4 out of 10 young Danes do not want their children to go to school with children of immigrants!
Together with five European partners, Weekend Trampoline House has organized a questionnaire survey on young Europeans' attitudes towards refugees and immigrants. The result is discouraging reading to us, but it's good to know the scale of the problem before taking action!
34% of young Danes don't want an immigrant partner
39% think refugees and immigrants abuse the welfare system
About 1/3 of young people surveyed have a positive attitude towards refugees and immigrants, which they express with empathy, pity, and sympathy
Our analysis
The survey is not about facts, but about the perceptions and feelings young people have about refugees and migrants. In this way, it reveals attitudes that are expectable to a generation that has grown up with governments, politicians, and opinion makers who have actively used immigrants and refugees as an enemy in their political campaigns for 25 years.
But Denmark is not an island. We need the world around us and the human resources that are out there. Today's Danes already come in all colors and from many different cultures. If we want a democracy for all of us, we must practice thinking in terms of a we with room for all, rather than them and us.
Our solution
Since our politicians are living in the past, this is a task that civil society must take on. In the Spring, we will conduct a series of workshops in Weekend Trampoline House where we will create campaign material for social media, which can help change perceptions.
The six partner organizations behind the study, which is called Changing Minds – Improving Citizens, come from Denmark, Romania, and Spain. They are Weekend Trampoline House, Action Aid, Allianza por la Solidaridad, Fundación Alternativas, CEA(R), and Imago Mundi. The project is supported by Erasmus+.