{"id":{"repo_id":"brock","oai_identifier":"oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/15377"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/brock/oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/15377","repository":{"repo_id":"brock","name":"Brock University","base_url":"https://brocku.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Beyond the Headlines: Exploring Media Portrayal of Youth Climate Change Activists","abstract":"Climate change is the biggest global threat to our planet today and youth will bear the brunt of this threat (Currie & Deschênes, 2016). Recently, we have seen youth stand up and become activists for climate. This qualitative study was conducted on media representations of youth climate change activists because of its usefulness for exploring the complexity of youth voices, and how they are ignored. This research focuses closely on Swedish teen activist, Greta Thunberg, currently 18, and Autumn Peltier, 17, a Canadian Indigenous activist and Chief Water Commissioner of the Anishinabek Nation. By employing Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, the sociology of childhood, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, herein UNCRC), this research provides new insight on our representations of youth activism. Through analysis, there were seven distinct discourses related to the research questions: adults as supporters, active actors, westernized viewpoints, lone and collective activism, media as a gatekeeper/catalyst, hierarchical and power relations, and dismissal of children. Findings showed that to change media’s perceptions of youth activism, we must first challenge the discourse of childhood innocence, while also still holding relative power in a non-authoritarian way. The UNCRC (1989) also needs to be integrated further within schools and policy implementation as even though childhood globally shares the same inherent rights, not all youth activists are being afforded the same opportunities that Swedish teen Greta Thunberg has been given.","abstract_html":"Climate change is the biggest global threat to our planet today and youth will bear the brunt of this threat (Currie & Deschênes, 2016). Recently, we have seen youth stand up and become activists for climate. This qualitative study was conducted on media representations of youth climate change activists because of its usefulness for exploring the complexity of youth voices, and how they are ignored. This research focuses closely on Swedish teen activist, Greta Thunberg, currently 18, and Autumn Peltier, 17, a Canadian Indigenous activist and Chief Water Commissioner of the Anishinabek Nation. By employing Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, the sociology of childhood, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, herein UNCRC), this research provides new insight on our representations of youth activism. Through analysis, there were seven distinct discourses related to the research questions: adults as supporters, active actors, westernized viewpoints, lone and collective activism, media as a gatekeeper/catalyst, hierarchical and power relations, and dismissal of children. Findings showed that to change media’s perceptions of youth activism, we must first challenge the discourse of childhood innocence, while also still holding relative power in a non-authoritarian way. The UNCRC (1989) also needs to be integrated further within schools and policy implementation as even though childhood globally shares the same inherent rights, not all youth activists are being afforded the same opportunities that Swedish teen Greta Thunberg has been given.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hayes, Grayson"],"institution":"Brock University","degree_name":"M.A. Child and Youth Studies","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Faculty of Social Sciences","degree_department":"Department of Child and Youth Studies","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-11-04T20:19:45Z","date_published":"2021-11-04T20:19:45Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:05Z","subjects":["climate change","youth activism","youth climate activists","media representations of youth"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15377","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Department of Child and Youth Studies"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hayes, Grayson"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2021-11-04T20:19:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-11-04T20:19:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021-11-04T20:19:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Faculty of Social Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. Child and Youth Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Brock University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["climate change","youth activism","youth climate activists","media representations of youth"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15377"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Climate change is the biggest global threat to our planet today and youth will bear the brunt of this threat (Currie & Deschênes, 2016). Recently, we have seen youth stand up and become activists for climate. This qualitative study was conducted on media representations of youth climate change activists because of its usefulness for exploring the complexity of youth voices, and how they are ignored. This research focuses closely on Swedish teen activist, Greta Thunberg, currently 18, and Autumn Peltier, 17, a Canadian Indigenous activist and Chief Water Commissioner of the Anishinabek Nation. By employing Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, the sociology of childhood, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, herein UNCRC), this research provides new insight on our representations of youth activism. Through analysis, there were seven distinct discourses related to the research questions: adults as supporters, active actors, westernized viewpoints, lone and collective activism, media as a gatekeeper/catalyst, hierarchical and power relations, and dismissal of children. Findings showed that to change media’s perceptions of youth activism, we must first challenge the discourse of childhood innocence, while also still holding relative power in a non-authoritarian way. The UNCRC (1989) also needs to be integrated further within schools and policy implementation as even though childhood globally shares the same inherent rights, not all youth activists are being afforded the same opportunities that Swedish teen Greta Thunberg has been given."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Beyond the Headlines: Exploring Media Portrayal of Youth Climate Change Activists"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.department":["Department of Child and Youth Studies"],"dc:creator":["Hayes, Grayson"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2021-11-04T20:19:45Z"],"dc:date.available":["2021-11-04T20:19:45Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2021-11-04T20:19:45Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Climate change is the biggest global threat to our planet today and youth will bear the brunt of this threat (Currie & Deschênes, 2016). Recently, we have seen youth stand up and become activists for climate. This qualitative study was conducted on media representations of youth climate change activists because of its usefulness for exploring the complexity of youth voices, and how they are ignored. This research focuses closely on Swedish teen activist, Greta Thunberg, currently 18, and Autumn Peltier, 17, a Canadian Indigenous activist and Chief Water Commissioner of the Anishinabek Nation. By employing Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, the sociology of childhood, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, herein UNCRC), this research provides new insight on our representations of youth activism. Through analysis, there were seven distinct discourses related to the research questions: adults as supporters, active actors, westernized viewpoints, lone and collective activism, media as a gatekeeper/catalyst, hierarchical and power relations, and dismissal of children. Findings showed that to change media’s perceptions of youth activism, we must first challenge the discourse of childhood innocence, while also still holding relative power in a non-authoritarian way. The UNCRC (1989) also needs to be integrated further within schools and policy implementation as even though childhood globally shares the same inherent rights, not all youth activists are being afforded the same opportunities that Swedish teen Greta Thunberg has been given."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15377"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:subject":["climate change","youth activism","youth climate activists","media representations of youth"],"dc:title":["Beyond the Headlines: Exploring Media Portrayal of Youth Climate Change Activists"],"dc:type":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Faculty of Social Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. Child and Youth Studies"],"thesis:institution_name":["Brock University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:05Z"}