Who is responsible...teach the children well

[Melinda Wieck]

As I continue reading EcoKids, I find that it is filled with great ideas and examples of projects for families to model. In fact Dan Chiras states in this book that “parents shouldn’t abdicate their roles in teaching” and supports this statement with all of these wonderful things to do. I fully agree with and support this sentiment. The ideal is to have children taught in the same way they learn to tie their shoes learning from early on that the beautiful world is theirs to share and keep safe. But my mind keeps coming back to the question: what about the kids that come from families that don’t understand or care about cleaning and/or preserving the environment? Are they to become part of another generation of seemingly uncaring individuals simply because they aren’t introduced to these ideas? There must be ways that some of these wonderful ideas from the book can be expanded to bring a larger percentage of folks into the fold. Then there wouldn’t be such a need to swim against the main stream since the main stream would accept caring as the norm. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Angela Wieck]

I agree Melinda. In the school my kids are in they have quite a green focus and that complements what we are doing at home very well. In fact, they are good reminders for us to make the green choice. Last week I forgot my canvas bags at the grocery store and I heard ALL about it on the way home! But for the kids in a school that doesn't focus on it, that is an issue. If they don't learn about the environment at home or at school, then what? I come back to leading by example as a beginning. When friends come over they see the green choices we make and at lunch they hopefully notice that the kids have reusable containers and don't produce garbage. But what you are really asking, is how can we bring these ideas to the larger populace. Good question. Lots of us doing lots of things, but in some areas it is still an uphill battle. What does everyone else think?