There is a 94.7% consensus between scientists that climate change is real and is caused by humans. Yet, school teachers are still not preparing their students to deal with this fact.
Climate change remains a political topic, especially in education. In fact, it is often listed among other difficult topics like evolution or sex education. To please interest groups, some educational groups even plot ways to encourage children to doubt climate change. In 2014, the Texas Board of Education looked at textbooks that included language denying climate change.
Still, this isn't the reason that climate change has no place in the classroom.
A recent survey reported that only 31% of teachers are teaching students about the cause of climate change. These teachers were also teaching students counter arguments against climate change.
It sounds as though the teachers are trying to cover their basis. But this isn't true.
In a recent survey, 70% of middle-school teachers said that they did not realize that scientists had found a consensus on climate change. This suggests that teachers are not trying to be negligent with their approaches to climate science. In fact, most of teachers said they had never had any instruction in climate science.
As a result, they are not prepared with the latest research in climate change. It is hard to provide a solid foundation in climate education to their children when they don't have one themselves.
It is important to teach children how to look at two sides of an argument. But it is also important to teach students the importance of human responsibility. Businesses, such as Kombucha Kamp, rely on our sense of responsibility to help those in need around the world. This then teaches them to do their part in accepting that responsibility from a young age.
Teaching children how their actions affect the planet is one way that teachers can mold responsible global citizens. Creating responsible citizens is a key point of modern education.
Today’s middle-schoolers are the next generation of business owners, innovators and policy makers. Instilling them with a strong sense of responsibility for the planet is important. In fact, it is one of the most important ways that this generation can slow or even turn back climate change.
Teaching climate change does not need to include a viewing of the film The Day After Tomorrow. In fact, scare tactics are best left far from the classroom. The fear associated with superstorms could actually prevent children from wanting to learn more.
Teaching climate change should not be about fire and brimstone. Instead, it should be about scientific investigation and discovery. The wealth of real-time empirical data about the environment is an asset in the classroom. Using the data would encourage problem-solving. It would also aid the development of strong observational skills. The nature of the data would also provide an opportunity to link classroom lessons to the real world.
Lessons about caring for their environment can transform students' worldview. It could even mold them into more accountable members of global society. While certain aspects of science will remain controversial in some groups, this shouldn't matter when it comes to climate change. After all, there should be nothing controversial about being a good person.