bYou project

bYou – Study on children and young people’s experiences and expressions of the media was one of the four winning projects, in the field of Media and Communication, in the Call promoted in 2020 by the Foundation for Science and Technology for the Financing of Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects (PTDC/COM-OUT/3004/2020).

During the time-frame for the project, 29 March 2021 to 28 March 2024, bYou will give a voice to almost 1400 children and teenagers between the ages of 11 and 18 from all over mainland Portugal.

The goal is to become acquainted with and problematize their experiences with the media. Considering the practices and perceptions of children and young people, we intend to understand the role (roles) that the media play in their daily lives and give them the opportunity to express themselves, in different ways and through various means, about these experiences. School media will also be the object of study and intervention, seeking to make them spaces par excellence for expression and participation.

Several questions are on the table: In their relationship with the media, what gives children and young people satisfaction and enjoyment? What bothers and worries them? What topics most lead them to speak out? And what formats most captivate them when it comes to producing content? These are some of the initial questions that the project seeks to answer.

The research design, which combines quantitative and qualitative, traditional and participatory methodologies, acknowledges the role of children and youth as social actors and agents of change.

Exploring the expressive and creative vein of the participants will also be part of the project, which will meet its target audience in formal and informal learning contexts. Another angle of bYou is the encouragement of reflexive and critical media practices, in a Media Literacy perspective.

The team consists of eight members: Sara Pereira (Principal Investigator-PI), Daniel Brandão (Co-PI), Manuel Pinto, Clarisse Pessôa, Conceição Costa (Universidade Lusófona), Diana Pinto, Margarida Toscano (School Libraries Network) and Pedro Portela.

Among the project’s consultants are prominent names in the field of international research on youth and media, such as Henry Jenkins (Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, USA) or Carlos Scolari (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona).

In addition to these two researchers, there are also representatives of important bodies, projects and media organisations dedicated to childhood and youth : Teresa Calçada (Commissioner of the National Reading Plan), Manuela Silva (Coordinator of the School Libraries Network), Cláudia Lobo (Director of Visão Magazine), Iolanda Ferreira, (Coordinator of Radio ZiGZag, RTP), Luísa Gonçalves (Coordinator of the Público na Escola Project), and João Marecos (Leader of the 100 Oportunidades Project, a project founded by the Global Shapers Lisbon Hub).