Vanessa Nakate says we need to set the foundation for understanding climate change by starting at a very young age.
Climate education is really needed. Not just topics on climate change because we had those topics, but they didn’t show that this was a crisis. They didn’t empower us to do something. They didn’t empower us to raise awareness. And I think that is what is really missing when it comes to students. If only we have more activists in this spaces speaking to students and motivating them to do something.
I’ve had the opportunity to speak to students of different ages, even students from ages of three to six, and you realize that their thinking is different. The way you speak to a child who is five is not the same as to a child who is nine. A child who is five won’t understand the climate crisis, but they’ll understand their favorite animal, and many of them grow up with the love of ensuring that their favorite animal is protected. And that is what eventually grows into what now you teach a nine-year-old who knows that a water bottle is important because they understand that if I carry my water bottle, then I’m not going to have to buy water in a plastic bottle.
With the different ages, the way you speak and educate is important. Yes, it’s very important to start from a young age because you’re setting the foundation of what these young people are going to be as they continue to grow up. That foundation may be from starting to talk about the importance of protecting your favorite animal. That is what they understand, and can comprehend. But eventually that grows into someone who is really vocal about the environment.
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