1 in 3 Children Fear Environmental Doom
Last week I saw an article on Treehugger talking about a recent study that was done by Habitat Heroes. One out of three kids (ages 6 – 11) are afraid that the human race is doomed and environmental destruction will happen in their life times.
What does this mean? Well, the message of the severity of our situation is getting out there, but in the education, we’re neglecting to inject hope and activism into the information provided.
Treehugger noted some stats from the survey including these:
- 50 percent say that hurricanes and tornadoes are the natural disasters that scare them the most.
- 28 percent say that they fear animals, such as polar bears and penguins, will become extinct and disappear from the planet more than any other environmental concern.
I’m a humane educator for an organization called HEART. We teach kids daily about issues affecting people, animals and the environment. As an educator I would just like to say that providing children with hope for the future while teaching them about the problems we face is vital.
My advice to Moms and Dads, educators and childcare professionals: when speaking with kids about serious issues like the environment, it’s important to make the child feel empowered. They can make a difference. It’s easy to portray doom and gloom scenarios (even when we don’t know we’re doing it), but if we really want this generation to grow up to change the world, they need to believe it can be done. And thinking the world is doomed is both bad for the child and bad for the planet. Hope is what we should be promoting – and tangible ways in which we can all make a difference. An example: if your kid is learning about global warming – talk about ways in which they can personally help. Action is key. In fact, action is key for children and adults…
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