The role of school magazines in addressing the challenges facing the youth in Kenya: a case study of school magazines published by secondary school students in Nairobi

Abstract

What role can the school magazine play in the life of secondary school students in Kenya? The Kenyan youth is faced with dilemma when it comes to using the content of the various mass media available. In most cases the print media that is available for the students may not have the appropriate content or may not be diversified and balanced. Often the print media content available to them is produced by someone else - mostly adults detached from the day to day experience of the student.

Although there are pullouts for the youth in the local daily newspapers - The Standard and Daily Nation and other teenage magazines, still print media for the youth is biased towards adults. Children, like adults explore and interact with print media to meet and fulfill their needs. Thus, there is need to investigate role of the school magazine as a communication tool in the lives of the youth.

The study targeted students in secondary schools aged between 14 and 21 years and undertook a content analysis of 15 school magazines produced by secondary school students in Nairobi. The school magazines whose contents were analyzed were published between the years 2008 and 2010. Through the school magazines, the students have an opportunity to express their opinions and discuss various issues affecting their lives or those of interest to them. Here the contents are written by the students for the consumption by their colleagues.