Interview

Sherilyn Bumatay
Enviroment Interview
5/16/09

Curious about a child's perspective on society's impact on the environment, I decided to interview an 8-year-old. She, named "Cavalier Girl" in the interview, and a few other family friends were playing in a basketball game over the weekend. Knowing this would be an opportunity to interview someone within the age range I was looking for, I brought my notebook. After the game, we all ate lunch together and I found my volunteer to help with my assignment. I consider the interview to be very casual; a conversation fueled by curiosity over french fries and chicken nuggets.

Sheri: You want to help me with my homework?
Cavalier Girl: What do you need to do?
S: I need to interview someone. I'll just ask a few questions. They're really simple, and short. It won't take long, I promise.
CG: Okay.

S: Let's see. What do you think is happening with our environment?
CG: ...
S: Do you know what the environmnet is? Have you heard it before?
CG: *shakes head*
S: umm...nature. What's happening with nature? Like the trees, the plants, the oceans and rivers...What are we doing to it?
CG: We're losing water.
S: Is that it?
CG: People are helping it.
S: What about forests? and trees?
CG: They're dying.
S: Anything else?
CG: No.

S: Okay. Are we harming it? Do you think we're hurting the environment?
CG: A little bit.
S: How?
CG: Littering.
S: What else?
CG: ...
S: What are people doing...what do we need to stop?
CG: Hurting the planet.

S: And are we helping it?
CG: Yes.
S: How?
CG: Saving water. We're helping each other.
S: Doing what?
CG: Save the planet.
S: Is that all we do? Save water?
CG: No...
S: What else?
CG: Save power....
S: What about recycling?
CG: We recycle. Don't use plastic cups. Save paper.

S: Do you think we are helping or hurting the environment more?
CG: "Help. We help it more."
S: Why [do you say that]?
CG: "Now we do more than we did before."
S: What did we do before?
CG: "Before we were using a lot of water, and now we're using less."
S: Is there anything else we did before?
CG: "Leave trash on the floor a lot, and now we're picking it up."

S: And what are you learning in school about the environment? Did they teach you how to help it? What do you learn?
CG: How to save more energy and how to save the planet. Recycling, and saving paper.