Climate change: The thief of childhood

Abstract

As predictions about the effects of climate change have become more urgent, Stuart Grauer has wondered how much to bring this information into the curriculum at his school. Would learning about the possibly disastrous effects of climate change cultivate a sense of despair in students and ruin their childhoods? When working with students in the Andes and observing the work of climate activists, Grauer came to believe that teaching students about climate change could actually reduce the sense of powerlessness that leads many to experience anxiety and depression. Helping students understand the risks ahead of them enables them to take action, and taking action can promote improved mental health. As a result of this realization, Grauer has made environmentalism and activism important parts of the curriculum.

Keywords

climate change environment students activism mental health depression anxiety empowerment indigenous youth planet ecology

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychological Association. (2018). Stress in America: Generation Z. Washington, DC: Author.

Bratman

Daily

Levy

Gross

(2015). The benefits of nature experience: Improved affect and cognition. ScienceDirect, 138, 41–50.

Clayton

Manning

Krygsman

Speiser

(2017). Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, implications, and guidance. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica.

Dodgen

Donato

Kelly

La Greca

Morganstein

Reser

… Ursano

(2016). Chapter 8: Mental health and well-being. In The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment (pp. 217–246). Washington, DC: U.S. Global Change Research Program.

Gray

(2011). The decline of play and the rise of psychopathology in children and adolescents. American Journal of Play, 3, 443–463.

Kaplan

(2016, January 20). By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans, study says. Washington Post.

McKie

(2017, February 25). Biologists think 50% of species will be facing extinction by the end of the century. The Guardian.

Myers

Theytaz-Bergman

(2017). The neglected link: Effects of climate change and environmental degradation on child labour. Osnabreuk, Germany: Terres des Hommes International Foundation.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). What are microplastics? Washington, DC: Author. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html

10.

Pielke

Jr . (2010, October 18). A positive path for meeting the global climate challenge. Yale Environment 360.

11.

Pollack

(2018, October 12). Climate change and its impacts on mental health. Psychiatric Times, 35 (10).

12.

United Nations Global Environment Program. (2018). Legal limits on single-use plastics and microplastics: A global review of national laws and regulations. New York, NY: Author.

13.

van den Berg

M.H.E.

Maas

Muller

Braun

Kaandorp

van Lien

… van den Berg

(2015). Autonomic nervous system responses to viewing green and built settings: Differentiating between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12 (12), 15860–15874.

14.

Wikler

Yakupitiyage

(2019, October 1). 11 young climate justice activists you need to pay attention to. Vice.

15.

Woodward

(2019, March 26). Climate disruption and the psychiatric patient. Psychiatric Times, 36 (3).

16.

Yale College Council. (2013, September). Report on mental health. New Haven, CT: Author.