perspectives of young people in residential care system

This article examines how youths in residential care facilities in the Portuguese child-protection system access and use digital media and news, which sources they consider credible and prefer for staying informed about world events. Based on a survey sample of 75 youths, the study identifies how their emotional responses and institutional constraints shape their engagement with news. The findings reveal significant challenges related to digital exclusion and institutional restrictions, impacting both the youths’ access to media and their ability to engage critically with news. Television remains a central medium following social media and smartphones. This contrasts with their reliance on social media as the primary source for news outside the institutional routine. In detriment of the family, emerges the importance of institutional friends as they live alongside 24 hours per day. This is a significant difference when compared to youths living with their own families. The relevance of friends, mainly older ones as main reference sources for information and for quickly confirming information, respectively, cannot be dissociated from this fact. The relational and emotional aspects are inextricably linked to the experiencing of news, which is often perceived as sad and annoying, and biased. This phenomenon is further compounded by the need to trust those within our immediate social circles, while simultaneously distrusting news sources represented by individuals outside personal networks. These insights provide a foundation for developing tailored interventions aimed at enhancing digital literacy and supporting the informational needs of these marginalized groups . Since these youthsare under the protection of the State, public policies should provide for mandatory access for young people and staff to regular and up-to-date training on digital technology. Similarly, general regulations on access to and use of media in institutions should be defined at the national level in order to avoid disparities between institutions.