A coalition of educators and psychologists is today warning of a youth mental health and national preparedness emergency, fueled by a government that is suppressing the reality of climate-driven security threats while failing to provide honest guidance and support in schools.
The Hardest Lesson – growing up in a dangerous world
At a launch event tonight (27th January) attended by over 300 teachers, educators, scientists, parents, psychologists and young people and chaired by Caroline Lucas, environmental campaigner and former Green Party MP, the campaign premiered it’s latest film ‘The Hardest Lesson‘. The film is a powerful dramatisation of an educator caught between scientific reality and students oscillating between disengagement and panic.
Young people consistently say climate change makes them anxious and afraid – but statistics can’t capture how that feels in real life. What is it like being a teacher who has to deliver climate education, and deal with the different emotions that this brings up in young people?
Caroline Lucas, environmental campaigner and former Green Party MP said:
“Our education system is failing a generation growing up in an increasingly dangerous world they are ill equipped to understand, process and respond to. Ministers must ensure teachers have the time and training to teach the accelerating climate and nature crises in a way that builds emotional resilience, highlights adaptation opportunities, and creates agency and hope.”
Taking the psychological side of the climate crisis seriously
Climate Courage Schools are calling on the government to mandate:
- Comprehensive climate and emotional resilience training for all teaching staff
- Allocated paid time for Sustainability Leads and formal guidance on linking classroom learning with real-world local climate adaptation projects.
Teachers are increasingly being expected to teach the science of climate breakdown, but they aren’t taught how to hold the feelings this inevitably raises. This leaves many teachers asking ‘What do you do when a student asks: “Is there any point in studying for a future that won’t exist?”‘
The Climate Courage School campaign has captured nine pioneering case studies that prove when schools are honest about the crisis, student wellbeing actually improves.
The campaign is calling for an educational approach that takes the psychological side of the climate crisis seriously – where:
- Teachers are trained and supported to handle its emotional weight
- Students can face difficult truths without being overwhelmed
- Schools reach their potential as centres of resilience, hope and action.
The campaign is also currently crowdfunding to support their work demanding the psychological support needed within the education system – you can read more about this and donate.
