Can media literacy education promote and improve youth engagement in civic and
political life? Unfortunately, to date, there have been almost no quantitative
assessments of the frequency or possible impacts of media literacy education. This
study draws on a unique panel data set of a diverse group of youth in high school and
college settings. It finds that exposure to media literacy education is not strongly related
to demographic variables. In addition, with controls for prior levels of online political
activities, for political interest, and for a broad range of demographic variables, this
study also finds that digital media literacy education is associated with increased online
political engagement and increased exposure to diverse perspectives.
