Digital inclusion as a factor of political socialization of high school students

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the main trends in the influence of digital inclusion on the process of political socialization of high school students. Unconventional political activity of schoolchildren in recent years has increased the interest of scientists in the study of political socialization of children and adolescents, as well as factors influencing this process and its results. The empirical base was made up of the materials of the author's research of high school students in Krasnodar (questionnaire survey and expert sessions), as well as materials of sociological research by other authors. The level of involvement in the political life of citizens and the constructive experience of civil and political practices in a digital society largely depends on the updated set of digital competencies of citizens. Digital inclusion has the maximum impact on the political socialization of Generation Z, whose primary socialization occurred in the digital era. The level of involvement of Krasnodar high school students in digital communication is estimated as medium and high, and the level of digital competencies as medium and low. The authors have identified such vectors of the influence of digital inclusion on the political socialization of schoolchildren as: the movement from the sequence of "five transitions" of youth to their overlap and related problems of managing multitasking of identity construction; the change in the configuration of agents of political socialization from hierarchical to hybrid and the emergence of groups of youth outside the influence of traditional agents of socialization; the increasing role of digital media personalities in the formation of political views of adolescents; the development of digital technologies for the formation of political and civic identity.