Childhood presents heightened vulnerabilities and unique opportunities in the context of climate change. Even very young children view the environment as a moral concern. Furthermore, early life experiences can lay the groundwork for a lifetime of environmental stewardship. Exposure to nature and parental eco-friendly behaviors are each predictive of children's commitment to environmental engagement later in life. However, these early inclinations give way to decreasing environmental concern in adolescence. Research is beginning to shift from a framework that emphasizes children's status as victims of the climate change crisis to one that instead underscores their role as agents of change.

The developmental roots of environmental stewardship: Childhood and the climate change crisis.

Current day youth have an important role in climate activism, as the decisions and policies made now will have long lasting impacts on the climate and sustainability. Climate change is becoming an increasing concern for younger generations. As such, the purpose of this study was to describe content related to climate change on TikTok. This study included 100 English-language videos related to climate change featured on TikTok. The hashtag #climatechange was chosen because it had the most views of any related hashtag at the time of the study. The number of views, comments, and likes were recorded for each video. Each video was also observed for the presence of predetermined content characteristics. The 100 videos sampled collectively received 205,551,200 views, 40, 203,400 likes, and 666,089 comments. Only eight of the 100 videos included information from a reputable source. Only three of the characteristics were featured in a majority (> 50) of the videos. These were, presents climate change as real (93), affected populations (76), and climate anxiety/frustration (57). Videos mentioning natural disasters garnered 63,453,100 (30.87%) views, 14,245,200 (35.43%) likes, and 236,493 (35.50%) comments. In all, 73 of the 100 videos mentioned at least one environmental impact. Videos including this theme earned 156,677,200 (76.22%) views, 32,000,700 (79.60%) likes, and 563,195 (84.55%) comments. Social media platforms such as TikTok are important tools for understanding popular opinion regarding public health issues such as global climate change. However, the presence of credible professionals is essential on platforms such as TikTok to increase the chances that messaging is as comprehensive as time allows, while also being scientifically sound.

/pdf/climate-change-on-tiktok-a-content-analysis-of-videos-3lba5s2c7p.pdf

#Climate Change on TikTok: A Content Analysis of Videos.

Youth environmental activism is on the rise. Children and youth with disabilities are disproportionally impacted by environmental problems and environmental activism. They also face barriers towards participating in activism, many of which might also apply to their participation in environmental activism. Using a scoping review approach, we investigated the engagement with children and youth with disabilities by (a) academic literature covering youth environmental activism and their groups and (b) youth environmental activism group (Fridays For Future) tweets. We downloaded 5536 abstracts from the 70 databases of EBSCO-HOST and Scopus and 340 Fridays For Future tweets and analyzed the data using directed qualitative content analysis. Of the 5536 abstracts, none covered children and youth with disabilities as environmental activists, the impact of environmental activism or environmental problems such as climate change on children and youth with disabilities. Fourteen indicated that environmental factors ‘caused’ the ‘impairments’ in children and youth with disabilities. One suggested that nature could be beneficial to children and youth with disabilities. The tweets did not mention children and youth with disabilities. Our findings suggest the need for more engagement with children and youth with disabilities in relation to youth environmental activism and environmental challenges.

Children and Youth Environmental Action: The Case of Children and Youth with Disabilities

Widespread access to digital and social media has drastically altered the nature of youth's interpersonal connections In this context, the opportunities children and adolescents have to help people around them are rapidly evolving In this article, we review emerging literature on how digital media influences youth's prosocial development in new ways Then we propose the next steps for advancing the field's understanding of youth's prosocial behavior in the digital age We advocate for extending existing measures to capture experiences that are increasingly relevant for children and adolescents today, with a focus on current events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and social and political activism We also provide a research agenda to advance the understanding of prosocial development (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Advancing measurement and research on youths' prosocial behavior in the digital age

Community Energy in Germany – Bowling Alone in Elite Clubs?

Despite efforts by the adult generation to stem the rise of global warming, the planet is getting hotter every year. The present article analyzes, within the framework of social-cognitive theory, highly resourceful youth conducting environmental programs that curtail heat-trapping gases and protect various ecological supports of life. The children's intuitive principles of change closely matched the formal principles of social-cognitive theory. Social media equip youth with unlimited reach and promote large-scale environmental impact. Their ingenious practices provide the foundation for a powerful youth environmental movement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Lynne Cherry

Papers

Enlisting the power of youth for climate change.