Angling Activity of Urban Youth: Factors Associated With Fishing in a Metropolitan Context

Abstract

Surprisingly there apparently have been no studies which have investigated childhood experiences in angling and other types of outdoor recreation within the context of an urban setting. Such experiences obviously confront problems with access, availability, and ever increasing problems with polluted waters and contaminated fish. The concepts of race, gender, residence and angling socialization are applied to angling participation by urban youth in a midwestern setting. Data from a sample of 751 teenagers representing students enrolled in science classes in 10 different schools in a midwestern city suggest that gender appears to be a more important factor in angling socialization than either race or residence. Angling socialization in turn is very important in determining the children's angling activities. Children who have anglers in their households are more likely to engage in fishing more frequently and are more likely to enjoy angling as a leisure activity than are children who do not have anglers in their households. Because males are more likely to enjoy angling than are females, teenage boys are more active within the urban context. In such a context although black teenage boys are not more likely to fish in polluted waters, they do appear to run a higher risk of consuming contaminated fish.

KEYWORDS:

• Race
• gender
• residence
• angling socialization
• polluted waters
• contaminated fish