"I'm a psychotherapist.what I've learned from listening to children talk about climate change."
I’m a psychotherapist – here’s what I’ve learned from listening to children talk about climate change
The Conversation
September 15, 2019 6.18am EDT
By Caroline Hickman
Teaching Fellow, University of Bath
Talking with children gives a fresh perspective on the absurdity of doing so little about climate change, but it also exposes a troubling disconnect between what we say and what we do.
Adults are often guilty of cognitive dissonance when it comes to climate change...Perhaps young people are simply less cynical and more capable of seeing clearly how irrational these decisions are...Because of sea level rise, people in the low-lying Maldives have more to fear from climate change than most. The sense of injustice that young people felt here was palpable. “Climate change is like Thanos, wiping out half the world so the rest can survive … we are being sacrificed.”
What was also uncovered in these conversations was an enduring empathy for the creatures they share the world with. These children could recognise their own vulnerability in the face of climate change, but it didn’t eclipse their concern for the natural world. Instead, they expressed solidarity and empathy with other species. One said:
“Climate change is like the bug spray of nature, and people are the bugs.”
https://theconversation.com/im-a-psychotherapist-heres-what-ive-learned-from-listening-to-children-talk-about-climate-change-123183
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