Educating for resilience: Parent and teacher perceptions of children’s emotional needs in response to climate change

Parents and teachers are concerned about providing appropriate emotional support for children regarding climate changeChildren’s activism highlights children's concerns about climate change. Current research tells a similar story; yet little is known about how parents and teachers perceive or respond to children’s climate change concerns. This study addressed this issue by exploring caretakers’ perceptions of the needs and challenges they face in supporting children’s concerns about climate change.

Data for this study was collected through an online survey of parents and teachers in Australia. The survey was posted to 39 Australian Environmental, Community, or Teacher Facebook groups, inviting members to participate. Survey questions addressed several issues relating to their children’s and their own responses to climate change. Specific questions asked about (1) anxiety and stress related to climate change, (2) perceived challenges and opportunities for engaging with children about climate change, and (3) perceived roles and resources for addressing climate change with children.

A total of 141 completed surveys were analyzed. More parents (68.1%) than teachers (31.9%) completed the surveys. Parents and teachers generally listed the same challenges. Parents, however, expressed more concern about triggering negative emotions by talking about climate change while teachers were more focused on school-based issues such as lack of support for climate conversations. Caregivers for young children (versus older children) were less likely to address climate change and tended to say they didn’t have enough information to do so. Caregivers for children aged 10–13 were most likely to have discussed the topic with their children. Both parents and teachers indicated that children experience anxiety about climate change and are interested in talking about it. Children’s stress/anxiety seemed to stem from seven distinct sources: extreme weather events, uncertainty about the future, harm to animals, lack of agency/trust in adults, unsure, pollution/waste , and harm to plants/deforestation. Both parents and teachers expressed a sense of responsibility for encouraging/supporting their children’s climate change activism and educating them about sustainability. Yet, over half of the respondents (53.3%) reported not having enough resources for supporting their children/students through times of environmental/social crises. High on the list of what parents and teachers wished for in terms of resources include “more information about positive examples, support groups, and guidance on how to talk to children about environmental issues and how to support them emotionally.” Respondents reported higher climate change-related stress levels for themselves than for the children in their care. The stress levels of children and adults were positively linked. More than half of the adults identified their own sadness, anxiety, and/or fear as a challenge in supporting their children. Many of them requested resources for managing their own anxiety.

This study indicates that caretakers are concerned about providing appropriate emotional support for their children regarding climate change. The study also indicates that there are limited resources for providing guidance to caregivers on how to talk to children about climate change in an emotionally healthy and sustainable way.