According to an unprecedented quantitative survey carried out by Bebok, in partnership with Studio Ideias and Espaço Ekoa, a school located in São Paulo, a third of Brazilian children are worried about the climate crisis and the future that adults are building for them. . This perception is shared by a thousand adults, fathers and mothers of children between 6 and 12 years old from across the country, who participated in data collection.
The complete study, entitled ‘The World I Know’, also included ethnographic research with 170 children from five regions of São Paulo, led by anthropologist Adriana Friedmann. Composed of researchers and pedagogues, its team visited schools from different socioeconomic contexts: Guarani Tekoa Pyau Indigenous Community; Amorim Lima Municipal School; Wish School, in Tatuapé, in the East Zone; the Horizonte Azul Community; and the Children’s Home, in the South Zone.
Ana Paula Yazbek, master in education and director of the ekoa space, highlights that children are increasingly anxious about climate change, which reinforces recent research data.
“We noticed, especially among children aged 6 to 12, a growing concern about the impact of these changes, both on the environment and on their own health”, comments Yazbek. She mentions recent examples that intensified this anxiety, such as the heavy rains in Rio Grande do Sul and the storm in São Paulo on October 11th. “Furthermore, at the end of September, São Paulo recorded the worst air quality in the world, which further increased children’s apprehension,” he adds.
Notable Concern: Sustainability and Environment
In the quantitative research stage, 31% of participating fathers and mothers stated that their children are concerned about sustainability and preservation of the environment. Furthermore, 33% expressed concern about the future of the planet, while 17% indicated that this public is interested in topics such as global warming and the climate crisis.
“A mother told us that her daughter doesn’t want to use products from brands that test on animals, for example. Many parents are positively frightened by the little ones’ knowledge, it seems that they have already understood something that many of us adults are still learning” says Camila Holpert, founder of Studio Ideias.
In addition to data related to environmental issues, children are also paying attention to elections: 12% of parents reported that their children have tried to convince someone in the family about their political beliefs.
A New Generation: Knowledge for Pressing Change
The research also addresses the importance and diversity of families, the relevance of educational institutions in a reality of easy access to information, violence, openness to the different and mental health in the post-pandemic period.
“We need to sharpen our views on this childhood, learn to recognize its peculiarities, desires and desires to know how to dialogue in the correct way. And this has not been simple. What we noticed in the research is a generation completely different from the previous ones and lost parents. These children have a high level of awareness of the world’s problems because they have access to information and misinformation without any filters. The problem is that this ends up overwhelming them and turning into anxiety. The world is not easy for them”, adds Fabio Guedes, partner at Bebok.
To give you an idea, 62% of parents report that their children have suffered some type of aggression, and 60% say that their children have experienced some form of violence in schools. Bullying is the most common form of aggression among children, with 29% of parents reporting that their children have been victims of this practice.
According to the study, the ranking of parents’ main concerns currently reveals that 32% are worried about street violence, 20% about bullying, 7% about domestic accidents and 6% about domestic violence.
Reflections: A Better Future, Empowered by Children
The data collected by the research gave rise to the project ‘O Mundo Que Sei’, which includes a documentary series and a podcast series with the same name. The content is available on the project’s website and YouTube and on audio platforms, in addition to the Canal Futura catalog on Globoplay and Cultura Play.
‘The World I Know’ is a permanent multimedia platform – with digital content, documentary series and podcast – that investigates, organizes and disseminates, in an unprecedented way, what children aged 6 to 12 think about the contemporary world. It aims to understand today’s childhood from their perspective and consider them in the exchanges and debates that have arisen in different spheres of society. The contents are spontaneous and derived from ethnographic research carried out with 170 children from five territories with different cultural and socioeconomic profiles in the city of São Paulo. The work was carried out using the sensitive listening methodology, which aims to establish a horizontal dialogue with this audience.
“Sensitive listening includes multiple meetings in which researchers or educators gradually build connections with children, observing their interests, conversations and play preferences to formulate proposals based on what they express”, explains anthropologist Adriana Friedmann.
I invite you to get to know this incredible project more closely!
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