Increasingly, children are becoming more engaged in environmental issues. They know the planet is changing, that climate change is a real issue that will affect their futures. The prominence and profile of Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future youth movement and school strikes demonstrate that young people want their voices to be heard. Children have an important role to play in environmental issues. They are the generation who will decide what happens to our planet, and who will live with the consequences of the actions of current leaders. Beliefs and values formed during childhood are likely to influence adult behaviours, and as such, it is crucial that we offer them the possibility to make informed decisions, both as individuals and as a collective. Our study spoke with 20 French children aged between seven and 12, wanting to know what the environment meant to them, how engaged they are with environmental issues, and what factors might foster or constrain this engagement. WHAT CHILDREN KNOW Our interviews ranged from general questions on nature and the environment, to howmuch the children felt the environment faced problems, what they did themselves to protect it, and whether they were familiar with environmental practices such as organic consumption, second-hand consumption, or recycling. Finally, we discussed what engagement meant to them, and how they engaged with environmental issues. We also invited the children to draw their views of engaging with environmental issues. Children draw engagement as a set of actions to protect the environment, from showering instead of bathing, riding a bike to school, buying organic products, and local produce that creates less transport pollution. To them, engagement is making a promise and taking action to protect the environment over a long period of time. Children express sadness and fear when discussing environmental issues, and it can be difficult to manage these emotions. However, they seem happy, even proud, when acting on behalf of environmental issues. They highlight the potential negative consequences if humans lack engagement, but also describe the positive consequences of behavioural engagement, such as ‘feeling good’ or being ‘fulfilled. INFLUENTIAL FACTORS Though the children are able to define what engagement with environmental issues is, they express various levels of such engagement. These differences appear to be due to the influence of individual factors, e.g. their knowledge and interest in the subject, their perceived responsibility, and sociocontextual factors, linked to communication within and outside the family. Children do not usually take action by themselves. They act with family or friends. This social group where they grow up is important in encouraging and sustaining engagement, helping them develop knowledge, concerns, values, and positive attitudes towards the environment, and contributes to their engagement. They interrelate with family, friends, school peers and mass media. Practising daily environmental behaviours initiates children into an environmental routine. Family communication on recycling, for instance, or exposure to food shopping – more French people are consuming organic, ecological and local produce – shape pro-environmental norms, allowing children to develop understanding and take an empathetic perspective on issues. School provides children with an environmental education from primary school until college. This education can lead to children becoming catalysts for behavioural change in the family, stimulating them towards more sustainable behaviours. LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT We were able to divide the children into five groupings, depending on their engagement with environmental issues: embodied engagement, engagement, little engagement, very little engagement, and no engagement. Children who exhibit embodied engagement benefit from families who serve as role models. They are able to communicate about issues, and this enables them to be proactive in their behaviour, impacting the behaviour of their families. Those role models are not there for children in the other 38 | ‘‘ settle in natural areas, and the natural environment regresses. Lise, 9 Nature is dying because humans The environment has problems, Environmental issues make me feel bad and sad. Later, our planet will disappear and it’s sad. I feel guilty, because I think I’m responsible for that. Stella, 12 ’’ ’’ ‘‘
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTI5NzM=