bYou: a research proposal about and with children and youngsters as creative agents of change through the use of the media

Abstract

This article presents the relevance, objectives, methodologies and expected results of a funded research project started in March 2021 in Portugal, seeking to provide children and young people with an opportunity to express and discuss their own views on the effect of media in their lives. The project will cross traditional research methods (questionnaires and focus groups) with participatory methodologies, implemented within formal and informal learning contexts. Participants' production will be organized and shared in the project’s website for further interpretation and discussion. Simultaneously, the project will engage with teachers and students in order to revitalize media production in a set of schools. By encouraging, listening and sharing young people’s voices as potential forces of the present time we aim to raise awareness and inspire public projects and policies addressed at them. These are the ideas that give the project its name: bYou – be you and by you.