Awareness of Environmental Ethics Among High School Students : Focusing on Ecological Environments

Abstract

This research examined the level of awareness of environmental ethics among high school students and sought to identify trends using two criteria: "concept of the environment" and "deep ecology". As a result of this research, the following three characteristics of high school students' awareness of environmental ethics were clarified. (1) While many students were acutely aware of environmental issues and expressed a strong affinity for the concepts of "deep ecology", few students had acquired sufficiently sophisticated knowledge about the issues themselves or the behaviors required to resolve them. (2) Although many students were interested in nature and liked playing or spending time in the natural environment, few had experienced a sense of identification with nature in a natural environment or had opportunities in everyday life to come in contact with nature. (3) The closer the contact students had with nature, the greater the affinity they felt for the concepts of "deep ecology".