How to Address Children's Eco-Anxiety
Have you heard of the term eco-anxiety? Eco-anxiety is the distress caused by climate change where people are becoming anxious about their future. According to the survey “Canadians’ Perspectives on Climate Change & Education: 2022” conducted by LSF, 73% of Canadians feel that we are experiencing a climate emergency. The same survey reports that students are more likely than any other respondent group to report feeling anxious (37%), and frightened (31%). But only 34% of Educators feel that they have the knowledge and skills needed to teach climate change.
Mental health clinicians are seeing more patients come in with symptoms of climate change anxiety—also referred to as eco-anxiety, eco-grief, or climate doom—and they’re not always sure what to do about it. (Yale)
Although painful and distressing, climate anxiety is rational and does not imply mental illness (Hickman C;Marks E;Pihkala P;Clayton S;Lewandowski RE;Mayall EE;Wray B;Mellor C;van Susteren L).
While the phenomenon of eco-anxiety continues to increase (Time), as a teacher, you are more and more likely to encounter children suffering from eco-anxiety. With parents no longer able to guarantee a stable future, children may turn to you to express their distress
Schools play a crucial role in the battle against climate change. According to United Nations, education is key to address climate change.
15 Tips to Help Kids Cope with Eco Anxiety
Consider Context: Understand students' backgrounds and the sociopolitical context before initiating discussions.
Integrate Hopeful Discourse: Incorporate hopeful discourse into teaching to inspire action.
Address Diversity: Be mindful of students' diverse backgrounds, including socioeconomic status, and incorporate environmental justice components.
Use Diverse Resources: Utilize carefully selected books and literature, along with students' own thoughts and ideas, to create dialogue.
Encourage Action: Provide opportunities for students to find and discuss concrete ways to act to improve the climate.
Foster Agency: Give students a sense of agency and control over environmental issues to promote engagement and coping.
Emphasize Collective Action: Stress collective action over individual action to address climate challenges effectively.
Focus on Solutions: Make classroom discussions solution-focused, considering ethical, moral, political, and social dimensions.
Promote Critical Thinking: Encourage critical thinking and participation in debates to understand and evaluate environmental policies and ideas.
Cultivate Constructive Hope: Promote realistic optimism and constructive hope to balance environmental awareness and action.
Offer Coping Strategies: Teach coping strategies like problem-focused coping and realistic positive thinking to address environmental concerns.
Engage Mental Health Professionals: Involve mental health professionals to address the mental health impacts of climate change and provide support.
Integrate Climate Education into Curriculum: Prioritize climate education in school curricula with age-appropriate, gender-sensitive, and intersectional content.
Implement School-Based Programs: Implement programs like the "Ladder of Responsibility" to engage students in environmental tasks and experiences.
Encourage Nature Experiences: Expose students to nature and encourage lived experiences in nature to foster a deeper connection with the environment.
Climate Change Education Resources
Our Live It Earth platform helps you exploring various Climate Change topics, and comes with ready-to-use learning resources 🙂 Explore Arctic Communities , Glaciers, Energy, Wildfires Regeneration, and much more!
Earth Rangers’ Parents and Educators Guide
Inspiring stories across Canada that include Indigenous Knowledge on the Climate Atlas of Canada. They have a whole section dedicated to Educators Resources that includes lesson plans
Explore By The Seat Of Your Pants : virtual field trips to learn about science and conservation
GreenLearning: Free online education programs about energy, climate change and green economy
EcoSchools Canada: Get your school certified by engaging students to take environmental actions in the classrooms.
En-ROADS is an online simulator that provides policymakers, educators, businesses, the media, and the public with the ability to test and explore cross-sector climate solutions.
Explore Canadian Climate Change Education Resources on the Live It Earth 🌎 platform
What resources do YOU use to cope with eco anxiety? Help us improving this list by emailing Roxane
