The mental health of youths in developed nations has been declining for at least two decades. Fear of climate change is one of the most prevalent causes of youth distress directly associated with declining function. We argue that the introduction of climate change activist materials into primary and secondary school curricula put children and adolescents at risk of harm. Preventing mental distress in children should be a higher priority for health and education professionals than combatting climate change, so these materials should be removed until they have been demonstrated to be safe for all students.
McGorryPDCoghillDBerkM. Mental health of young Australians: dealing with a public health crisis. Med J Aust2023; 219(6): 246–249. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52047
2.
WestermanTGDearGE. The Westerman Aboriginal symptom checklist–youth version: national data from a clinical sample of Aboriginal youth. Aust Psychol2024; 59(6): 523–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/00050067.2024.2376870
3.
HickmanCMarksEPihkalaP, et al.Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey. Lancet Planet Health2021; 5(12): e863–e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3
Ecomind. Open letter: climate science, not climate silence - safe, accurate climate education helps. not harms, young Australians’ mental health2025. [cited 2025 Jul 10]. Available from. https://www.ecomind.au/open-letter
6.
PielkeRRitchieJ. Distorting the view of our climate future: the misuse and abuse of climate pathways and scenarios. Energy Res Social Sci2021; 72: 101890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101890
7.
Van VuurenDPO’NeillBCTebaldiC, et al.The scenario model intercomparison project for CMIP7 (ScenarioMIP-CMIP7). Geosci Model Dev2026; 19(7): 2627–2656. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-2627-2026
8.
HaidtJ. The anxious generation: how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness. Penguin Press, 2024, pp. 1–400.
9.
FlewTKoskieTStepnikA. Digital policy as problem space: policy formation, public opinion, and Australia’s online safety Amendment (social media minimum age) Act 2024. Media International Australia, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X251406315
CrossDBarnesAEpsteinM, et al.School-based bullying intervention programs in Australia and New Zealand. In: The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Bullying: A Comprehensive and International Review of Research and Intervention. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2021, pp. 510–526. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118482650.ch61
12.
LeeHRomeroJIPCC. Climate change 2023: synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the sixth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 2023. https://doi.org/10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647
13.
GeeDGHumphreysKLFlanneryJ, et al.A developmental shift from positive to negative connectivity in human amygdala-prefrontal circuitry. J Neurosci2013; 33(10): 4584–4593. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3446-12.2013
BarattaMVSeligmanMEPMaierSF. From helplessness to controllability: toward a neuroscience of resilience. In: Frontiers in psychiatry. Frontiers Media S.A, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1170417
16.
SeligmanMEP. Helplessness: on depression, development, and death. W. H. Freeman, 1975.
ValentineJCPösselPAlharbiA, et al.The relationship between attributional style and symptoms of depression in youth: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Soc Clin Psychol2024; 43(4): 377–405. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2024.43.4.377
LandryNGiffordRMilfontTL, et al.Learned helplessness moderates the relationship between environmental concern and behavior. J Environ Psychol2018; 55: 18–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.12.003
24.
HineDWPhillipsWJCookseyR, et al.Preaching to different choirs: how to motivate dismissive, uncommitted, and alarmed audiences to adapt to climate change?Glob Environ Change2016; 36: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.11.002
