Young children naturally tend to withdraw from what scares them, which is precisely why parents gently encourage them back into the fray of play after a fall and a scraped knee. And when it comes to diverting potential mental health catastrophes when they are still a manageable trickle, any parent of a teen with serious mental health challenges will suggest you spend more time nurturing play, building hope and cultivating resilience as early and often as you can.
Why not try to reframe the climate crisis for young kids into an opportunity for them to make a positive impact on the world? Renowned climate scientist Mark Jacobson of Stanford University, and co-founder of The Solutions Project, recently emphasized “we don’t need ‘miracle technologies’ to slash emissions — we already have 95 per cent of the technologies we need today and the know-how to get the rest.”
If we are to believe a carbon-zero future is already possible, then our kids are going to grow up in what I like to refer to as the Heal-the-Planet Era. Years ago, Ontario phased out the burning of coal to generate electricity, which has had a huge impact on greenhouse gas reductions and improved air quality in the region — wow, kids, that’s great news you can help build on!