Australian School Students and Social Movement Support
In this article I argue that already in secondary school, students have social and political views which predispose them to be supportive towards particular social movements. These predispositions are part of the normal political development from youth to adulthood and are influenced
by a wide range of factors, including demographic, home background, school, and attitudinal variables. To examine student predispositions to support social movements, I analyse a sample of 1,311 senior secondary school students in the ACT and South Australia who were asked whether they would
join demonstrations in support of seven different social movements. The seven movements are the peace movement, the environment movement, the pro and anti-abortion movements, anti-apartheid movements, the gay rights movement, and the Aboriginal rights movement.
Considerable variation was found in student preparedness to support these social movements, with the peace and environment movements receiving most support and the two abortion movements and gay rights receiving the least. Female students and students with previous political activity were more likely to give support to all social movements. On the other hand, commitment to religion was particularly important in differentiating between support for the pro-abortion and anti-abortion movements. The article concludes by linking youth support for social movements with wider issues related to adult political behaviour and active citizenship.
Considerable variation was found in student preparedness to support these social movements, with the peace and environment movements receiving most support and the two abortion movements and gay rights receiving the least. Female students and students with previous political activity were more likely to give support to all social movements. On the other hand, commitment to religion was particularly important in differentiating between support for the pro-abortion and anti-abortion movements. The article concludes by linking youth support for social movements with wider issues related to adult political behaviour and active citizenship.
Keywords: Australia; activism; gender; secondary students; social movements; student activism
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: The Australian National University
Publication date: 01 January 2004
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