The Environmental Awareness of Parents and Teachers and its Relationship
to the Environmental Awareness of Children in Saudi Arabia
Abstract
The topic of environmental awareness has received great attention
recently at the local and global levels. This is in response to global
calls regarding the importance of environmental awareness for children,
young people and adults as a way to protect the world from environmental
problems. Instilling environmental awareness is a responsibility that
must be shared by all child-rearing institutions, but studies have shown
a lack of scientific research proving that educators play an effective
role in children’s environmental awareness in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. Therefore, this study aimed to ascertain the level of
environmental awareness of children in early childhood, and its
relationship to educators’ level of awareness in light of many variables
(child’s age and gender and educator’s job and education level). The
study sample consisted of 77 parents and teachers of varying educational
levels (secondary school/graduate/postgraduate) and a sample of 50
children of different ages (4–8 years and over) who were chosen from
the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. To achieve the study objectives and
gain a deep understanding of children’s environmental awareness and its
relation to that of their parents and teachers, a mixed-method approach
was used. The data were collected using a questionnaire answered by
educators (parents and teachers) and a picture-based survey answered by
children. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software
(version 6). This study shows that the differences in children’s level
of awareness are due to their age and not their gender, as older
children seem to be more aware. There is a positive relationship between
children’s awareness and that of their educators. The study also reveals
that teachers have greater environmental awareness than parents;
therefore, there is a need to increase parents’ environmental awareness.