Papers & Presentations
Young People, the Internet and Empowerment
Andrew Funston, Lecturer in Communications Victoria University of Technology
Andrew, a founding member of ACNA and a convenor of this 1999 conference is involved with a major research project looking at 16-21 year old's use of communication technologies. The first stage of the project, based at the Communications Law Centre, considered young people's use of mobile phones and consumer problems related to bills and contracts. The second stage begins later this year and will look at young people's problems related to home and other non-school based internet usage (including often vexed relations with ISPs).
This conference paper will attempt to state some principles relevant to the project, and will discuss the methodology for the proposed study of young people's use of the internet. Speakers at the 1998 conference raised issues of access, training, resources, community ownership, advocacy, privacy, peer support and so forth, and each of these issues has relevance for young people as they attempt to become empowered internet users - as distinct from clients of institutions offering internet services in a controlled and controlling way.
Many of the problems and challenges besetting our conference participants are also besetting younger people as they attempt to build communities (which might or might not include older people). The internet has the potential to become an important tool for young people organising political campaigns and movements, and various social, cultural and economic associations, but their requirements might differ from those of groups more enmeshed with existing institutions and funding relations, or might differ from older groups with generally more disposable income, or older groups with more voter power.
Biography
Andrew is a lecturer in Communication Studies at Victoria University. He is a founding member of the Australian Community Networking Alliance. He is also engaged in research looking at young people's uses of communication technologies. Andrew, with Kate MacNeill of the Communications Law Centre Melbourne is soon to publish a major report on young people's use of mobile phones in Australia.