Home > The Study > About > Participation and the First Amendment

Participation and the First Amendment
Class Participation Index / Activities Participation Index / School Media Index

Download PDF of this section

Participation and the First Amendment

School Media Index (SMI)  

To begin to assess how, if at all, participation in student media activities affects knowledge, tolerance and attitudes about the media and the First Amendment, a media index was created. Each school was classified into a high, medium, low, or no-media school. A "no media" school does not offer any student media activities (21 percent). Eleven percent of the students in the study attend a no-media school. Forty-seven percent of high school students attend schools that are classified as low media, offering one media activity (51 percent of schools fall into this category). Schools that offer two or three media activities are labeled as medium media schools (18 percent). Those that offer four or more are considered high-media schools (18 percent).

Regardless of the media index level of the school, students tend to participate in media activities at virtually the same rate. For example, looking at participation in student newspapers, at low and medium media index level schools, 8 percent of students say they participate in a student newspaper and at high media index schools, 6 percent participate. Most interestingly, at schools where no formal student media activities are offered, 7 percent of students say they participate in a student newspaper. We can observe similar participation patterns across different forms of student media:

Simply offering more sanctioned media activities at the schools may not affect the level of participation by students in those activities. The quality of the student media offered may play a significant role. In addition, generating greater interest among students about journalism and media activities might have a greater impact on the level of interest and participation. Of course once the interest is generated, having the proper facilities and offering activities that are sanctioned and supported by the school would likely help sustain that interest and participation. Once students become engaged in media-related activities, to varying degrees and depending on the amount and type of activity, their knowledge of and tolerance for the First Amendment may be influenced. There are clear differences among students when comparing those who do versus those who do not participate in a school newspaper, which will be discussed as well.

	This web site is produced by J-IDEAS
	J-IDEAS is funded in part by the John S. and James  L. Knight Foundation's High School Initiative and Ball State University.		J-IDEAS Department ofJournalism Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. 47306 (765) 285-8923 Terms of Service