The purpose of this study is to investigate citizenship of high school students based on social participation through the Internet. The subjects were students in six high school students located in Incheon, and the hypotheses are as follows.
First,...
The purpose of this study is to investigate citizenship of high school students based on social participation through the Internet. The subjects were students in six high school students located in Incheon, and the hypotheses are as follows.
First, there are differences in status of social participation of high school students through the Internet based on socio-demographic characteristics.
Second, there are differences in citizenship based on levels of social participation of high school students through the Internet.
Third, degrees of social participation of high school students through the Internet affect citizenship.
The subjects of this study were the first-, second-, and third-graders of boy's high schools, girls' high school, and coeducational high schools located in Incheon, and the research was conducted for three weeks of September 2009. The questionnaires were distributed and collected after the author directly explained the purpose of this study. Out of the 700 questionnaires, 655 were collected, and except for those with insufficient answers, 639 out of them were used in the statistical analysis.
The results of this study are as follows.
First, as for the mean frequency of Internet use among the high school students, the subjects used the Internet twice per week (most), at least five times per week, three times per week, four times per week, and once or less per week (in order). As for the mean time for each period of using the Internet, the subjects used the Internet between 30 minutes and less than one hour (most), three hours and more, between one and less than two hours, between two and less than three hours, and 30 minutes or less (in that order).
Second, as for the attitudes on social problems of the high school students, the subjects were usually indifferent (most), followed by being interested only when there are social issues, actively participating in and presenting alternatives, watching intently with interests all the time, and having some political and/or social subjectivity (in that order). As for the channels of acquiring information, most of them selected television, followed by the Internet, and other channels were not used.
Third, the male subjects had a higher perception on participatory consciousness, democratic attitudes, and citizenship attitudes and practicing domains than their female counterparts did. As school years rose, the participatory consciousness, values on democratic attitudes, human dignity, protection of the weak, attitudes as democratic citizens, and practicing domains were perceived more highly. The students of boys' high schools were shown to have a higher perception on participatory consciousness, democratic attitudes, and citizenship attitudes and practicing domains. As the school records were higher, perception on participatory consciousness, democratic attitudes, and citizenship attitudes and practicing were higher. As the school records in the social studies subject were higher, perception on democratic attitudes and citizenship attitudes and practicing were higher.
Fourth, as the subjects conducted activities of social participation through the Internet, perception on values, attitudes, and practicing domains of citizenship were higher. Although the rate of the students who joined in online self-administration groups for adolescents was low, their participatory consciousness was higher than those who did not join. The students who experienced writing opinions on social problems on personal websites (minihomepages or blogs) had a greater perception on participatory consciousness. The students who experienced writing their opinions on free discussion bulletins or cafes on the Internet had a greater perception on human dignity and protection of the weak. The students who experienced producing and registering UCC on social problems on personal websites or cafes on the Internet had a greater perception on values on democratic attitudes, citizenship attitudes, and practicing levels. The students who experienced conducting activities by joining in civic groups (i.e. online People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy) had a greater perception on citizenship attitudes and practicing levels. The students who experienced suggesting participation to others in offline gatherings through the Internet had a greater perception on participatory consciousness, citizenship attitudes, and practicing levels.
Fifth, the degrees of joining and participation in online groups or organizations and conducting activities of social participation through the Internet such as writing opinions or replies were shown to affect citizenship. There were statistically significant differences in participatory consciousness, democratic attitudes, human dignity, and attitudes and practicing, based on the effects of the degrees of social participation of the high school students who participated in society through the Internet on citizenship.
Conclusively, as for the high school students conducting social participation activities through the Internet, as their degrees of participation in the Internet grew, perception on perception on participatory consciousness, democratic attitudes, human dignity, and citizenship attitudes and practice were higher.