Science I'm ashamed. High schools are no longer teaching kids about climate change or politics?

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Phatguysrule

Phatguysrule

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I was talking to my kids about their general apathy regarding climate change or politics.

I've tried many times to engage in discussions about these things with them but they actively avoid it.

Apparently teachers are afraid to broach these subjects because students react very aggressively.

What the hell are we sending our kids to school for if they can't even teach them to apply logic to (or even discuss) important topics with the students?
 
We didn’t really talk about either of those things when I went to school. Until college and then that’s all they talked about.
 
Natebishop3 said:
We didn’t really talk about either of those things when I went to school. Until college and then that’s all they talked about.
Click to expand...

I remember a teacher, when I was in HS, talking about climate change. granted, he was an earth space teacher.

I also remember having to take a political science and econ class, and learned more important stuff there than I did anything else in HS.
 
julius said:
I remember a teacher, when I was in HS, talking about climate change. granted, he was an earth space teacher.

I also remember having to take a political science and econ class, and learned more important stuff there than I did anything else in HS.
Click to expand...
Yeah but poli sci didn’t really get into political issues. More so just how our system works.
 
Natebishop3 said:
We didn’t really talk about either of those things when I went to school. Until college and then that’s all they talked about.
Click to expand...
Gosh. I feel like my high school talked about it all the time.. even in grade school I had classes who made "global warming" a decent portion of the curriculum.

It was definitely enough to get across how important of a topic it was...
 
SlyPokerCat said:
Climate change is so politicized nowadays
Click to expand...

Climate change is a political topic because the steps to recover from it will not happen without a shift in economic politics away from capitalism.

If teachers can’t state this well-established fact without getting threatening calls from parents, they will avoid it.

School is about creating workers who perform well in the current and future economic paradigms. Worrying about our decaying infrastructure and climate catastrophes and impending civil and world wars won’t make you a better worker so why teach them? “Too political” is such a fucking dog whistle (not from you SPC, just in general) for “not conducive to capitalism”.

And honestly, if the solution isn’t going to come anyway why bother? It’s hard not to be nihilistic about it. How can I hold out hope for a better tomorrow when it’s obvious the people with the power to do anything significant would rather press the boot to our necks instead?

COVID isn’t over for the rich but it must be for the poor because they get fired if they wear a mask. The rich will be fine because they’re buying safe land and building bunkers and surviving. We will all die to keep them alive.

I was taught about climate change in high school. It didn’t help the climate or me. I’m just depressed and hoping my kids won’t be of draft age when the wars come.
 
Natebishop3 said:
Yeah but poli sci didn’t really get into political issues. More so just how our system works.
Click to expand...

True. I'm also probably not remembering it well, it was like 30+ years ago.
 
Phatguysrule said:
Gosh. I feel like my high school talked about it all the time.. even in grade school I had classes who made "global warming" a decent portion of the curriculum.

It was definitely enough to get across how important of a topic it was...
Click to expand...

I had a middle school teacher, who was my favorite teacher in MS, taught us about Earth Day, back in the 90s.
 
Natebishop3 said:
Sure but we never talked about abortion or gay rights or guns or illegal immigration...... mostly we were just worried about the Russians.
Click to expand...

Really? I distinctly remember talking about the Oregon Citizens Alliance and gay rights when I was in middle school and high school. Not only in class, but among friends.
 
julius said:
Really? I distinctly remember talking about the Oregon Citizens Alliance and gay rights when I was in middle school and high school. Not only in class, but among friends.
Click to expand...

Nah, not really at all. I don't remember ever talking about what was going on in politics..... until college.
 
My high school biology teacher didn't teach evolution. That is equivalent to teaching chemistry without the periodic table.
 
I learned about all of this in school.
 
Pretty sure the phrase "climate change" was never uttered in my high school, by teachers or students.

We were too busy talking about "color television", I guess.

barfo
 
crandc said:
My high school biology teacher didn't teach evolution. That is equivalent to teaching chemistry without the periodic table.
Click to expand...
Interesting. My Catholic HS had no issues whatsoever teaching us about Darwin and evolution. This was sophomore Biology class in 1970. We also had major discussions on abortion. No surprise on which side the school’s administration took, but they were very open minded enough to have us discuss the issue from all sides. That’s why it’s called an “education “. I guess I should feel fortunate…..
 
crandc said:
My high school biology teacher didn't teach evolution. That is equivalent to teaching chemistry without the periodic table.
Click to expand...

My wife’s gone through menopause. We don’t need a periodic table anymore.
 
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barfo said:
Pretty sure the phrase "climate change" was never uttered in my high school, by teachers or students.

We were too busy talking about "color television", I guess.

barfo
Click to expand...
Back when Exxon knew all about it and were trying to figure out how to cover it up rather than how to be responsible.
 
In my HS a required senior class was modern problems.
If you were fortunate to get a teacher with hair over the ears you could get into some great conversation about the current political & civil issues.
 
The best way is for parents to supplement their children's education outside of school..use library resources and get the right books. Parents are where the buck stops for education. Teachers have too many parameters to cover everything usually.
 
But if parents are uneducated they don't go to libraries.
 
Phatguysrule said:
I was talking to my kids about their general apathy regarding climate change or politics.

I've tried many times to engage in discussions about these things with them but they actively avoid it.

Apparently teachers are afraid to broach these subjects because students react very aggressively.

What the hell are we sending our kids to school for if they can't even teach them to apply logic to (or even discuss) important topics with the students?
Click to expand...
When I was in school in the 80s, we talked about Reagan, Mondale, the ozone layer, and styrofoam cups. They also told us how bad smoking is for you. I simply can’t understand why, 40 years, anyone still smokes.
 
crandc said:
But if parents are uneducated they don't go to libraries.
Click to expand...
I don't think that's necessarily true...my father had an 8th grade education yet I was encouraged to read and go to the library...my father was uneducated formally but well read and experienced...Parents who are apathetic, no one can really address that. Some kids have parents who aren't present for a variety of reasons or addictions, etc. I have found a lot of uneducated parents who really push for their children to have it better than they did...sometimes the most educated parents are the least present in their children's upbringing
 
Last edited:
Alright. So what is out there that will interest a teenager in climate change? I'm open to suggestions. I've had conversations with them. But I'm just dad. I was really hoping the schools would have my back on this.

But the kids are apathetic to it.

"Everything is already effed up, so why stress out about it?"

giphy.gif
 
Maybe pivot into a more solarpunk mindset, focusing on local (a step up from personal) change. Personal responsibility around climate change is table stakes but also corporations do so much polluting that personal responsibility won’t fix anything. And since systemic change is also out of our reach, you gotta act locally. Bee-friendly gardens in your yard, tear out your grass lawn, shared veggie garden for you and your neighbors.

If you live in a place where this is going to be discouraged or is against the rules, maybe that’s part of why your kids are nihilistic.

 
Tell them that food takes too much energy, so you are cutting their meals by 1/2.
No car rides anywhere.
No internet.
If that doesn't work, beat them until they care.

barfo
 
Everything Beagle said:
Maybe pivot into a more solarpunk mindset, focusing on local (a step up from personal) change. Personal responsibility around climate change is table stakes but also corporations do so much polluting that personal responsibility won’t fix anything. And since systemic change is also out of our reach, you gotta act locally. Bee-friendly gardens in your yard, tear out your grass lawn, shared veggie garden for you and your neighbors.

If you live in a place where this is going to be discouraged or is against the rules, maybe that’s part of why your kids are nihilistic.

Click to expand...

Great suggestion! I'll try to expose them to some solarpunk media. They enjoy reading, etc.

That wouldn't be discouraged or against the rules at all here. We did a bunch of that kind of thing (had a huge garden, did little projects, etc) before the kids got into basketball... since then we just haven't had the time. Every weekend is full of tournaments and nearly every weeknight with practice or training. We take one day off of basketball every week, but it's enough time to get caught up on laundry and other chores.

I appreciate the suggestion!
 
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