Children’s Participation in Colombia: Uses, Perceptions, and Feelings of the Media Environment

Abstract

Children’s participation in the digital environment is gaining more attention as children seem to be active audiences, selecting and developing digital skills to access and interact across multiple platforms and devices. Nonetheless, little is known about media participation from the children’s perspective. This article presents the quantitative results of a survey of 244 children aged seven to fourteen years in Colombia about their perception of media use as a form of participation. The study’s results suggest that there is a varied range of media uses for different purposes that are not exclusive to just one device or one type of media. These results are significant as they show the way children look at their media landscape and engage with it. The authors also identify children’s perception of participation as well as their feelings regarding their media engagement. This research gives particular impetus to efforts aimed at recognizing the meanings of children’s participation in the media environment beyond the political and the civic duties to the social and the playful, incorporating children’s perceptions, experiences, and roles in society.