Some conclusions can be drawn from the information gathered in this chapter; these will be discussed in relation to the Trevorrow and Orange active model of youth citizenship outlined in Section 2 [3].
6.1. Environment
With regard to this study, the main external elements that would impact on the individual are the structure of the service, awareness of the service being offered, and with regard to the resources available this would include actually having a mobile phone and the available credit to use it to engage with community issues.
The service was controlled by a member of staff who was not adept at using the software which could have acted as a constraint on the delivery of the service to young people. Awareness that the Project was being trialled proved to be low and the messages that were sent out to the registered users were far and few between, this would not have been encouraging for future or continued use of the service. Study 2 showed that the majority of young people have at least one mobile phone and hence resource in terms of the actual device was not considered a problem. With regard to credit, an incentive of phone vouchers was offered by the local council in Study 1 to cover costs of text messaging. However, with as few as two messages being sent per three month period, being able to accumulate 50 sent messages appears difficult. The survey question sent out via the text messaging service in Study 1 that gained the highest response was also in relation to receiving the £10 voucher with the response that they would prefer to receive it sooner.
6.2. Personal traits
Study 2 showed that the personal traits dimension of the model is not an issue with regard skills and knowledge of sending and receiving text messages. Young people are comfortable using the device for communication purposes as the number of daily text messages sent and received indicates. In addition, the students surveyed in Study 2 indicated that they would be prepared to communicate about council issues by text messaging.
6.3. Behavior
The low return rate to messages sent out in general in Study 1 from the participants who had willingly signed up to the service, and could withdraw their number at any time, is a significant result. The tool is clearly not being used by young people as was expected, they are still not engaging despite using a communication device that they are comfortable with using as shown in Study 2. Although the students in Study 2 had claimed that they would be willing to communicate with the council via text messaging, in later responses this appeared lower in the ‘preferred contact method’ than e-mailing or phoning, or in some cases than not giving a response at all. Clearly there are still some practical issues that need further consideration.
P. Trevorrow / e-Government and Active Participation by Young Citizens 131
Technology and users form a two-way bond, people will use the technology for their own means and in turn, the technology will have unforeseen affects on the users [34].
Can provision of a new channel of communication by the government foster demand by young people? Clearly not.
Even though text messaging offers the potential by which to engage with young people, as Gilbert et al discuss in Chapter 12 of this volume, it is not the use of the technology that is in question here, as indicated in Section 6.2, but more so whether the medium will, or can, be used for communication and participation in government issues.
This is essentially more of a concern about the desire of young citizens to engage with the government at all, rather than having the skills or access to the medium being used.
The fact that the young people in Study 2 did not believe the council listened to young peoples’ views is a major concern. Possibly the real issue is not e-government policy or implementation, but rather one associated to civic and political engagement. The research presented here indicates that young people do not have the desire to be involved and participate, or believe that any involvement will be effective, in which case technology is not the answer and other mechanism are required to ensure active participation of young citizens.
References
[1] Becta, Becta ICT Advice: ICT Advice for Teachers. 2003,
www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=tl&catcode=as_cu_pr_sub_02&rid=1800&rr=1.
[2] H. Haste, Joined-up texting: mobile phones and young people, Young Consumers, 2005. 6, 3 (2005), 56- 67.
[3] P. Trevorrow and G. Orange, A Model of Active Youth Citizenship, Joint Actions Socrates Leonardo Da Vinci and Youth Programmes, 2004, 1-33.
[4] B. Coles, Youth and Social Policy. Youth citizenship and young careers, UCL Press Limited, London, 1995.
[5] C. Wallace and S. Kovatcheva, YOUTH IN SOCIETY. The Construction and Deconstruction of Youth in East and West Europe, Palgrave, New York, 1998.
[6] M. Marinetto, Who Wants to be an Active Citizen? The Politics and Practice of Community Involvement, Sociology,31, 1 (2003), 103-120.
[7] A. France, Youth and Citizenship in the 1990s, Youth and Policy,53(Summer 1996), 28-43.
[8] DfES, Citizenship. The National Curriculum for England. 2004,
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/citizenship/section.cfm?sectionId=3&hierachy=1.3.
[9] Commission of the European Communities, Porposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council. 2005, http://www.epha.org/a/1843.
[10] R. Parsons,The National Youth Agency experience. Making a Success of Youth Action, The National Youth Agency, Leicester, 2002.
[11] J.M. Johnson, Design for Learning: Values, Qualities and Processes of Enriching School Landscapes.
Landscape, Architecture Technical Information Series, 2000(www.asla.org/latis1/LATIS-Process.htm).
[12] Active Citizenship Today!, ACT! Cycle of Change. 2003, Institute for Citizenship www.citizen.org.uk/active/act.html.
[13] A. Osler and H. Starkey, Rights, Identities and Inclusion: European action programmes as political education, Oxford Review of Education,25, 1&2 (1999), 199-215.
[14] P. Treseder, Empowering Children and Young People: Training Manual, Save the Children, London, 1997.
[15] B.l. Boyd, Bringing Leadership Experiences to Inner-City Youth. Journal of Extension,39, 4(2001), August 2001.
[16] G. Jones and C. Wallace, Youth, Family and Citizenship. Open University Press, Buckingham, 1992.
[17] S. Morch, Youth and activity theory, In Youth, Citizenship and Social Change in a European Context, J.
Bynner, L. Chisholm, and A. Furlong, Editors., Ashgate Publishing Ltd: Hants, 1997.
[18] L. Cairns, Investing in Children: Learning How to Promote the Rights of all Children, Children and Society, 2001. 15, 5 (2001), 347-360.
P. Trevorrow / e-Government and Active Participation by Young Citizens 132
[19] T. Hall, H. Willliamson, and A. Coffey, Young People, Citizenship and the Third Way: A Role for the Youth Service?, Journal of Youth Studies, 2000. 3, 4 (2000), 461-472.
[20] R. Sinclair and A. Franklin, Young People's Participation. Quality Protects Research Briefing, 2000.
3(www.rip.org.uk/publications/QPB/qbp3.html).
[21] S. Harwood, Government places online at centre of educating youngsters, New Media Age, 2005.
17/02/05, 5.
[22] J. Ward., An opportunity for engagement in cyberspace: Political youth Web sites during the 2004 European Parliament election campaign, Information Polity,10, 3/4 (2005), 233-246.
[23] D. Madell and S. Muncer, Back from the Beach but Hanging on the Telephone? English Adolescents' Attitudes and Experiences of Mobile Phones and the Internet, CyberPsychology & Behavior, 2004. 7, 3 (2004), 359-367.
[24] J. Dhaliwal, Youth market is central to developing mobile, New Media Age, 2005. 21/04/05, 9.
[25] R.E. Rice and J.E. Katz, Comparing internet and mobile phone usage: digital divides of usage, adoption, and dropouts, Telecommunications Policy, (2003), 597-623.
[26] L. Srivastava, Mobile phones and the evolution of social behavior, Behavior and Information Technology, 24, 2 (2005), 111-129.
[27] BBC News, Young 'prefer texting to calls'. 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/- /1/hi/business/2985072.stm.
[28] C. Farr, Sealed with a kiss, Times Educational Supplement,4625 (2005), 23.
[29] BBC News, Girls text for morning after pill. 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/- /1/hi/england/tyne/3227149.stm.
[30] Safetytext Ltd, Safety Text. 2005, www.safetytext.com.
[31] R.J. Kauffman and A.A. Techatassanasoontorn, Is there a global digital divide for digital wireless phone technologies?, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 2005. 6, 12 (2005), 338-382.
[32] V. Keddie, Case Study Research, In The Sage Dictionary of Social Research Methods, V. Jupp, Editor.
Sage, London, 2006.
[33] R.K. Yin., Case Study Design: Research and Methods. 3rd ed., Sage, Beverley Hills, 2003.
[34] J.M. García-Montes, D. Caballero-Muñoz, and M. Pérez-Arvarez, Changes in the self resulting from the use of mobile phones, Media, Culture and Society, 2006. 28, 1, (2006), 67-82.
P. Trevorrow / e-Government and Active Participation by Young Citizens 133
This page intentionally left blank
Part 4
Evaluation of e-Government
This page intentionally left blank
Exploration of e-Government Economics
Frank BANNISTER Trinity College, Dublin, Eire