Kids, Youth, and Climate

From whining wind and colder
Grey sea I wrap him warm…

Around us fear, descending
darkness of fear above
And in my heart how deep unending
Ache of love!

- James Joyce (from “On the Beach at Fontana")

One of the most common inquiries we receive from parents, caregivers, and teachers goes something like this:

How should I talk to kids or young people about climate change in a way that is honest, realistic, and age-appropriate?

And how can I support them in dealing with feelings of hopelessness, grief, or fear, when I have trouble dealing with those feelings myself?

As caregivers, we face an inherent conflict between our responsibility to teach children about the world that they live in, and our responsibility and natural instinct to protect them from undue suffering. This is not a new challenge for caregivers (in fact, it many ways, it is the challenge). But the scope of the ecological crisis raises the intensity of feeling, and raises the stakes for the future, making this a particularly difficult challenge for many caregivers.

Within, or beneath, the practical questions raised above are often, also, deep, complex feelings of love and devotion, all mixed together with fear of the future, and fear of responsibility for another human being. How will I care for this person? Will I be able to do it? How will I deal with their suffering? If things get dark, will I be up to the task?

An adult’s concerns for their kid’s feelings about climate are often tangled up with their own conscious or unconscious fears and worries about the world, themselves, and their child’s future. It might very well be the case that our kid is handling things quite well, and we are the ones who need help with our emotions! To be able to respond to children’s needs in a clear and helpful way, it is important that we work through our own feelings of grief or fear about the future of the planet.

As Dan Siegel and Mary Hartzell write (about parenting in general):

When parents don’t take responsibility for their own unfinished business, they miss an opportunity not only to become better parents but also to continue their own development. People who remain in the dark about the origins of their behaviors and intense emotional responses are unaware of their unresolved issues and the parental ambivalence they create. (Siegel & Hartzell, Parenting From the Inside Out, 2013)

So consider becoming clear with your own feelings as a parent or caregiver, before diving in to help your kids. The above referenced book by Siegel & Hartzell is a good place to start, as are support groups, therapy, or talking with like-minded friends about what you are struggling with.

All that said, below is a list or resources we have found helpful when considering how climate crisis impacts kids, adolescents, and caregivers. Some are articles or books written for parents or other caregivers; most, for now, are research-oriented, academic papers. We hope these are helpful as you navigate this process. And please let us know if you have recommendations for additional resources!

Where to Start:

Talk Climate is a website dedicated to sharing resources related to talking about climate change with young people. Their website is full of great suggestions, handouts, booklists, and articles.

• From their website: “Talking climate in our schools, homes, communities, and workplaces is one of the most important climate actions we can take. Talk Climate resources center equity, justice, and age-appropriate learning to empower conversations and climate action across race, generations, communities, and professions.”

Additional Research, Reports, Articles & Books

Parent/Caregiver Guides, Recommendations & Discussions

• Britton-Purdy, J. (2020). The Concession to Climate Change I Will Not Make. Atlantic, January 6, 2020.

• Climate Psychology Alliance list of resources on young people & climate

• Cook-Shonkoff, Ariella (2021). “Here’s how to talk with your kids about climate anxiety.” Grist, February 23, 2021.

• DeMocker, M. (2018). The Parent’s Guide to Climate Revolution. New World Library, Novato, CA.

• DeMocker, M. (2020). “So Your Kids Are Stressed Out About the Climate Crisis Here’s how to help.” Sierra. January 25, 2020.

• The Family Dinner Project Team (2020). “Children, Climate Change, and Mental Health.” The Family Dinner Project. April 21, 2020.

• Gibson, C. (2020). “How climate experts think about raising children who will inherit a planet in crisis.” Washington Post. February 14, 2020.

• Gibson, C. (2020). “Parents can’t fix climate change with life hacks — but here are ways to make a real impact.” Washington Post. February 18, 2020.

• Goldman, L. (2022). Climate Change and Youth: Turning Grief and Anxiety into Activism. Routledge.

• Heglar, M. (2020). “In a shrinking world, what will we pass on to our children?” Boston Globe, April 19, 2020.

• Kamenetz, A. (2019). “How To Talk To Kids About Climate Change.” NPR. October 24, 2019.

• Kastner, L (2019). “Don’t Allow Climate Change Anxiety to Ruin Your Life.” ParentMap. January 13, 2019.

• Lavalle, Geronimo (2019). “Young Readers Ask: The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells.” Orion Magazine. April 9, 2019.

• Lydon, T (2020). “How to Raise Climate-Resilient Kids.” Yes Magazine. February 18, 2020.

• Morris, A (2020). “Children of the Crisis.” Rolling Stone. March, 2020.

• Murray, J (2020). “Noah's Rainbow - Raising children in an age of climate crisis.” Business Green. January 9, 2020.

• Ojala, M (2020). “When Young People Worry About Climate Change.” Tomorrow’s Earth Stewards. August 11, 2020.

• Plank, RF (2019). “Ways to help kids cope with — and help combat — climate change.” Washington Post. January 22, 2019

• Royal College of Psychiatrists. “Eco distress: for young people.”

• Royal College of Psychiatrists. “Eco distress: for parents and carers.”

• Samuel, S. (2020). “Having fewer kids will not save the climate.” Vox, February 13, 2020.

• Siegel, D. J., & Hartzell, M. (2013). Parenting from the inside out: How a deeper self-understanding can help you raise children who thrive. Penguin.

• Six Seconds, The Emotional Intelligence Network (2020). “Climate of Emotions: Supporting Youth Wellbeing.” YouTube. April 21, 2020.

• Zeitlin, J. (2019) “Teaching Resilience in the Face of Climate Change.” NYT. January 2, 2019.

Research & Reports

• Australian Psychological Society (2019). Young people’s voices in the climate crisis.

• Chiw, A., & Ling, H. S. (2019). Young people of australia and climate change: Perceptions and concerns. Western Australia: Millennium Kids Inc.

• Corner, A., Roberts, O., Chiari, S., Völler, S., Mayrhuber, E. S., Mandl, S., & Monson, K. (2015). How do young people engage with climate change? The role of knowledge, values, message framing, and trusted communicators. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 6(5), 523-534.

• Hart, R., Fisher, S., & Kimiagar, B. (2014). Beyond projects: Involving children in community governance as a fundamental strategy for facing climate change. In U. O. o. Research (Ed.), The challenges of climate change: Children on the front line (pp. 92-97). Florence: UNICEF Office of Research.

• Haase, E. Children’s Emotional Responses to Climate Change. In Mental Health and Our Changing Climate; Clayton, S.D., Manning, C.M., Krygsman, K., Speiser, M., Eds.; APA & EcoAmerica: Washington, DC, USA, 2017; p. 36.

• Hickman, C. (2020). We need to (find a way to) talk about… Eco-anxiety. Journal of Social Work Practice, 34(4), 411-424.

• Nairn, K. (2019). Learning from young people engaged in climate activism: The potential of collectivizing despair and hope. Young, 27(5), 435-450.

• Mead, E., Roser-Renouf, C., Rimal, R. N., Flora, J. A., Maibach, E. W., & Leiserowitz, A. (2012). Information seeking about global climate change among adolescents: The role of risk perceptions, efficacy beliefs, and parental influences. Atlantic journal of communication, 20(1), 31-52.

• Nairn, K. (2019). Learning from young people engaged in climate activism: The potential of collectivizing despair and hope. Young, 27(5), 435-450.

• Ojala, M. (2012). Regulating Worry, Promoting Hope: How Do Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults Cope with Climate Change?. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 7(4), 537-561.

• Ojala, M. (2012). How do children cope with global climate change? Coping strategies, engagement, and well-being. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32(3), 225-233.

• Ojala, M. (2013). Coping with climate change among adolescents: Implications for subjective well-being and environmental engagement. Sustainability, 5(5), 2191-2209.

• Ojala, M. (2015). Climate change skepticism among adolescents. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(9), 1135-1153.

• Pinsky, E.; Guerrero, A.P.S.; Livingston, R. Our House Is on Fire: Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists in the Era of the Climate Crisis. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2020, 59, 580–582.

• ReachOut. (2019). New survey by ReachOut and Student Edge reveals number of students anxious about climate change.

• Sanson, A. V., Burke, S. E. L., & Van Hoorn, J. (2018). Climate change: Implications for parents and parenting. Parenting, 18(3), 200-217.

• Sanson, A. V., Van Hoorn, J., & Burke, S. E. L. (2019). Responding to the impacts of the climate crisis on children and youth. Child Development Perspectives.

• Spajic, L., Behrens, G., Gralak, S., Mosely, G., & Lindolm, D. (2019). Beyond tokenism: meaningful youth engagement in planetary health. The Lancet, 3.

• Stevenson, K. T., Peterson, M. N., & Bondell, H. D. (2019). The influence of personal beliefs, friends, and family in building climate change concern among adolescents. Environmental Education Research, 25(6), 832-845.