sense of community.They are still experiencing social participation, even if the activity is not directly associated with civic activities. The authors evaluated the 12 different uses of mass media and assessed each media variable based on if it improved political awareness or civic engagement, or both. The re searchers also included demographic predictors that would correspond with the study age, race, gender, and socioeconomic status. It is apparent that adults would have a high amount of political knowl surround. The average education level in our strain was 10. years of schooling Of respondents, 78. 9 percent were currently students, which would take a crap them the edge since there are more opportunities to become involved in community service activities and clubs the schools have to offer. Some schools require community service to graduate. socioeconomic status also plays a role in political awareness and civic engagement. This correlates directly to the fact that individuals who are wealthier have the resources and means to amend their children and are probably highly educated as well.Race and gender is yet another factor in evaluating political knowledge and civic engagement, whereas whites appear more politically aware than B needs, Hispanics, and other non-Whites however, ra ce has not been as strongly related in one direction or the other in regards to civic engagement, and women, on average, belong to more associations and organizations than men but tend to exhibit less political knowledge (123).The results of How Use of Mass Media is Related to Civic Activity and Political sentiency in 14- to 22- Year-Olds, revealed that if media usage increased in frequency, it had a negative impact on political awareness and civic engagement, which is to be expected. Although reading remained positive, the results showed individuals took longer to develop a comprehensive political knowledge base if their reading increased. This is the cause of a slump in active engagement with others. The authors could not predict if newspapers increased civic activity, however, it was evident that it increased political awareness.Civic activity was strongly related to political awareness, and the determinations also concluded that the Internet increased civic engagement, along with sense of hearing to news on the radio, following shows on television, and reading magazines. non only were civic activities found to be directly related to political awareness, but the media had an overall positive effect on civic engagement and political knowledge. In his research, Putnam fails to assess new ways to approach civic engagement and political awareness, and instead looks to the old.Relating civic engagement to the decline of bowling leagues seems bootless to the reader, especially to a young adult. As society changes, activities change people change. The youth of today are more interested in modern technology, which is why more candidates should reevaluate how they approach the younger generation in regards to the elections and make use of the Internet during elections. Because young voters are growing up in a time when technology is usually readily getable to them, they look mostly to the web for political information.Youth turnout for the 2004 elections sho wed marked increases. roughly likely prompted by the war in Iraq, intense efforts were made to break younger generations were actively engaged throughout the campaigns. New media tools were also used, with websites effectuate up that focused on attracting the younger population to politics an estimated 28 percent of 18- 29-year-olds received most of their information about the campaigns via the Internet in 2004, making them the age group most reliant on new media for political information about the election (Xenos and Bennett 444).However, in the article The disjuncture in Online Politics, Michael Xenos and W. Lance Bennett stress the fact that although younger voters are active online, they are less likely to visit a site that is sponsored by a specific party or electoral candidate. Unfortunately, politicians are genuinely slow when adapting to the modern world of technology, and do not make use of the web to attract young voters. On sites like Rock the Vote, they give young voters access to interactive features, and yet links to websites with related political information and resources are not easily accessible.Young voters only attain a morsel of information from youth engagement websites. Between 2002 and 2004, Xenos and Bennett conducted an extensive abbreviation of political sites that focused on youth stake, as well as electoral sites, and they found the overall pattern is one of overlap (456). The candidates websites were not designed to attract young voters. They merely addressed the same issues on their sites as seen on the youth sites however, on the electoral sites they clearly were not reaching out to the younger population of voters.Professional consultants correlate politicians indifference to youth voters because senior citizens have a high choose rate. Xenos and Bennett express their disappointment, younger voters who ignore politicians largely do so because politicians largely ignore them (457). It is teetotal because voters are le ss involved in politics due to politicians lack of interest in their appeals, and politicians show disregard for the youth because of their low voting turnout and vice versa.If politicians, our leaders, are putting the youth aside, who is going to intrust the time to inform the younger generation of the importance on civic activities and political awareness? In correlation with the decline of adult involvement in social participation and volunteering, people simply do not have the time or energy to collapse to their own needs, allow alone join a civic organization. In todays society, both parents work to make ends meet.There are usually a higher percentage of female volunteers to male volunteers, but now that women are pickings on raising children, housework, and working an additional 15 hours per week than men, the topic of becoming involved in community activities is overwhelming. The economy is in a stale state, and since the 1970s, the percentage of single mothers has increa sed dramatically (Freedman 246). Children are world isolated more often than not, which can also result in the disregard for community and civic engagement.Mentoring programs are unreliable, and many adolescents and young adults are left in the dark without an adult role model In his essay Building Community, John Gardner Miriam and Peter Haas Centennial Professor at Stanford Business School offers both consolation and wisdom about the historical act of community erosion and renewal disintegration of human communities is as old as human history We cant know all the forms community will take, but we know the set and the kinds of supporting structures we exigency to preserve. We are a community building species.We might become signally ingenious at creating new forms of community for a swiftly ever-changing world. (Freedman 248) Robert Putnam insists on looking to the old, and if he must, he should look at the likely of civic renewal in the volunteering of senior citizens. Over the past xxx years, the population of Americans over the age of 65 has doubled and will continue to increase. Marc Freedman, the author of the article, Towards Civic Renewal, Journal of Gerontological Social Work, expresses his faith in the nations retirees to change the deterioration of volunteerism in the U.S. , where children are in need of the most stand by. If children at an earlier age gained better keenness into what it means to have a sense of community and belonging, they would have a better awareness of civic engagement and a broader knowledge base of politics on the state, local, and national level. Senior citizens also have the time, and there is evidence that implies older adults are looking to stay active in their communities As one recent U. S Administration on Aging-sponsored survey reveals, a full 37. percent of older Americans say they would volunteer if asked, trance an additional 25. 6 percent already volunteering indicate that they would like to devote more time to service, and they prefer to work with the younger generation (Freedman 249). Not only will it help the children, but it will also help the senior citizens. 55 percent of seniors feel a sense of unusefulness when they retire a 25-yr National Institute of Mental Health study finds, for example, that highly organized activity is the single strongest predictor, other than not smoking, of length of service and vitality (Freedman 250).The local and federal government is known for lost proposals. maybe some of them would have been successfully planned out and put into action if accepted, and Freedman makes the idea of senior involvement seem feasible. Freedman provides the reader with examples of effective programs in community involvement created by the older population one example is a union-sponsored initiative that helps nonviolent juvenile offenders find and keep blue-collar jobs. Freedman goes onto explain to doubtful readers that are thinking, where is this notes going t o come from? Americas budget is steadily move into a rabbit hole, and yet the author is confident in the talent, experience and commitment of older adults, and their ability to organize well and get tasks effected quickly and effectively (252). Civic engagement and political awareness is declining because of the absence seizure of an inspiring role model in the youth of today, and this program shows romise of creating a healthier sense of community for the older and the younger generations. Reiterating authors, Homero Gil de Zuniga and SebastianValenzuelas earlier consensus, the decline in civic engagement is not the consequence of the mass media and modern age of technology. The importance of weak ties through the Internet is actually seen through the web of networking that people from all over the world create, which ignites a stronger relationship in civic participation than networking face-to-face with weak ties.This finding was reinforced by the study on various media uses i n the article How Use of Mass Media is Related to Civic Activity and Political Awareness in 14- to 22- Year-Olds, where the end result is conclusive with Zuniga and Valenzuelas evidence. The media can enhance civic engagement and political awareness if used sparingly and in the right context. The mind is a double edged sword. It has immense force play and it is capable of accomplishing both useful and destructive feats. (Atharva Veda http//thinkexist. com/quotes/atharva_veda/). It is not the media that is destructive.The minds of the populace are ignoring the real issue at hand. The mind could be used more effectively in developing new ideas to encourage civic engagement and political awareness in the younger population. The media actually promotes civic participation and therefore is directly related to political awareness overall the media has a positive effect on social capital. It is the communities job to instill these values on the children so they can grow into informed adu lts and have their own opinions and ideas, passing those values onto their children and so on.Bibliography Freedom, Mark. Towards Civic Renewal. Journal of Gerontological Social Work 28. 3 (1997) 243-63. EBSCOhost. The Haworth Press, Inc. , 11 Oct. 2008. Web. 1 Oct. 2011. . Pasek, Josh, Kate Kenski, Daniel Romer, and Kathleen H. Jamieson. Americas Youth andCommunity Engagement How Use of Mass Media Is Related to Civic Activity andPolitical Awareness in 14- to 22-Year-Olds DeepDyve. DeepDyve Millions ofArticles At Your Fingertips. Sage, 27