How to Talk with Your Kids about the Climate Crisis
5 general tips from experts for discussing this tough issue
Do you have children who are asking questions about climate change? Have you struggled with how best to answer them?
Are you concerned about preparing them for the future they will inherit but hesitate to raise the subject?
You are not alone. An NPR poll in April 2019 showed that 84 percent of parents in the U.S. agreed that children should learn about climate change. But only 45 percent of them said they had talked to their own kids about it.
Now that my own grandchildren, at six and four, are old enough to notice some of what is happening in the world, I want to help them understand, in an age-appropriate way, the current realities of our warming world. I want to prepare them to take action, and support them in developing emotional resilience so they can manage their stress and handle change as it arises.
Talking about climate change is a necessary first step towards helping them cope. Since it is challenging to do well, I turned to the experts from organizations like Yale Climate Connections, Teaching Tolerance, NPR, and NRDC to name a few. I read up on what they suggest for talking with children about climate without scaring them.
