Responding to the Impacts of the Climate Crisis on Children and Youth

Abstract

Climate change poses an urgent threat to future generations. Children are more susceptible to its effects than adults, with immediate and lifelong impacts on their physical and mental health. In addition to having direct experiences of climate impacts, children and youth respond psychologically in troubling ways to their awareness of the climate crisis. Children’s and youth’s needs for support vary across contexts. Climate impacts are generally greater in the developing world (despite the fact that people there are less responsible for causing the crisis), where capacity to prepare for and adapt to the effects is weaker. Hence, we need urgent action on both mitigating climate change and adapting to its impacts. In doing this work, we must acknowledge and build the agency and engagement of children and youth, which also builds resiliency and hope. Although many programs are encouraging, they fail to reach all children in need and are limited in terms of evaluation. Experts in child development can help fill these gaps. In the developed world, few studies address how to support young people in face of their feelings regarding climate change. Listening and providing opportunities for active engagement are among the ways adults can help young people cope, and build a sense of efficacy and a capacity to tackle the crisis and adapt to climate impacts. The upsurge in school strikes for climate action demonstrates young people’s deep concerns about their future and their determination to prevent a climate catastrophe. The climate change crisis raises questions about how professionals committed to the well‐being of the next generation should respond—business as usual is no longer an option, and many valuable ways exist to help ensure that children can thrive on a livable planet.

Educating for resilience: parent and teacher perceptions of children’s emotional needs in response to climate change

“…Even if parents and teachers try to protect children from climate change messages, media coverage makes this virtually impossible (Sanson, Van Hoorn, and Burke 2019). Studies have shown that youth globally are increasingly aware of the environmental issues of our time and increasingly concerned.…”

‘The Oceans are Rising and So Are We’: Exploring Utopian Discourses in the School Strike For Climate Movement

“…51 There are droughts and resource shortages in northern Africa and the Middle East which have contributed to refugee crises and rising sea levels have already forced island populations to relocate, alongside unseasonal wildfires in Australia, to mention but a few issues. 52 There have been significant consequences for the most vulnerable twenty countries who have faced an average of more than 50,000 deaths per year since 2010 due to the current crisis and this is expected to increase exponentially. 53 While this sounds terrifying, Muñoz notes how both hope and fear can be regarded as affective structures with anticipatory potential.…”

Barns deltagande i förskole- och daghemskontext under inledningen av coronavirusets utbrott i Finland och Sverige

“…Genom att möjliggöra barns deltagande i olika faser av en kris kan deras resiliens stärkas (Prilleltensky m. fl. 2001;Sanson, Van Hoorn och Burke 2019) och barns självtillit och välmående påverkas. Att bidra och vara delaktig i ett sammanhang stärker tilltron till den egna förmågan och upplevelsen av kontroll.…”

“…Den här studien bidrar med kunskap om hur barns uttryck om coronapandemin fångats upp av personalen vilket möjliggjort barns deltagande i olika faser (Prilleltensky m. fl. 2001;Sanson, Van Hoorn och Burke 2019). I linje med de resonemang som förs av Pfefferbaum, Pfefferbaum och Van Horn (2018) och Jans (2004) visar denna studie att barns deltagande i kriser är betydelsefullt såväl för barnen sjäva som för samhället i stort.…”