Adolescent civic engagement: Lessons from Black Lives Matter

In 2020, individuals of all ages engaged in demonstrations condemning police brutality and supporting the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Research that used parent reports and trends commented on in popular media suggested that adolescents under 18 had become increasingly involved in this movement. In the first large-scale quantitative survey of adolescents’ exposure to BLM demonstrations, 4,970 youth (meanage = 12.88 y) across the United States highlighted that they were highly engaged, particularly with media, and experienced positive emotions when exposed to the BLM movement. In addition to reporting strong engagement and positive emotions related to BLM demonstrations, Black adolescents in particular reported higher negative emotions when engaging with different types of media and more exposure to violence during in-person BLM demonstrations. Appreciating youth civic engagement, while also providing support for processing complex experiences and feelings, is important for the health and welfare of young people and society.

Adolescent Civic Engagement in Contemporary Political and Technological Realities

Civic engagement interacts with civic structures and communication media, so adolescent civic engagement research must also interact with such political and technological realities. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, civic entities, such as nation states, municipalities, and organizations, have changed rapidly and sometimes violently, indicating that civic engagement research could usefully ask, How have the concept of civic engagement and related research with adolescents kept up with contemporary civic life and public media? Toward that end, this chapter reviews recent international adolescent civic engagement research with a focus on context-sensitive transformations. The chapter summarizes definitions, contexts, methods, and findings of adolescent civic engagement research, pointing toward the ongoing need for this research field to become open to contemporary realities, such as adolescents’ attempts to deal with disrupted and uncivil spaces, including war zones and refugee life spaces.