School is the second most likely source of information for students from both disadvantaged (54%) and non-disadvantaged (49%) areas. Other items are turned to at much lower levels.
Grade is an important influence on sources of environmental information, with some items increasing in usage by grade while others decrease by grade. Television as a source of environmental information increases with grade level among students from disadvantaged areas (from 53% in grades 4-5 to 85% in grades 11-12), as does the reading of newspapers (from 15% in grades 4-5 to 37% in grades 11-12). Ads sponsored by companies also increases as a source of information as students from disadvantaged areas get older, as does reading environmental information on product packages and labels. At the same time, school, family and the reading of magazines decrease as sources of information with grade level of youth from disadvantaged areas.
The trends among students from disadvantaged areas are more pronounced than they are for students from non-disadvantaged areas. For example, though "television" is again lowest in grades 4 and 5 (56%) for youth from non-disadvantaged areas, it is the same for all of the other grades (about 80%), while "in school" is flat, at 48% for grades 4-5 and 45% for grades 11-12. The lower "in school" figure among students from non-disadvantaged areas supports the earlier finding that those young people report learning less about the environment in school than students from disadvantaged areas.
Among students from disadvantaged areas, those in urban locales are more likely than those in rural regions to report school as a source of environmental information, 57% to 49%. (Earlier, these two groups of disadvantaged students were similar in the amount of environmental information they feel they are learning in school.) The same is true for attending museums: 20% among urban students and 14% among rural students from disadvantaged areas, no doubt because urban areas have more museuems, zoos and aquariums. Learning about the environment via the newspaper is higher in rural areas, by a 31% to 24% margin. Interestingly, among students from non-disadvantaged areas, reading newspaper articles in the only method that differes among urban and rural students, this time higher in urban areas (38%) than in rural locations (25%).
Several of the sources used vary by the amount of self-reported environmental knowledge a young person from a disadvantaged areas possesses. Four items are more frequented by students who say they know a lot about the environment: school (57%, vs. 51% of those who know only a little/practically nothing); family (37% vs. 26%); museums and zoos (24% vs. 17%); and environmental movies (23% vs. 14%). Two other items are more frequented by those who say they know only a little /practically nothing about the environment: television (72% vs. 65%) and ads or materials from companies (13% vs. 7%), sources that are less experiential than those frequented by those who know a lot about the environment in general.
B. Preferred Sources of Environemntal Information
The top two sources currently used to obtain information on the environment are also the two leading preferred sources of this information. But this time, television and school are tied. The methods preferred by students from disadvantaged areas and those preferred by students from non-disadvantaged areas are generally similar, although disadvantaged students are significantly more likely than non-disadvantaged students to say they would prefer to learn more about the environment in school Ñ 52% versus 45%; alternately, attending museums and zoos is far more preferred by students from non-disadvantaged areas than those from disadvantaged areas (29% vs. 20%).
As with the sources currently used, television as a preferred source of environmental information among students from disadvantaged areas increases with grade: about six in 10 students in grades 9 and 10 and grades 11 and 12 opt for this source, compared to half of those in grades 6, 7 ,8, and four in 10 fourth and fifth graders. And again, learning in school and talking to the family move in opposite direction. School as a preferred source is highest among disadvantaged youth in grades 4 and 5 and lowest in grades 11 and 12, as is talking to the family. (Earlier, 4th and 5th grade students placed greater stock in their parentsÕ environmental knowledge than did 11th and 12th grade students.) By comparison, school as a preferred source for learning about the environment does not change by grade among students from non-disadvantaged areas, though the reading of newspapers as a preferred source increases significantly by grad. Television and the family follow the same trends seen among disadvantaged students.
Gender generally plays little importance in preferences for sources of environmental information. The only exceptions are school, which girls from disadvantaged areas prefer more than boys (55% to 49%) and computer or video games, preferred by boys, 22% to 14%. Among students from non-disadvantaged areas, these two items also are the only ones to show a gender difference.
Two potential sources that students from disadvantaged areas would like to use more than they currently do are playing computer games (17% would like to, just 5% do) and listening to musicians sing or rap about the environment (12% would like to, 7% do). At the same time, however, television and newspapers decline between the "used" and "preferred" status of these possible sources of environmental information among students from disadvantaged areas. School is "in balance" as virtually equal numbers of students from disadvantaged areas cite it as a used and preferred source.
Among students from non-disadvantaged areas, the same patterns are visible, with the addition of "attending museums, zoos" as a source more often preferred than currently used.
C. Interest in Working for the Environment
Perhaps sparked by exposure to sources of environmental information and continuing the trend seen throughout this report, young people today show a healthy interest in working to help do things for the environment, often despite other concerns in their lives. Most encouraging is the fact that about two-thirds of students, whether from disadvantaged areas or not and despite other problems that may be in their lives, say they would be either very or somewhat interested in working with others or joining a group or club to benefit the environment.
There are some striking differences among demographic subgroups. Again, following trends seen elsewhere, girls from disadvantaged areas are far more interested than boys in working with others to help the environment. Likewise, overall interest in working with others for the environment decreases from 74% among fourth and fifth graders from disadvantaged areas (47% of whom are "very interested") to 58% among ninth and tenth graders (just 17% are "very interested").
Whether a young person lives in an urban or rural location does not significantly affect interest in involvement among students from disadvantaged areas, with 62% of urban disadvantaged students and 67% of rural disadvantaged youth reporting they are either very or somewhat interested in working for the environment. This is in contrast to the findings of students from non-disadvantaged areas, where urban/rural status does have an impact. Nearly three quarters of non-disadvantaged youth in rural areas (73%) are very or somewhat interested in working for the environment, compared to 58% of urban non-disadvantaged students. These results are in-line with an earlier correlation between urbanicity and the desire to have an impact on the environment, as urban and rural disadvantaged students were similar in placing a priority on helping the environment (21% and 26% respectively), where rural non-disadvantaged students were markedly higher than urban students from non-disadvantaged areas (38% vs. 28%) in wanting to have an impact on the environment.
Not surprisingly, knowledge about the environment in general is highly correlated with interest in joining a group or working with others to benefit the environment. Fully 78% of students from disadvantaged areas who know a lot about the environment are at least somewhat interested in helping the environment, compared to 53% of those who say they know only a little or practically nothing about the environment. This is similar to the results among students from non-disadvantaged areas.
The correlation above is supported by the path analysis. We hypothesize that interest in involvement in environmental groups would lead to involvement in environmental groups both at school and in the community. The path analysis shows that this is indeed the case, as the results between these data elements are statistically significant. Increasing interest in environment groups ought to lead to increased participation in environmental groups, the final step of the path analysis paradigm leading from environmental knowledge to environmental action.
With regard to learning about the environment in school, the same correlation applies: 79% of disadvantaged students who say they are learning a lot about the environment in class would be interested in such work, compared to 59% of those learning only a little or practically nothing about the environment in class. Among students from non-disadvantaged areas, the results are comparable.
D. Ease of Getting Involved in Helping the Environment
Interest in doing something does not mean there exists the opportunity to do so. However, when it comes to young people today, their interest and perceived ease of getting involved in helping to do things for the environment are similar. Just as 64% of students from disadvantaged areas and 66% of non-disadvantaged students say they are either very or somewhat interested in working with others for a better environment, 61% of the former and 67% of the latter report that it would be either very easy or sort of easy for them to get involved in doing things for the environment.
By region, ease of involvement among students from disadvantaged areas is highest in the West (65% very/sort of easy) and lowest in the Northeast (54% very/sort of easy). Ease of involvement is similar across the country among students from non-disadvantaged areas (between 65% and 69%).
Perceived ease of getting involved correlates with interest in the environment. For example, fully 53% of students from disadvantaged areas who are "very interested" in doing something to help the environment say it would be very easy to do things for the environment while just 4% of this group say it would be very hard for them to get involved. By comparison, 20% of disadvantaged students who say they are "not at all interested" in the environment feel it would be very easy to get involved while 19% of this group report that involvement would be very hard for them personally.
In the previous section, the path analysis indicated that interest in joining environmental groups leads to actual involvement in such groups. To fill out that picture, the path analysis looked further into this relationship, introducing a third variable, ease of involvement in environmental groups. As might be expected, students who experience few barriers to involvement in groups at school or in the community are somewhat more likely to join such groups than students who experience many barriers to involvement in groups at school or in the community. Yet, a statistically significant number of those who are interested in joining environmental groups and experience a high level of barriers still get involved, indicating that increasing interest in environmental groups, more so than removing obstacles to involvement, that may spur greater participation in environmental groups.
E. Participation in Groups that Work for the Environment
Despite the high levels of interest in joining a group or club to work for the environment, many young people are not yet participating. About four students in 10 say they know of environmental groups or clubs at their school or in their community where they can volunteer to help the environment. As for actual participation, two in 10 report that they have joined groups or clubs that actively work at improving the environment.
Alternately, these results indicate that about half of those who are aware of school-based or community-based clubs or programs are involved. Thus, if availability of programs or awareness of existing programs is increased, participation should follow, as interest in and willingness to join such groups has already been shown to be high.
Experiential, or hands-on, learning is an approach that is verified by the tremendous response to involvement with nature for non-disadvantaged and disadvantaged students.
Once again, younger students are often more enthusiastic than older ones, continuing the trend seen throughout this research. Interest in winning coupons for picking up trash decreases with grade, from 43% of students from disadvantaged areas in grades 4 and 5 to 22% in grades 11 and 12. Winning prizes for designing posters or ads about helping the environment is highest in grades 4 through 8 (28%), falling to 18% in grades 11 and 12. Getting involved in the environment by writing rap songs also declines in higher grades: 33% of fourth and fifth graders versus 11% of eleventh and twelfth graders say this would be a way to get them involved in environmental issues.
Among students from disadvantaged areas in particular, selling candy or raffle tickets is more popular among girls than boys (27% vs. 19%), as is becoming part of an environmental organization with kids all over the country (15% vs. 9%). Boys from disadvantaged areas show a greater predilection for contests with prizes for writing raps songs about the environment (27%) than do girls (16%). These trends are also evident among students from non-disadvantaged areas.