WHAT TO DO IN WORRYING TIMES: HOW TO DEAL WITH OUR CHILDREN’S ECO ANXIETY
Record temperatures in the UK, wildfires across France and Spain and catastrophic floods in Kentucky… News story after news story this summer has highlighted the impact of climate change.
It can be difficult for adults to deal with such worrying news, even though we have learnt to be somewhat resilient to life’s shocks. Children may share our concerns, but not have the tools to deal with them. So how do we help our little eco-heroes deal with eco-anxiety?
Our sustainability expert, Sarah Walkley looks at a few ways to help our children cope in these worrying times.
There is growing evidence that children and young people are feeling worried and anxious about the climate. An international survey found that 59% of 16-25 year olds were very or extremely worried about climate change. Similarly, research by the Eden Project found that two-thirds of 7-14 year olds in the UK were frightened by climate change. Both surveys revealed that children and young people felt powerless to make a difference.
According to the Eden Project, young people look to parents and teachers to help them deal with what they are feeling. But how? Acknowledging the emotions and empowering young people to start taking action can help to prevent climate worries from becoming overwhelming.
Talk about it
First and foremost it is important to talk about the fears and worries children have about the climate. They need to be reassured that it is OK to have concerns and that they are not alone; many adults feel the same way.
As long as their worries don’t become overwhelming and negatively affect their mental health and day-to-day life, it is also good that they care so deeply about the planet and climate. We will only create a groundswell of change by building a population of concerned citizens.
2. Take action
As a family, discuss what you can do to lower your carbon footprint or reduce pollution, however small. Choose something that you can sustain – like swapping from bottled water to a reusable bottle. This creates a sense of achievement and empowerment and it will lead on to more and bigger actions.
Given the scale of the problem, it’s easy to think that only governments and big business can make a difference. We do need them to take action, but we also need lots of individuals doing their bit. Lots of small actions quickly add up and create social change.
3. Celebrate
Critically, we need to celebrate the successes. It is easy to be overwhelmed by all the things that are going wrong. We need to bring all the things that are going right to the fore. That could be that your family has not bought bottled water for a month. It could be that since 2020 energy generation from renewables has outstripped fossil fuels in the UK or that last year more electric cars were sold than in the five previous years combined. Whatever it is shout about it. Celebrating the wins will inspire us all to continue to make changes.
Sarah Walkley is a freelance writer and researcher on a mission to empower everyone to play their part in addressing climate change and nature loss.
She set up Purplefully to help organisations develop their sustainability strategy and communication.