{"id":9092,"date":"2019-09-18T09:33:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T09:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=9092"},"modified":"2019-09-18T09:38:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T09:38:09","slug":"kids-talk-climate-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2019\/09\/kids-talk-climate-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids talk climate crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eco-anxiety<\/a> is\nlikely to affect more and more people as the\nclimate destabilises<\/a>. Already, studies have found that 45% of children suffer lasting depression<\/a> after surviving extreme weather and\nnatural disasters. Some of that emotional turmoil must stem from confusion \u2013 why\naren\u2019t adults doing more<\/a> to\nstop climate change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking with children gives a fresh perspective on the absurdity\nof doing so little about climate change, but it also exposes a troubling\ndisconnect between what we say and what we do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adults are often guilty of cognitive dissonance when it comes to\nclimate change. The UK parliament declares a climate emergency<\/a> after voting to expand an airport.\nScientists conclude that the Amazon rainforest is one of the world\u2019s best\nassets for storing climate-warming gases<\/a> while large swathes of it are burnt deliberately<\/a> to make room for methane-belching\ncattle. A vast coal mine is approved<\/a> near Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef\nwhile its condition is downgraded from \u201cpoor\u201d to \u201cvery poor<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps young people are simply less cynical and more capable of\nseeing clearly how irrational these decisions are. When I interviewed teenagers\nin the Maldives, one said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw online that people in Iceland held a funeral for a glacier<\/a> today, but who is going to do that for us? Don\u2019t they see that we will be underwater soon and our country will be gone? No one cares. How can you grieve for ice and ignore us? <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Because of sea level rise, people in the low-lying Maldives have\nmore to fear from climate change than most. The sense of injustice that young\npeople felt here was palpable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change is like Thanos, wiping out half the world so the rest can survive \u2026 we are being sacrificed.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s moral clarity in the things\nyoung people say about climate change, but even at their age, there\u2019s a\nweariness. After all, young people use social media and are bombarded with bad\nenvironmental news as much as adults. Some may begin to normalise the mass\nextinctions they read about. A 10-year-old in the UK told me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s normal for us now to grow up in a world where there will be no polar bears, that\u2019s just how it is for us now, it\u2019s different than it was for you.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

My dilemma was in trying talk to\nchildren about climate change without upsetting them even more. But I also\nwanted to know how they really felt, subconsciously. Rather than hearing them\nrepeat what they\u2019re told in school or hear from adults, I wanted to hear what\nthis generation \u2013 people who have never known a world without the looming\nthreat of climate catastrophe \u2013 thought about what\u2019s happening to the planet\nand their futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healing the\ngenerational rift<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I asked the children to personify\nclimate change \u2013 to see it as an animal and give it a voice. If climate change\ncould talk, what would it say? I hoped that by externalising that voice, they\ncould talk more honestly than they otherwise would. Even so, I wasn\u2019t fully\nprepared for their responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You created me, and now you must face the consequences\u2026 You spoilt the planet for the children and animals, now I\u2019m going to spoil it for you\u2026 Adults have made the world a worse place, so now I\u2019m here for revenge.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Anger was the most common emotion\nthat surfaced with this technique. These complicated emotions about climate\nchange \u2013 perhaps difficult to express or articulate in conversation \u2013 surprised\nme, but they probably shouldn\u2019t have. Given the severity of climate change and\nbiodiversity loss predicted in their lifetimes<\/a>, anger seems\nappropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was also uncovered in these\nconversations was an enduring empathy for the creatures they share the world\nwith. These children could recognise their own vulnerability in the face of\nclimate change, but it didn\u2019t eclipse their concern for the natural world.\nInstead, they expressed solidarity and empathy with other species. One said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change is like the bug spray of nature, and people are the bugs.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I believe children are bearing the emotional burden of climate change more courageously than adults, but we owe it to them to share it. Listen to your children when they talk about climate change, you\u2019ll learn more about how we should take responsibility for the mess, say sorry, and start to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First published by I’m a psychotherapist \u2013 here’s what I’ve learned from listening to children talk about climate change<\/h1> Caroline Hickman<\/a>, University of Bath<\/a><\/em><\/span>

Eco-anxiety<\/a> is likely to affect more and more people as the climate destabilises<\/a>. Already, studies have found that 45% of children suffer lasting depression<\/a> after surviving extreme weather and natural disasters. Some of that emotional turmoil must stem from confusion \u2013 why aren\u2019t adults doing more<\/a> to stop climate change?<\/p>

Talking with children gives a fresh perspective on the absurdity of doing so little about climate change, but it also exposes a troubling disconnect between what we say and what we do. <\/p>

Adults are often guilty of cognitive dissonance when it comes to climate change. The UK parliament declares a climate emergency<\/a> after voting to expand an airport. Scientists conclude that the Amazon rainforest is one of the world\u2019s best assets for storing climate-warming gases<\/a> while large swathes of it are burnt deliberately<\/a> to make room for methane-belching cattle. A vast coal mine is approved<\/a> near Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef while its condition is downgraded from \u201cpoor\u201d to \u201cvery poor<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>

Perhaps young people are simply less cynical and more capable of seeing clearly how irrational these decisions are. When I interviewed teenagers in the Maldives, one said:<\/p>

We saw online that people in Iceland held a funeral for a glacier<\/a> today, but who is going to do that for us? Don\u2019t they see that we will be underwater soon and our country will be gone? No one cares. How can you grieve for ice and ignore us? <\/p> <\/blockquote>

Because of sea level rise, people in the low-lying Maldives have more to fear from climate change than most. The sense of injustice that young people felt here was palpable. <\/p>

Climate change is like Thanos, wiping out half the world so the rest can survive \u2026 we are being sacrificed.<\/p> <\/blockquote>

""
The Maldives may disappear entirely by 2100 due to sea level rise.<\/span> Guadalupe Polito\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

There\u2019s moral clarity in the things young people say about climate change, but even at their age, there\u2019s a weariness. After all, young people use social media and are bombarded with bad environmental news as much as adults. Some may begin to normalise the mass extinctions they read about. A 10-year-old in the UK told me<\/p>

It\u2019s normal for us now to grow up in a world where there will be no polar bears, that\u2019s just how it is for us now, it\u2019s different than it was for you.<\/p> <\/blockquote>

My dilemma was in trying talk to children about climate change without upsetting them even more. But I also wanted to know how they really felt, subconsciously. Rather than hearing them repeat what they\u2019re told in school or hear from adults, I wanted to hear what this generation \u2013 people who have never known a world without the looming threat of climate catastrophe \u2013 thought about what\u2019s happening to the planet and their futures.<\/p>

Healing the generational rift<\/h2>

I asked the children to personify climate change \u2013 to see it as an animal and give it a voice. If climate change could talk, what would it say? I hoped that by externalising that voice, they could talk more honestly than they otherwise would. Even so, I wasn\u2019t fully prepared for their responses.<\/p>

You created me, and now you must face the consequences\u2026 You spoilt the planet for the children and animals, now I\u2019m going to spoil it for you\u2026 Adults have made the world a worse place, so now I\u2019m here for revenge. <\/p> <\/blockquote>

Anger was the most common emotion that surfaced with this technique. These complicated emotions about climate change \u2013 perhaps difficult to express or articulate in conversation \u2013 surprised me, but they probably shouldn\u2019t have. Given the severity of climate change and biodiversity loss predicted in their lifetimes<\/a>, anger seems appropriate.<\/p>

What was also uncovered in these conversations was an enduring empathy for the creatures they share the world with. These children could recognise their own vulnerability in the face of climate change, but it didn\u2019t eclipse their concern for the natural world. Instead, they expressed solidarity and empathy with other species. One said:<\/p>

Climate change is like the bug spray of nature, and people are the bugs.<\/p> <\/blockquote>

I believe children are bearing the emotional burden of climate change more courageously than adults, but we owe it to them to share it. Listen to your children when they talk about climate change, you\u2019ll learn more about how we should take responsibility for the mess, say sorry, and start to act.<\/p>

""
<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

This article is part of The Covering Climate Now<\/a> series<\/em><\/strong>
This is a concerted effort among news organisations to put the climate crisis at the forefront of our coverage. This article is published under a Creative Commons license and can be reproduced for free \u2013 just hit the \u201cRepublish this article\u201d button on the page to copy the full HTML coding. The Conversation also runs Imagine, a newsletter in which academics explore how the world can rise to the challenge of climate change. Sign up here<\/a><\/em>."The<\/p>

Caroline Hickman<\/a>, Teaching Fellow, University of Bath<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>

Cet article est republi\u00e9 \u00e0 partir de The Conversation<\/a> sous licence Creative Commons. Lire l\u2019article original<\/a>.<\/p>“>The Conversation<\/a> as part of its The Ciovering Crisis Now series<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘I believe children are bearing the emotional burden of climate change more courageously than adults, but we owe it to them to share it’ a psycho-therapist writes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":282,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}