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Publish Date: June 17th, 2024
Climate change is a slow-motion emergency. And due to its nature, navigating it with your little ones isn’t an easy task.
Often, we want to shield our kids from the hard truths of the world for as long as possible, but climate change is a topic that kids are becoming more aware of and more interested in. We can’t avoid the conversation altogether. It’s been found that family discussions about climate change are a critical factor that influences children’s climate change perceptions and behaviors.
So, opening the floor for these discussions as early as you’re comfortable, with the intention of creating emotional safety, can serve them well. Emotional safety is what happens when they feel safe to have, feel, and express emotions that are authentic to their experience. It’s when they’re safe from psychological harm. Emotional safety around hard topics is something that you can foster and they can build on as their capacity for the facts evolves with age. And coping with climate change, together, in healthy ways, can set the stage for this emotional safety.
It turns out that having age-appropriate discussions about the reality of climate change is the best gift you can give your child if you want them to grow up into informed, engaged, empowered, and passionate citizens.
And it’s something that you can take control of. There’s no need to wait for media, school, or other sources to dish out the details.
Whether you want to be prepared to tactfully respond when your little asks about climate change or if you’re taking a more proactive approach and bringing the topic to them, we’ve got you covered. In this blog, you’ll find tips for having “the climate talk” and three big picture coping mechanisms that will help you and your kids cope with climate change in a way that’s healthy, manageable, and connective. And these three big picture coping mechanisms could be helpful for you, too.
What Is Climate Change? Kid Edition
When it comes to explaining what climate change is to your kids, it’s best to stick to the basics and speak in terms they’ll understand.
Here’s a script from NPR’s Life Kit that can be used for kids as young as four or five:
- “Humans are burning lots and lots of fossil fuels for energy, in planes, in cars, to light our houses, and that’s putting greenhouse gases into the air. Those gases wrap around the planet like a blanket and make everything hotter.
A hotter planet means bigger storms, it melts ice at the poles so oceans will rise, and it makes it harder for animals to find places to live.
It’s a really, really big problem, and there are a lot of smart people working hard on it. There’s also lots that we can do as a family to help.”
Provide space for them to ask questions but be mindful of giving too much information in response. Sometimes kids may not be asking what you think they are asking. A simple, “What makes you ask that?” can sometimes help you understand what concern or question they are trying to get at. Maybe they heard something at school that was confusing or maybe they are looking for reassurance that they are safe after hearing about recent climate crises. Allow room for them to ask you questions and explore their feelings.
The goal is to provide the appropriate response to their specific question or concern while being open to and prepared to cover the harder side of things if the opportunity arises.
Coping With Climate Change: An Emotional Lens
According to Susie Burke, a specialist in the emerging field of climate psychology, there are three big-picture positive responses to an existential threat like climate change.
The first is called “emotion-focused coping.” This focuses on dealing with the emotions and stress caused by climate change through emotional awareness and intelligence. The goal is to foster connection over fear. It requires you to listen to how your littles might be feeling and thinking about climate change while giving them the tools to help manage those feelings.
Emotional literacy and regulation can take on a multitude of forms. There’s a wide menu of emotional regulation options to choose from. This includes physical activity, creative self-expression, a big ol’ cry, sleep, laughter, or affection from someone you love and trust. That list is by no way exhaustive and processing emotions is a deeply personal practice. What works for one person might not work for another. So, taking the time to try a bunch of different things until you and your child land on what works is worth doing. Guiding your child on this journey is one of the best gifts you can give them when it comes to the climate crisis - and beyond.
Coping With Climate Change: A Solution Lens
The second big-picture positive response is called “problem-focused coping.” It's a way to cope with climate change through action. These are the things you traditionally think of when you think of climate solutions; renewable energy, sustainable farming, net zero housing, climate justice, policy change, etc.
While that list isn’t exhaustive, it’s a good starting point. There isn’t one climate solution, there are a lot and individual contributions do make an impact.
And young people are already making a difference right here in Colorado. Student advocates lobbied the Boulder Valley School District to take on more ambitious action to fight climate change and helped get the first “Green New Deal for Schools” passed in the district. This year, Denver Public School students are pushing for a bond measure to use heat pumps instead of air conditioning units in school.
Students are successfully pushing for change in their schools, districts, and communities. Your child’s peers could turn out to be their biggest models and allies when it comes to climate action. Seeing children like them making major moves could help show them the power in their voice and actions.
Coping With Climate Change: A Meaning Lens
The third coping mechanism is called “meaning-focused coping”. While emotion-focused coping is about feelings and problem-focused coping is about action, meaning-focused coping is about leaning on our beliefs and values. Burke says that it’s about how to frame the problem so that we can continue to hope and not collapse into cynicism, apathy, or despair.
Finding ways to live in accordance with your values, honor your beliefs, and reach your goals while using the threat positively is meaning-focused coping. And this is where hope lies.
Essentially, using meaning-focused coping allows you to acknowledge a threat and then align your thoughts and actions around your beliefs, values, and goals. Since going solar can be so closely related to, and driven by, your values, it can be a form of meaning-focused coping. So, really, this way to cope with climate change ties all three together.
Every Person Can Have an Impact
The large-scale problem that is climate change can be hard enough for adults to process, let alone kids. We hope these concepts for “the climate talk” and the three big picture coping mechanisms help you and your family engage in the conversation together. Coping with climate change is a group and individual activity.
And we want you and your kiddos to feel the power that each of us has as an individual. There are many problems to be tackled. If we each show up and do our own small part, we can tackle these problems together. One change at a time.
This could include solar for your home. In the face of rising energy costs, polluting sources of electricity, and uncertainty around the resilience of the grid, going solar is a statement to yourself, your kids, and anyone who sees your panels. It's a way of coping with climate change. And it's a sign of hope, a beacon that says you believe in our future.
