Between school, family and media: Do the children carry energy-saving messages and practices? Françoise Bartiaux Université catholique de Louvain Belgium francoise.bartiaux@uclouvain.be
Outline of the presentation Objectives Impacts of environmental messages on children's agency & associated feeling of power Are children actors in these environmental issues? Outline of the presentation Theoretical framework Data Results Policy implications 2
Theoretical framework Sociology of family Modes of coordination between the family (the parents) and the exter n al agents of socialisation (Kellerhals & Montandon, 1991) Autonomi sa tion processes of pre-teens of 11-13 yrs (de Singly, 2006) Sociology of consumption Focus on children (Martens et al ., 2004) 3 Children as ‘wise deciders’ (Bauman, 2005)
Qualitative data 13 in-depth interviews with families where The eldest (or only) child is 10-11 yrs old And this child is living with both parents (coordination) Grid: activities after school (including home- school r oute) & for the parent(s), education practices & opinions One different intermediary per interviewee Interviews realised by my students (spring 2007 & 2008) In French-speaking Belgium (1 in Grand Duchy of Lux.) Diverse socio-economic background & family composition 4 Content analysi
Results 1. Children in social networks of actors
Children in social networks of actors Detailed results in Moussaoui, Bartiaux & Filliastre (2008) Media: ambivalent messages Series and games are the most popular (active zapping) Specialised broadcasts on environmental topics + news Advertising incites to consume more School: sensitisation depends on teachers Variation be tween children (wind mill, ‘addicted to recycling’, nothing) Variation between teachers of a same school 6
Green classes… Coordination between school and specialised organisations (green classes, library , museum, big sweater day, festival of sciences…) 7 http://www.classesvertes.be/classe_verte_nature.html
s ’ t u r “ t i e h t a t a t s c h o , o d l I ’ s a y s ’ t m i a y b e m o e r o f r h t e p a n l e , t w e e t n d m a y b e o t h a v e m o e r a n economica l concern [at home]” (Mother) 8
Children in social networks of actors Families: varied & ambivalent messages Different & sometimes opposite logics Financial savings Ri g ht to consume (Baudrillard, 1970) & to thoughtlessness refusal to mix the roles of the two generations: “I do not see children as agents of change in a family (…): adults have to think like adults, ( ...) children do not have to assume that [responsibility]” 1 family aims at minimising its impact on the planet 9 Energy-related practices
Results 2. Social types of interactions within networks of actors Do the children carry energy-saving messages and practices? To which conditions?
Greenhouse effect • Principle • Consequence on vegetation • Action: shared or public transportation ⇒ what for children? 11
Modes of coordination between the family (the parents) an d the external agents of socialisation (Kellerhals & Montandon, 1991) Participation: the family relays or not the other actors’ influences Diffusion: “the wideness of the role (tasks or compete Participation nces) attributed by the family to the other agents of socialisation” - + Diffusion - Opposition Mediation + Delegation Coordination 12
Opposition: Low participation & low diffusion “ And alone I have also learne d a little. [Silence]” (Laurent, 10, his mother is speech therapist ) “ Please Mum, try to recycle your waste ” (Cédric, 11, his mother is Post employee ) Participation Diffusion - + - Opposition Mediation + Delegation Coordination 13
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Opposition: Low participation & low diffusion Participation “The school will - + not educate” - Opposition Mediation The parents do Diffusion Low child High child Low child High child not relay agency agency agency agency external advice + Delegation Coordination Low child High child Low child High child agency agency agency agency Low child agency: children are “under control” or “too small” High child agency: “Since our performance on recycling [the waste], I am addicted to recycling.” [Mother] “Yes, to some extent, he would be more careful than we are, than I am.” 15
Delegation: Low participation & high diffusion Participation Busy parents - + Diffuse role to - Opposition Mediation the other agents Diffusion Low child High child Low child High child agency agency agency agency No or little relay + Delegation Coordination of the influences Low child High child Low child High child of other agents agency agency agency agency Low child agency: lots of sport, routines, rarely on his own High child agency: “I may play [with my Nintendo] whenever I want, except, yes, when I have finished my schoolwork” 16
High participation score if... If children report what’s going on at school “ What is happening at school is often a black box (…) he doesn’t tell muc h about school. ” (Arthur’s mother, chemist) If parents are listening to them “ he often comes back from school by saying ‘the teacher has said that…’. Children listen well to their teacher. 17 ”
Mediation: High participation & low diffusion “I do not wait Participation from school - + that… that it - Opposition Mediation interferes with Diffusion Low child High child Low child High child the way that agency agency agency agency one teaches + Delegation Coordination them things” Low child High child Low child High child agency agency agency agency Low child agency: “What I am reproaching, it’s the attempt to utilise the children to make the parents feel guilty. Well, I'm smoking and ... well, this is my difficulty and a challenge for me” High child agency: “if I am cold, I take a shawl or a sweater” 18
Coordination: Low participation & low diffusion Participation “They are really - + well informed - Opposition Mediation from all sides, Diffusion and in addition, Low child High child Low child High child agency agency agency agency they love nature + Delegation Coordination and respect it.” Low child High child Low child High child agency agency agency agency Low child agency: ? High child agency: sorting the waste, carpooling to school, gardening, camp in a forest during holidays… 19
Do the children carry energy-saving messages and practices? Yes if… Parents recognise and help develop a strong child’s agentive power Parents have a high participation score: they relay, comment & exchange environmental information, advice or practices issued by the other agents of socialisation At home, there are some energy-saving practices At home, there are some energy-saving messages The other agents of socialisation provide the children with environmental education 20
Policy implications Sensitisation campaigns directed to children: always 2 ‘side-effects’ they learn of their agentive power , both on themselves and in the family, to change or not energy related practices children also learn socialised ways of linking their environmental knowledge or concern with their energy-consuming practices : contradictions, laughs or impersonal “one tries” or “one should try” 21
Policy implications To develop policy instruments to organise the cooperation between different socialisation agents , or to further encourage it, in order to practically increase children’s ability to act as agent of change, by way of subsidies, recommendation to teachers, specialised coordination offices, school benchmarking Internet tools ... 22
Policy implications These types of cooperation between different socialisation agents would relieve children from doing often alone this coordination between their parents, their school and the media, each child alone in his or her family, with more or less success or failure and with a higher or lesser child’s empowerment as a consequence. 23
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