Well, personally I’d start with the notion that the climate always changes. That there have been numerous warm and cool periods during the Holocene, and this one is not really any different. That the Earth is not doomed. That, instead of worrying about a minor increase in the Earth’s temperature they redirect that energy to be better environmentalists. But, that’s me
How to Talk to Anxious Children About Climate Change
At 21, Olivia Vesovich has already put more on the line for the climate fight than most people, regardless of age. In 2020, Vesovich was just 16 and wrapping up her sophomore year of high school when she decided to sacrifice her privacy and step onto the national stage as one of the 16 youth plaintiffs represented by Our Children’s Trust in the Held v. Montana lawsuit.
Vesovich first heard about the search for plaintiffs when the faculty advisor for Students Against Violating the Environment (SAVE) approached the club members at Hellgate High School in Missoula about the possibility of signing on as plaintiffs in the suit seeking to hold the Montana state government accountable for not doing more to counter the worsening climate crisis.
Blah blah blah, more youts suing but refusing to make their own lives carbon neutral.
For the last two decades parents and educators have been muddling through climate discussions without any clear guidelines or idea of the consequences, thoughtlessly introducing kids to climate change without providing the proper emotional support. But this is now starting to change.
New curriculum is being developed to fill gaps between climate education and emotional support while educators and therapists work to help under-supported parents and other family members figure out how to talk to their children about climate change.
Such conversations are not easy, said psychiatrist Lise van Susteren, who thinks these “moral injuries” at such a young age can have lifelong consequences, leading to the loss of faith in social bonds, cynicism and anxious disconnection from others.
In other words, this will reinforce those anxieties, make their mental well being even worse.
How do I feel about climate change? Terrified — but action is essential
When I was a child, the possibility of apocalypse due to climate change seemed too distant for me to worry about. I never would have imagined that climate change would be an existential threat not in a few centuries, but within our modern era. But here we are, and it became a weighty issue for me because of an unexpected experience.
And this is what the media and education system has wrought. Mental destruction. But, if this kid writing in the LA Times wants to take action, no one is stopping him from changing his own life. But, of course, he wants to force everyone else to be included.
Read: How To Talk To Terrified Children About Hotcoldwetdry »