Establishing a Relationship Between Demographic Factors and Students' Environmental Awareness

Abstract

A lack of environmental education has been shown to lead to lower levels of environmental awareness and consequently fewer climate change prevention measures (Toksoz et al., 2011). Researchers who study this issue focus on identifying the populations most vulnerable to a lack of environmental awareness based on demographic factors like household income and education level (Ajuang et al., 2016; Philippsen et al., 2017; Sun et al., 2020). This research is essential in guiding future climate-related education efforts, but there is limited data on the topic. In order to fill in this research gap, this project focuses on the relationship between demographic factors and the environmental awareness of high school students in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. One hundred twenty-five high school students were surveyed, and data were collected relating to students' annual household income, parental/guardian education, age, gender, race, household recycling and gardening practices, and environmental awareness. It was found that, in general, students with higher household income levels, parental/guardian education levels, or age had higher levels of environmental awareness. However, students with the lowest parental education levels also showed increased environmental awareness compared to other lower levels. Male students tended to be slightly more environmentally aware than female students, and students whose families recycled or gardened regularly had higher levels of environmental awareness than those who did not. This information can help to guide future environmental education campaigns to improve environmental awareness levels and environmental relationships, which is needed to effectively address the risks posed by climate change.