"Eco-phobia" this word as I understand means "the fear of the environment". Actually
Eco-phobia is more common in adults, youth and children than we think. I
presume this is because we expose our children and students too early about the
problems of the world - the problems that they think will end life on the
planet.
Instead
of instilling eco-phobia in kids, how about first making children fall in love
with Earth -their planet and if we can do this successfully they will know the
problems themselves. Children are experts at creating visions of places they've
seen only in their imagination- places made real by the act of creation.
Imagine what they could do when they are exposed to wonder and not catastrophe.
In recent
years environmental education has too often focused on environmental problems
and crisis such as pollution and species extinction. David Sobel says, "Emphasizing environmental problems
with children, especially young ones, can leave them feeling disempowered and
hopeless about the state of the world and their ability to affect it". It is so true, I believe that if
children can learn to love a place or their connection with mother Earth, they
will naturally grow up to take care of her.
There is
an organization called RIVERS OF WORDS (ROW) founded by Pamela Michael which
practices place-based learning by inviting children to use the arts to explore
and express their understanding of and connections to their home places. People
at ROW believe that children who come to understand and to love their home
places will grow into engaged, effective citizens committed to preserving those
places.
Fyodor
rightly said, "Beauty will save the world".
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