Abstract:

Political socialization implies the development of conceptions about the political world. Although school is considered the basic agent for the socialization of children, there are other actors that also contribute to their political culture, as the family or the media. This paper aims to determine the degree of influence of these agents in the crystallization of children's political engagement. To do this, a survey was carried out to a representative sample (N = 1009) of primary school students in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. The level of attention to political content in traditional and social media, conversation among family, and civic-political education received in the school were used as independent variables. Political interest, political knowledge and political efficacy were evaluated as dependent ones. Findings show a relevant effect from the civic-political education in the school and the political attention in traditional media on the political orientations studied. However, conversation among family, and political attention in social media had a low influence. The implications that these explanatory relationships have in the configuration of the children's political culture are discussed.

Key words: Political socialization; political culture; political engagement; socializing agents; primary education