Total votes
5-11 votes
11-16+ votes
Research from Oxford University’s Reuters Institute found that 39% of people worldwide said they sometimes or often actively avoid the news, finding it relentless, depressing and boring. This figure was up 10% from 2017's figure, where 29% of people said the same. For our first VoteTopic of the year, we wanted to see if this aversion was also felt by younger generations, and so we asked them what their relationship with the news had looked like over their summer break. We received responses from over 23,000 students aged 5-16+.
Secondary, College & 16+ students discussed, “Have you kept up with the headlines this summer?”, while Primary 7-11-year olds considered, "Have you kept up with the news this summer?" and Primary 5-7-year olds voted on the question, “Do you like learning about the news?”
23,098 young people voted on this topic.
Most of us feel it is important to know what is happening in the world around us, even if it isn't good news.
We watch the news and take some of it in but sometimes we often feel that the news gives it a certain slant and could be fake (especially on social media platforms).
I don't like watching the news, I get my news from Tik Tok and YouTube.
Thank you to Mena Sultan from The Guardian Foundation for responding to young people's voices on this VoteTopic!
