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Australian children and the threat of nuclear war
Author(s) -
Boughton Richard C.,
Kenyon Yvonne,
Laycock Lee,
Lewin Terry J.,
Thomas Stuart P.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1987.tb133300.x
Subject(s) - nuclear warfare , nuclear weapon , section (typography) , nuclear family , spanish civil war , psychology , world war ii , political science , history , law , advertising , business
Seven hundred and one 10‐ to 13‐year‐old schoolchildren from 20 schools in the Hunter region of New South Wales were asked questions about the future. The questionnaire, which was in two main sections, commenced with general, open‐ended questions about the children's expectations, hopes and wishes. It then moved to more specific questions which were designed to assess the children's current level of knowledge about nuclear war. In the unprompted section, 56% of the children mentioned war as one of their concerns, while 33% wrote specifically of nuclear war. In answer to specific questions, the majority (97%) of children reported being aware of the issues of nuclear armaments and nuclear war. Sixty‐eight per cent of children considered that nuclear war will or might occur; 31% felt that this would be within their own lifetimes. Most of the children reported the mass media to be their source of information on these issues; very few had heard about them from family or friends. The results challenge a commonly expressed belief that children of this age are not aware of the nuclear arms situation. Awareness of this issue and its implications, which is coupled with a lack of opportunities for discussion, may be detrimental to the well‐being of children.