Page - 62 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Heinz Bonfadelli | Media Use of Ethnic Minority Youth 62 In families from a migrant background, there is less conversation between children and parents about the print media than in Swiss families. But young immigrants talk with their siblings or peers just as much as Swiss youths do. Adolescents of migrant background talk about new media (internet, programming etc.) primarily to friends and siblings, whereas Swiss pupils also mention the father as an important interlocutor; this is probably a result of the different occupational background of Swiss fathers and their computer and internet skills. The limited amount of discussions on the media between young people and their parents in migrant families also seems to be a consequence of language differences in the media content used: Parents of migrant families use media more frequently in their mother tongue, whereas their children often use them in German, which complicates conversations about media. 5. Main Findings In response to our questions concerning access to and use of media, the major findings (to a great extent corroborated by similar findings in other research) were as follows: - Except for TV and satellite TV, the ownership of media devices is more widespread in Swiss families than in families from an immigrant background. At the same time, it can be stated that youths’ own access to new media is higher among the immigrants; but immigrant families do not own as many computers as their Swiss counterparts. As we have seen above, this means that parents of immigrant background offer their children access to ICT, but without using it themselves. In addition, ownership of print media (books, subscriptions to newspapers & magazines) is lower among families of immigrant background. - Young people of immigrant background spend more hours watching TV, whereas how frequently they watch TV does not differ from the TV habits of the native Swiss. The segment of those who do not use the internet at all is higher among the immigrants, but, on the average, young people from an immigrant background spend more time online than Swiss youngsters. Although there are no differences between Swiss youths and others concerning the use of magazines and newspapers, students of immigrant background read books less frequently and fewer hours per week. - With regard to identity-formation processes, our qualitative data illustrate how young people actively use friends or relatives or role models from