If there’s one main takeaway from the project winners at the Next Gen Summit, it’s how much heart and dedication they were brave enough to display in front of their peers and leading industry experts. And yet, given the same tools and education, so many young people today are no longer invested in taking care of our natural world. How do we get more kids like Drew Leipold?
A recent study pulled children and adolescents in the United States and France into focus groups to understand their beliefs about global climate crises. What they uncovered was anger, guilt, and hopelessness. According to the study, today’s youth are understandably frustrated with how little it seems they can change their surroundings. Not to mention the frustration they feel towards the adults in their lives who aren’t willing to entertain their concerns, denying the problem altogether.
The conclusion of the study offers this advice for adults who want to support these kids: create avenues for them to meaningfully engage in climate action. In an article about the Youth Conservation Corps Program, Jack Chapman writes about his experience engaging teenagers and young adults in nature. To him, hands-on experience is essential. It is how they are able to connect their hearts to nature, and allow their ideas and questions to follow.
If one of the main roadblocks between kids and conservation is an emotional drawbridge, then it is unlikely to be lifted with logic and data alone. The fear that nothing they do will have any effect is widespread, why care about something that’s being consistently threatened and taken away? When we ask them to get involved, we are also asking them to persevere and be brave. So encourage them to dig up earthworms, to climb trees, to be wild, and to bury their hearts in it so that they never run dry.