Mass Communication Department, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Received Date: Aug 27, 2017; Accepted Date: Oct 16, 2017; Published Date: Oct 25, 2017
Copyright: © 2017 Menawer BA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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The idea of this study has been emerged from the importance of school press in enriching and enhancing the educational press, and it also contributes in detecting talents early. The researcher has conducted this study on a random sample of 360 students from intermediate school in Kuwait. The results have revealed that the majority of students in Kuwaiti schools participate in school press as the get the required encouragement from their parents to write in school press, the students also ensured that these activities do not affect their study level negatively. The results indicate that the course newspaper is the most popular activity, in which most students always participate, and the rest of students sometimes do. Also, this study has shown that; there is a significant correlation between students’ participation rate in the activity of school press and their interest to read public newspapers and magazines, and that elder students have more interest to participate in school press, so, Students’ participation rate in the activity of school press varies significantly depending on the gender and grade.
School press, Intermediate school, Scholastic media, Journalism, Communication, Media
School press plays an important role in enriching the educational process. It contributes in detecting talents early and to accustom students to courage speaking in the face of others. It does this role through a sense of belonging and loyalty to the homeland. As well as raising the educational attainment level of pupils through teach them how to research and read. Also the school press makes highlight the positive aspects of the school and be illuminated window and communicating loop between the school and the surrounding community [1].
According to recent trends in education to pay attention to school activities and school press as a form of these activities are working to provide students with information and knowledge of the world they live. It also gives them the knowledge about the other side of world like: current events, ideas, new information about scientific discoveries and inventions, in addition to the definition of the traditions and values.
The school press is a free school activity uses various simplified easy attractive and interesting media arts, which make it popular among students and make them read introduced information through it. In this way students may be affected by school press issues which leave a clear mark on their fresh minds [2].
From this point, school press derives its importance as an essential component of the educational process to create a creative generation depends on self-search and elicits information from multiple sources [3].
Also School press is known as a free activity interested in the development of the cognitive aspects of students by encouraging them to read and learn and gather information and criticism. It also cares about the emotional aspect of students through disclosure of technical talents and abilities and develops innovative side and improves their positive moral, religious, faith and patriotism principles. In addition to the motor side through the exercise of teamwork in collaboration with other school activities groups, and contact with the community outside the school walls [4].
Another author believes that school press is "the newspapers and flyers printed or scripted or photo, published by a school grade students or a school group or even one student. This activity is under supervision and guidance of a teacher or a specialist. It should reflect –honestly through the appropriate style and acceptable editorial patterns- interests and activities of the community. Thereby contributes in forming the public opinion among students. This press should be printed regularly for more than one issue under one name [5].
Other see that the school press is an educational medium dealing with events and contemporary issues related to the community, and characterized by its ability to follow the recent events and its evolutions. It contains photographs and drawings and statistics attract the attention of students and develop their way to think, including daily newspapers and irregular periodicals, and it is one of the aspects of the activity affecting the educational process and allow students opportunities to research and read more [6].
In summary, the school press is a newspaper that depends on pupils or students in editing and designing in the school community and discuss its problems, under supervision of school press teachers and include all journalistic arts like news, investigations, interviews and comics.
This activity is characterized by the presence of high levels of job satisfaction among employees. A study revealed that school press teachers generally have job satisfaction about their work 100% and that was more than other teachers in various specific areas [7]. While the most notable obstacles facing this activity: the lack of finance resources and technical supplies. The ambiguity in its purposes, the lack of specialist supervisors and the absence of a specific time for students to practice this activity [8].
As mentioned previous, school press plays a great role in enriching the educational process, and highlighting the positive aspects of the school, in addition being a contact loop between the school and the surrounding community [1]. School press also plays an important role in the development of social skills among students of deaf and dumb schools. The students love to work in this activity, and this is one of the most important motivations of students’ participation in the school press group. Therefore the rate of participation reached 30% of students in some schools [9].
Usually political events are located at the top list of school newspapers subjects [10]. Almetwally [11]argued that school press have a high rate of reading among students. Also she has concluded that there is a significant correlation between the extent of school pupils read the newspapers and the level of religious awareness. That because of school press made an effective influence in religious awareness.
A study has found that school press - through its content - support belonging to the homeland. The exercise of students to the school press activity leads to the development of their critical thinking [12]. So Najeedah [6] recommends that the school press should contain some political issues which contribute in the students’ political socialization, and this lead to the creation of the citizen who is capable of participating in the governance of his country, as it should clarify the political concepts like belonging, motherland, citizenship, freedom, democracy.
Salamah [13] and Mahmoud [4] have indicated that school press gives students gratifications related to leisure, entertainment and talk with others about the various activities. Studies have found that there is a relationship between exposure and ritual motives among school pupils to read the school press. Entertainment topics such as quizzes and cartoons help in filling out the spare time and recreation the students [14].
In addition to the above, the question of freedom of expression in the school press in the United States has received considerable attention. After three decades from the Supreme Court's decision in 1969 about granting school press its’ freedom, the Court issued another decision in 1988 affirmed the right of secondary school managers to monitor the news and topics in pupils newspapers and magazines. And do not let them symmetry and exchange of views on certain moral issues. This led to a rise control of supervisors on newspapers and magazines for students in high schools [15].
At a meeting of the Federation of school press in Florida 1989. Pupils classed journalism as a profession as a first choice and they see it as an exciting and useful career. The study pointed out that students who choose journalism as a profession continue to exercise it. That was from their awareness of the economic realities in their community [16].
School Press Objects
The work to be successful, it must has a target trying to achieve. The clarity of purpose makes clear beginning of the work. It makes proceedings step accurately and leads it to desired achievements [2]. School press does not aim primarily to profit, as it is in case of the public press. So we find that its objectives are elevated and emanating from a sense of educational and moral responsibility [17].
Those goals are diverse, some regard the curricula, and some are closely related to individuals’ development and their intellectual, cultural composition. While some of this objects are related to the school activity to make a strong link between home and school [18]. The general guidance of united school press objects in two types: general and private objectives.
First: General objectives
Develop the affiliation emotions among students.
Provide students with an appropriate general culture.
Connect the student with the local environment and the Arab society and the outside world.
Develop scientific thinking and encourage scientific innovative spirit.
Teach students self-learning.
Instill the spirit of cooperative work [2].
Ensure religious values.
Introduce students to the most important institutions, governmental and private foundations and its services [18].
Second: Private objectives
Help students to get a public culture appropriate their age.
Work to instill religious, national and behavioral values.
Give students an opportunity to contribute positively in the national projects that serve the local environment.
Encourage students to continue following events in their community and all over the world [2].
The practice of diverse journalistic arts (Audio and print) to achieve the following objectives:
Introduce students to the basic sources of information.
Teach students how to practice the objective and constructive criticism [19].
Development of student taste to aesthetic tendencies.
Simplify the courses and presenting it in an interesting and attractive template.
Qualify students to work as journalists (writing, photography drawing, etc.) [20].
Fill the student’s vacuum-time, and entertains him by interesting articles.
Guide the student to better ways of study and collecting information.
Training students on freedom of expression and the practice the scientific thinking [21]. And this is very important for them as a natural extension of freedoms [22].
In order to achieve the above objectives it has become necessary to prepare school press very well. And support school newspapers financially to help them in establish principles. Alleviating the burden, as well as administrative control, and encouraging journalist pupils to take responsibility is the key targets for these newspapers [23].
In light of the above objectives, the school press organizes competitions that serve the educational purposes develop pupils’ personality in cognitive, technical and psychological aspects, and these competitions aim to:
Increase pupils’ ability on writing for press and discover their scientific, cultural, artistic and journalistic talents.
Establish peace democracy rules and practice of criticism and respect others' opinions, which serve students and the community in order to achieve the proper educational behavior.
Train students on search and access to sources of information by scientific way [5].
From this point, the practice of school press on a large scale and understanding of its objectives will serve the integrated educational purposes. That is why some consider that school press is an activity demonstrates the strength or weakness of the school [21].
Problem of the Study
This study focuses on to how much extent the intermediate school students in Kuwait in the practicing school press activity and their conviction of its importance. In addition to the type of school press in which students participate, this study seeks to reveal the reasons for participation or non-participation of intermediate school students in the school press and its relation with public interests and readings.
The Sample
A random sample has been tested in this study equals to 360 students from intermediate schools in Kuwait, distributed as follows:
According to gender: (180 males and 180 females).
According to grade: 120 of the First grade, 120 from the Second grade and 120 from the third grade.
Number of tested schools: 12 intermediate schools, two schools from each governorate (one for boys and one for girls).
Study Questions
How much extent do intermediate grade students participate school press activity?
What are the main school press issues students participate in?
What are information resources students depend on to write for school journals?
Why do students interest in participating school press activity?
Why don’t students interest in participating school press activity?
What are the challenges faces school press activity in Kuwait?
Study Hypotheses
There is a significant correlation between students’ participation rate in the activity of school press and their interest to read public newspapers & magazines.
Students’ participation rate in the activity of school press varies significantly depending on the gender and grade.
Instruments
Data were collected by printed survey developed by the researcher. The survey consisted of 9 questions included all subjects of the research determined obviously in the aim of research. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of this scale has been 0.87.
Data Analysis
Data were collected using the developed scale. After the data obtained by the survey was analyzed using the SPSS program with the percentage, frequency, and correlation statistical analysis techniques.
According to the Figure 1 most of students (91.7%) participate in the school press activity and (8.3%) sometimes do this. So the majority of students in Kuwaiti schools are participants in school press. This may be related to many reasons like parents’ encouragement to their sons and daughters on writing for school press, also pupils ensured on these activities don’t affect their scholastic level [24].
Figure 1: Extents to which students participate in school press.
The results in Table 1 indicate that course newspaper is the most popular activity which students participate in. there were 83.3% of students always participate in it, and 16.7% sometimes do, but none never. In the second place it has been the class newspaper which 80.6% of respondents have said always work for it, 16.7% sometimes do and 2.8% never participate in it. The students also participate in school activity newspaper, grade newspaper, activities group newspaper, events newspaper, paper of school press group and photo newspaper in the last place. Also Hanna [25] has ensured that students participate in many school newspapers.
Table 1. Main School Press Issues Students Participate In.
| Participation extent Papers kinds | Always | Sometimes | Never | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | |
| Course newspaper | 300 | 83.3 | 60 | 16.7 | 0 | 0 |
| Class newspaper | 290 | 80.6 | 60 | 16.7 | 10 | 2.8 |
| School activity newspaper | 280 | 77.8 | 60 | 16.7 | 20 | 5.6 |
| Grade newspaper | 260 | 72.2 | 80 | 22.2 | 20 | 5.6 |
| Activities group newspaper | 250 | 69.4 | 90 | 25.0 | 20 | 5.6 |
| Events newspaper | 240 | 66.7 | 80 | 22.2 | 40 | 11.1 |
| Paper of school press group | 190 | 52.8 | 140 | 38.9 | 30 | 8.3 |
| Photo newspaper | 180 | 50.0 | 120 | 33.3 | 60 | 16.7 |
According to Figure 2, the internet has been the first information resource that students depend on to write for school press, there were 50% of respondents have said that. At the second place with percent 44.4% of students it was newspapers and magazines. Books also have been information resource for 22.2%, but none used the radio & TV in writing for school press. This result agrees with Altaeb [24] when he has figured out that magazines and internet are the most popular between students they depend on as information resources to write for school press.
Figure 2: Information resources students depend on to write for school press.
As it is shown in Table 2, developing the spirit of affiliation to the school and the society was the reason make 36.1% of students participate in school press. Then 25% of students said that they participate in school press activities because it teaches them how to think and solve problems, and 19.4% to get school activity grades. 16.7% of students participate in it to get new experiences like training on writing press releases. 8.3% of them involve in school press groups to develop the spirit of teamwork. Last 5.6% of students participate in it as training on data collection and to express in freedom about their opinion. Hanna [25] has found that school press contributes in developing scientific thinking between students.
Table 2. Why Do Students Interest in Participating in the School Press Activity?
| Why | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| To develop the spirit of affiliation to the school and the society | 36.1 |
| It teaches me how to think and solve problems | 25 |
| To get school activity grades | 19.4 |
| Training on writing press releases | 16.7 |
| To get new experiences | 16.7 |
| To develop the spirit of teamwork | 8.3 |
| Training on data collection | 5.6 |
| To express in freedom about my opinion | 5.6 |
To assess the challenges faces school press activity in Kuwaiti schools we asked the respondents about it, and as shown in Table 3, we have found that the lack of expert supervisors came in first place with 61.1%.
Table 3. Challenges Faces School Press Activity in Kuwait.
| Challenges | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Lack of resources | 13.9 |
| Lack of expert supervisors | 61.1 |
| Lack of dedicated halls for school press activity | 16.7 |
| There are no established places to hang the wallpapers on | 5.6 |
| There is no encouragement by the school administration | 16.7 |
Then the lack of dedicated halls for school press activity and the absence of encouragement by the school administration by 16.7%. Also lack of resources affects the school press from 13.9% of students’ point. At the last only 5.6% of students see that their schools do not interest in establishing specific places to hang the wallpapers on. That challenges are common face school press in many Arabic countries [6,24].
Hypotheses Discussion
H1: There is a significant correlation between students’ participation rate in the activity of school press and their interest to read public newspapers & magazines.
The Table 4 indicates that there is a significant correlation between students’ participation rate in the activity of school press and their interest to read public newspapers & magazines. As the correlation coefficient was 0.853 and this is a very strong correlation. This result is consistent with the findings of Mansour [26], which have proved that the scholastic media affects the level of communicative skills of the participants, and makes them more able to follow events and what is going on around them.
Table 4. Correlations.
| Correlations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| students’ interest | Students’ participation | |||
| Spearman's rho | Students’ interest to read public newspapers & magazines | Correlation Coefficient | 1.000 | .853** |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | . | .000 | ||
| N | 360 | 360 | ||
| Students’ participation rate in the activity of school press | Correlation Coefficient | .853** | 1.000 | |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | .000 | . | ||
| N | 360 | 360 | ||
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
H2: Students’ participation rate in the activity of school press varies significantly depending on the gender and grade.
The Table 5 shows that there is a significant difference between students groups divided by gender with their participation rate in the activity of school press. It is noticeable that mean of males (1.9444) was more than females (1.8889), which means that males have more interest to participate in school press.
Table 5. Group Statistics and Independent Sample Test.
| Group Statistics | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | N | Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error Mean | ||||
| Students’ participation rate | Males | 180 | 1.9444 | .22970 | .01712 | |||
| Females | 180 | 1.8889 | .31515 | .02349 | ||||
| Independent Samples Test | ||||||||
| Levene's Test for Equality of Variances | ||||||||
| F | Sig. | |||||||
| Students’ participation rate | Equal variances assumed | 15.164 | .000 | |||||
| Equal variances not assumed | - | - | ||||||
The Table 6 shows that there is a significant difference between students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades with their participation rate in the activity of school press. It is noticeable that the mean of third group (3rd grade students) is the highest between three groups. This refers to elder students have more interest to participate in school press.
Table 6. Students’ Participation Rate.
| Descriptive | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students’ participation rate | |||||||||||
| N | Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error | 95% Confidence Interval for Mean | |||||||
| Lower Bound | Upper Bound | ||||||||||
| 1st grade | 120 | 1.8333 | .37424 | .03416 | 1.7657 | 1.9010 | |||||
| 2nd grade | 120 | 1.9167 | .27754 | .02534 | 1.8665 | 1.9668 | |||||
| 3rd grade | 120 | 2.0000 | .00000 | .00000 | 2.0000 | 2.0000 | |||||
| Total | 360 | 1.9167 | .27677 | .01459 | 1.8880 | 1.9454 | |||||
| ANOVA | |||||||||||
| Students’ participation rate | |||||||||||
| Sum of Squares | Df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | |||||||
| Between Groups | 1.667 | 2 | .833 | 11.516 | .000 | ||||||
| Within Groups | 25.833 | 357 | .072 | - | - | ||||||
| Total | 27.500 | 359 | - | - | - | ||||||
From Tables 5 and 6, we can say that the hypothesis: “Students’ participation rate in the activity of school press varies significantly depending on the gender and grade” is correct.
The researcher has conducted this study on a random sample of 360 students from intermediate school in Kuwait. The idea of this study has been emerged from the importance of school press in enriching and enhancing the educational press, and it also contributes in detecting talents early. The researcher has been aiming to develop the emotional affiliation among students in order to develop their cooperative trends. This study is also aiming at providing students with the appropriate culture connecting them with their local and Arab community, besides, developing some values such as religion, innovation, scientific thinking, self-learning and democracy. The researcher has collected the required data using a survey applied on the subjects of the study, using the SPSS program to analyze data.
The results have revealed that the majority of students in Kuwaiti schools participate in school press as the get the required encouragement from their parents to write in school press, the students also ensured that these activities do not affect their study level negatively. The results indicate that the course newspaper is the most popular activity, in which most students always participate, and the rest of students sometimes do. On the other hand, the results indicate that most of students always participate in the class newspaper, some of them sometimes do, and very few of them never do. The students also participate in school activity newspaper, grade newspaper, activity group newspaper, events newspaper, paper of school press group and photo newspaper in the last place. The results of the study also show that the internet is the first source of information students depend on, then the newspapers and magazines come in the second place, and books are another source of information for few students, while the radio and TV are not revealed as source of information.
Also results show that the reasons why students participate in school press are, in order, as the following; to develop the spirit of affiliation, to learn how to think and solve problems, for getting school activity grades, getting new experiences like training on writing press releases, developing the spirit of teamwork, and expressing their opinion freely. The results indicate that the challenges students face in participating in school press are, in order; the lack of expert supervisors, the lack of dedicated halls, the absence of encouragement from school administration, lack of resources, and finally the lack of interest in establishing specific places to hang the wallpapers on.
Finally, this study has shown that; there is a significant correlation between students’ participation rate in the activity of school press and their interest to read newspapers and magazines, there is a significant difference between students group divided by gender as males have more interest to participate in school press than females, and that elder students have more interest to participate in school press, so, Students’ participation rate in the activity of school press varies significantly depending on the gender and grade.
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