A Nordic research project from Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland has asked the question what young people aged 12 to 16 worry about when it comes to future threats and potential crises.
1640 young boys and girls from Norway participated in the study, which was conducted by researchers from CrisesSolutions, part of NordForsk's initiative on research on children and young people.
The aim is to improve our understanding of the welfare of children and young people and the consequences of the pandemic and the restrictions in education, well-being, mental health and living conditions.
The results of the survey show that 16 percent of the respondents are concerned that climate change will threaten people and the planet.
"This indicates that young people perceive global environmental threats as relevant and serious. 14 percent are worried about threats of war, and this shows that unrest in the world also affects young people's perception of security," says Henriette Kyrrestad from UiT – the Arctic University of Norway.
10 percent of respondents are worried about natural disasters such as forest fires, earthquakes, and tsunamis, while only four percent worry about future pandemics.
The girls in the study are generally slightly more worried than the boys, which fits well with previous studies on gender differences in anxiety and mental health problems. What the survey showed was that four per cent worry about a new pandemic.
"It's very interesting, but maybe it's because it's something they have experience with. It was not the case that very many children and young people got sick. It was more the lockdown and the measures that had consequences for them and not the pandemic itself. They have learned that it went well, and this has given them confidence that if there is a new pandemic, the authorities will probably not implement the same extensive measures again," says Henriette Kyrrestad and adds:
"Almost 75 percent of young people are not or only slightly worried about climate change, pandemics, war or natural disasters. This tells us that young people in Norway feel quite safe in general. We believe this is related to the fact that young people have a high level of trust in decision-makers and that they do a good job of safeguarding the country's security."
Read more about the other work packages from CrisesSolutions: uit.no/project/crisessolutions
Henriette Kyrrestad participated at this year's debate on Arendalsuka arranged in collaboration with the Nordic Welfare Centre. Watch the video recording below.
