Black and White Children's Knowledge and Perception of the Environment

Compared the knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions of South African Black and White children towards environmental issues. 291 Black children (aged 8-15 yrs) and 237 White children participated in the study. Results show that 72% of White children viewed pollution as a more serious problem than housing or education. In contrast, Black children considered education (52%) and housing (25%) as problems more important than pollution (23%). White Ss viewed as more serious than Blacks all the areas of litter, air and water pollution, forest destruction, wild animal poaching, noise, food source poisons, overpopulation, ozone layer depletion, and soil erosion. These findings correlate with the personal experiences of Black and White children.