Environment Conservation and a Generation of Thinking Children

A generation of thinking children is the only promise that can contribute to the survival and conservation of our planet. Understanding that logical reasoning and critical thinking is the sine qua non of ecological literacy, is integral to set our focus on developing the necessary thinking skills which research has shown can be comprehensively taught to our children.

The human cognitive process begins through early childhood development. Colours, shapes, patterns and the initiation of descriptive language gives way to the understanding of the world around us. As the five senses begin to interact with surroundings, the brain is stimulated to experience unexplored possibilities.

This process of exploration and discovery is reinstated and fortified in schools. And while debates, analogies and story analysis all support and prepare students to present a rational argument, problem solving in a mathematical setting further nourishes their inductive/deductive reasoning skills. Art is taught in most schools as an extra-curricular subject. It is treated as a form of recreation with little creativity involved.

In many ways, art makes children tolerant and accepting of others’ ideas and viewpoints. This diversity of ideas makes them open-minded and they learn to welcome point of views outside their own. Furthermore, art gives children a voice of their own. They become confident about their distinct expression.

Educational institutions can play a key role in nurturing the thinking skills of our children in a way that they understand their role in the conservation of the environment or the prevention of wasteful use of resources. Engaging all voices to initiate this logical debate on why we need to eradicate poverty, shift to renewable resources, combat single-use plastic, and talk about the need for climate action will effectively promote a more sustainable plan of action backed by logic and reasoning. From knowledge to understanding, application to analysis and evaluation to synthesis, critical thinking offers a range of possibilities for the human mind to explore.

Furthermore, modern day educational institutions are also encouraging the engagement of technological tools to facilitate and stimulate the thinking process of its children. And although the counter argument to this popular viewpoint does highlight the negative impact of technology at a young age, we cannot dissolve the need and obligation to equip tomorrow’s generation with their fundamental right to access the knowledge and apparatus that would aid their critical thinking evolution.

Today with the use of technology and the availability of innumerable connectivity platforms, educational institutions are far more equipped to motivate and encourage their young children to collaborate and develop initiatives to lead and meet the environmental emergency. This is evident in the global climate change movement that is being led by school children. What started in small individual pockets has now become a collective force, across the globe. Their ideas have crossed the borders, across the demarcations of the first world and the third world countries. Their voices hold the bitter truth for all world leaders, decision and policy makers stating aptly their failure to deliver and walk the talk. Children across the globe are exercising their democratic right to hold their leaders to account and remind them of their responsibilities by offering innovative solutions and contributing their time and space to uphold the Global Goals.

The school movement and the recent Climate March on 20 September across all the countries has shown that the kids mean business. They are ready to safeguard their rights and understand their role in arbitrating with all stakeholders for their sustainable future. They are presenting their case to the world by leading rallies on climate action, by writing stories and spreading awareness on the sustainable development goals, and through their involvement in devising creative solutions opting for sustainable alternatives.

The impact of critical thinking and the positive tilt in educational techniques has shaped a new generation of young thinkers who recognize the power of words, the urgency to take action and the pressing political will to deconstruct destructive lifestyles and damaging attitudes. Now is the time to support these sane voices who will inherit this earth and therefore have the right to become the architects of their sustainable future. We can do so by promoting their efforts and supporting their resolutions pushing for actual policy change.

Environment conservation is an enormous task that cannot be addressed without a critical resolve to find solutions. Creating sustainable human communities is a possibility only when we are fully immersed in the problem-solving process with our children and we raise them with an awareness of the country’s sustainable goals. Providing them with platforms to express and engage with problems, inviting them to lead green campaigns with confidence, and allowing them to innovate for change is the only way forward. Given what we are witnessing these days, the children are more than ready to lead the way as they understand that it is their future that is at stake.