Children and young people’s interests and concerns: their worlds in their own words

Authors

  • Sara Pereira Universidade do Minho, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Braga, Portugal
  • Daniel Brandão Universidade do Minho, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Braga, Portugal
  • Marisa Mourão Universidade do Minho, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Braga, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7458/SPP202510839710

Keywords:

children, young people, media, interests, concerns, well-being

Abstract

Children and young people are privileged and competent sources for making their visions of the world known. Listening to them is fundamental to creating and expanding knowledge about their social and cultural worlds and their well-being. Based on this assumption, this article aims to find out about the interests and concerns of a sample of 1131 students attending 6th, 9th and 12th grade. The data was collected by applying a questionnaire in 26 school groups in mainland Portugal. The results show that the young people in the sample attribute significant importance to the media, giving them a prominent place in their lives. The media is mentioned as a source of interest and joy, but not as an object of concern. Health emerges as one of the issues that worries them most, while uncertainty about the future is a concern for older ones. Politics is a subject that is of little interest or concern to them.

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Published

2025-07-30

Issue

No. 108 (2025)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Sara Pereira, Daniel Brandão, Marisa Mourão

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