How to talk to kids about climate change

When it comes to talk to our children about climate change, research shows that there is a big difference between what parents think and what is actually happening. A NPR survey in 2019 showed that nearly 85 percent of parents across the political spectrum thought that children should learn about climate change. But only half of those parents said they talked to their children about it.

The fact is, your child is probably hearing about climate change. Leslie Davenport, a therapist and author of a workbook to help children process climate change, called All the feelings under the sun: how to deal with climate change, said she was researching her book when she talked to many children who knew more about parents than about climate change. “I was very impressed with the knowledge that many children had about the science of climate change, even at the age of 8 or 9.” As the climate crisis grows more severe and continues to be the headline, it will continue to internalize children’s awareness. An article about the COP26 summit has been mentioned An 8-year-old boy from Glasgow said: “I am worried that if the world warms up all animals will start to die and (…) people will not survive.”

The problem, according to Davenport, was that the information did not come from a reliable source, from a teacher or parent. Instead, the children who were talking were receiving partial information — listening to something on the radio or in an interview — that they would then try to research on the Internet. “As a result, the level of emotional distress is quite high,” Davenport explained, describing anger and frustration as panic, depression, as well as headaches, stomach aches, agitation, and acting. “Although they are normal emotional reactions to learning about a world in crisis, they are not prepared to process feelings.”

Before you start a conversation with your child, it’s important to deal with the fear and lack of knowledge about the climate crisis. Mary DeMocker, environmental activist and author A Parent’s Guide to the Climate Revolution: 100 Ways to Build a Fossil-Free Future to Empower Children to Grow Up and Get a Good Night’s Sleep., noted that climate change is not only a frightening concept for children, it is also frightening for adults, which is why these essential conversations do not happen. “Adults are often shut down about the climate problem,” he says. This can lead to ignoring your child’s concerns or trying to calm them down by underestimating the severity and need for climate change, or it can lead to your grief stealing the show and scaring your child even more. Davenport argues that any meaningful debate about climate change must have a balance between science and emotion. “It can’t just be facts and data. When we present only science, we ignore a large part of what it means to be human: the beliefs, values, and behaviors of our lives. ”

Now, send messages / Whatsapp / Alexari / send message / send emails before sending your child down to a conversation, here are some ideas to help you prepare according to your age.

Children under 6 years

Children under the age of 6 are still too young to understand climate change directly, so Davenport proposes to teach them a basic responsibility to love nature with seasons, plant cycles, beauty, play, and care for life. This sets the stage for children to be good caretakers of the environment. DeMocker, when his children are grown, says there was no such thing as climate change when children were small, so he made an effort to lead by example. “We’ve immersed ourselves in nature, we’ve immersed ourselves in stories about nature, we’ve composted, and we’ve taken great care of the natural world. So they grew up immersed in the concepts of the ethics of care and the joy and wonder of the natural world and our responsibility. ” DeMocker also made an effort to get his children to protest, knowing the concept of political commitment.

The most important thing, DeMocker points out, is to calm down. “Every time they bring up a question, or because you find it important to be talking [the climate crisis] in your family or in front of them, do something energetically soothing, such as, ‘Oh, yes, we have a problem. The planet is warming up, which is causing problems, and that’s what we’re doing. ’” DeMocker says young children need to know that they will be fine and that when things happen, parents or caregivers need to know. they are being cared for.

Sample sentences:

• “The planet is our home, so we need to take care of it to make it a safe place to live.”
• “Climate change is a big problem, but a lot of people are working together to solve it.”
• “People create pollution that goes into the air and can act like a blanket, and that blanket heats the planet and that creates problems.”

7-12 years

At this age, Davenport says kids are already interested and hearing about climate science. “Starting around 8 they start to understand the bigger view of climate change and its effects, and they start to create feelings,” he says. So before you start talking, ask what your children know.

It’s also time to start naming feelings and cultivating emotional resilience. Davenport points out that while it is normal to feel great emotions when knowing that the world is in crisis, children are not prepared to process those feelings. “They get overwhelmed, which can turn all aspects of life upside down,” he explains. Davenport’s book suggests learning to “toggling” or going back and forth between horrific climate news and tools for self-regulation of emotional reactions. “With clear and empathic action, these are essential skills for life to navigate a world successfully, especially as the challenges of climate change increase.”