Evaluating the Presence of Sustainable Development Goals in Digital Teen Series: An Analytical Proposal

Abstract

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. Several experts on sustainable development have highlighted the need for educational transformation to achieve them on time. Simultaneously, the influence of teen series on the personal and social development of teenagers has been increasingly demonstrated, especially after their boom through video-on-demand digital platforms. Therefore, it is worth asking how the 2030 Agenda goals are presented in teen series, especially in those of public television, such as the Spanish one, due to its commitment to young people and the SDGs (ratified in its official documents). The aim of this study is to propose an analysis tool and, subsequently, to apply it to a content analysis of the digital teen series Boca Norte. The results of the analysis reveal that social issues are presented in Boca Norte, while environmental ones are not. In addition, the results show limitations in the integration of SDG-related issues, especially because they are focused on social relationships between characters rather than on realities, contexts and consequences. The tools’ findings could impact or be linked to teenagers’ education. These conclusions prove that the proposed tool is useful, even for the development of new series for public television aligned with its public commitment.