Climate Change in the Curriculum
I want to be informed in school, not on the internet.
Nowadays, it is common knowledge that the planet is warming and that something has to be done about it. Yet, most of the information that teens consume about the climate crisis doesn’t come from school. In fact, in most of the high school and junior high science classes I have taken, climate change is devoted maybe one page out of 500 in the textbook. This has to change. The very institution that should be teaching us what we need to be successful isn’t informing us of the events happening in our world today. In my opinion, climate change needs to be given its own unit in school, if not it’s own course.
As a current student, I have seen the climate crisis emerge during my school years. Yet, we never seem to talk about it very much. Typically we might write down a definition, read an excerpt, and maybe watch a video or two. I think this has left me uninformed regarding all sides of the argument and clueless beyond the basic ways to help the planet.
In school, no one ever taught us anything beyond the basics of environmentalism. We learned to recycle and ride bikes to reduce air pollution, but what about the bigger ways we can help the planet? It was only after researching on my own that I realized the need for sustainable farming practices and the need to stop sea ice from melting. The main reason that none of this has been taught in schools is because it’s a political issue. Climate change combines two disciplines — social studies and sciences. You can’t talk about climate change in terms of science without at least touching on the political solutions that have been suggested.
Another reason why none of the important facts are taught in school is that the individuals who write the curriculums are of an older generation. They want to help us understand the world, but don’t seem to place enough importance on the events of today, instead, they teach us to solve quadratic equations and to understand poetry.
As a student, I know there are things I could do as well to help the Earth, and I try to do my best. I recycle, I take the bus to school, and I turn the lights off. But beyond that, I’m not an expert. I don’t know what to do. Older generations expect us to step up and take the lead, to be the ones who save the planet, but I’m just being honest, I don’t know how to do that. I know that, like everything in life, this doesn’t come with an instruction manual but I at least want a starting point.
So I want to issue a call to the experts out there. Write a high school textbook about climate change. I know that it’s a tall offer, but the effort that goes into such a text will be worth it for all the future students who will be informed about all points of view regarding the crisis. How can we possibly be expected to be prepared to take on the burden of a changing planet, when no one ever gave us the case file? I don’t want to have to rely on news outlets for information that so severely impacts my future. I want to be educated. I don’t want to hear all the political talk; I want the facts.
