Alarmist content in Australia's National Curriculum is causing an ‘epidemic of climate anxiety' among kids, report warns
Alarmist content in Australia's National Curriculum is causing an 'epidemic of climate anxiety' that is robbing kids of their childhood, a new report has warned.
Kids in all of Australia's states and territories are taught content from the national curriculum from the beginning of primary school, but leading educational and developmental psychologist Clare Rowe argued it is causing 'real damage to the mental health of young Australians'.
In a new report on climate anxiety in pre-adolescent children, Ms Rowe argues climate change content being taught to young kids is 'developmentally inappropriate', and should, at the very least, be postponed until secondary school.
'As a clinician, it is alarming to see so many children in my practice who are fearful and feel hopeless due to the climate education they receive at school,' Ms Rowe told SkyNews.com.au.
In the report, published by the Institute of Public Affairs, Ms Rowe says educational and developmental psychologists like her were seeing more and more patients suffering from 'eco-anxiety' – persistent worry about the future of the planet, often linked to chronic stress, reduced psychological well-being and a sense of helplessness.
'In recent years, I have witnessed an alarming trend: more and more young children entering my clinic, gripped by fear that they will not live to see adulthood. They tell me with absolute certainty that the world is ending, that the government doesn't care and that the adults around them have failed,' she states.
'These are not isolated incidents. My colleagues and I have seen a marked rise in children experiencing anxiety linked to the way climate change is taught in schools.'
According to a 2021 study with 10,000 participants across ten countries, 59 per of cent of people aged 16 to 25 were very or extremely worried about climate change. While there is less data about the level of eco-anxiety among primary school aged children, surveys have found that almost a third of Australians aged 10-13 are worried about the state of the environment.
Since it was established, the National Curriculum has included 'sustainability' as one of its three cross-curriculum priorities. This means content about the environment and climate change is present in all subjects, ranging from science to English and even maths.
The report explains that in order to fulfil their teaching requirements, many schools utilise third-party education resources, some of which are developed by activist groups.
'The framing of these materials often leans towards an urgent and alarmist narrative, often emphasising children's role in taking action against climate change,' the report states.
The examples listed include a lesson aimed at nine-year-olds and developed by Scootle which teaches that climate change is 'threatening humankind and pushing people into poverty'.
The report also points to a resource developed by ABC's 'Behind the News' program. Aimed at kids aged eight and above, the resource 'educates young children by showing them emotive video footage of raging bushfires, floods, cyclones and melting ice caps'.
'These images are displayed with a backdrop of dramatic music and an overlay of children's testimonies about how worried they are for their future,' the report states.
According to Ms Rowe, it is 'developmentally inappropriate' to be teaching primary school-aged children about climate change, since it 'exposes young minds to allegedly existential threats that they cannot meaningfully understand or act upon'.
'Young children lack the cognitive capacity to process abstract, multifactorial problems such as global climate change. Without the necessary reasoning skills, they are prone to misinterpreting information in ways that fuel excessive fear, helplessness, and anxiety,' the report states.
'For example, a child who hears that climate change is a risk to coastal communities, health and food security may internalise these statements literally, believing that complete environmental collapse is imminent within their lifetime.
'This misinterpretation can lead to excessive fear, confusion and distress, rather than constructive engagement with environmental issues.'
The developmental psychologist also argued the heightened state of stress this causes can rob kids of their childhood.
'When young brains are routinely pulled into a heightened state of stress, their ability to engage in age-appropriate developmental tasks such as play, exploration and social learning is significantly diminished,' the report states.
Ms Rowe argues that in order to reduce the growing prevalence of eco-anxiety, climate change education should at the very least be delayed until secondary school.
The leading psychologist is also calling for the National Curriculum to be rebalanced.
'We must also abolish the National Curriculum Cross-Curriculum Priority of Sustainability, which sounds nice, but is causing untold damage,' she told SkyNews.com.au.
'Our children should be focused on core competencies of literacy and numeracy in primary education. These are the foundational skills upon which all future learning depends.'
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