The knowledge of the schoolchildren from Cluj concerning their close environment and the characteristics of their longer trips

Student: Csiszér Tamás, BSc, 3rd year

Scientific advisor: Poszet Szilárd, PhD, assistant professor

During the research we mostly focused on the touristic sites in the area of the city, on places which are visited by the schoolchildren. This subject was chosen to find out the preferences of the students when choosing their destinations and in the same time to gather information about their attitude towards the surrounding environment. The initial idea was that the students prefer places which are close to the city because of the lower cost and of their lack of spare time, and trips abroad are put on the second place. We also examined how the characteristics, the duration and the frequency of the trips have changed. We wanted to find out whether the schoolchildren have or have not an adequate behavior towards the surrounding environment, how strongly they are attached to nature and its values, how this feeling takes shape and what importance it has in their lives. We gathered 65 questionaries from three schools from Cluj (Apaczay, Bathory, Brassai).

We found out that 75-80% of the students had already visited the areas we were interested in. Most of them are familiar with Făget and Pădurea Hoia (90 %), but only a few of them (5-10%) have visited Făneţele Clujului and Dealul Răpos. It is really surprising the low number of those who regularly make trips in the country. The places most often visited proved to be the following: Apuseni Mountains, Retezat Mountains, Harghita Mountains and the seaside. Almost 100% of the students asked by us have already been abroad, most of them (90%) in Hungary, more than 50% in Germany, Austria, Italy and Greece. The character, the duration and the frequency of the trips largely depend on the attitude of the parents and of close friends and on finances.