Climate Change Should Be Taught In High Schools

As effects of global warming are being felt worldwide, disaster is impending.

Increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters and shifts in long-term weather patterns are only some of the devastatingly dangerous outcomes. Overwhelming evidence of climate change, like shrinking ice sheets, warming oceans and rising sea levels — are all reasons for immediate action.

Although urgency and awareness are at an all-time high, the U.S. is falling behind in the world of sustainability. The country is far from reaching its climate goals. The U.S. is currently ranked 35th out of 180 countries in environmental policy performance, down from 24th in 2020, according to The Environmental Performance Index. 

Policy failure can be, in part, attributed to the nation’s lack of education on the subject. Although climate change curriculum is taught in most universities, it should at least start by high school. So far though, only five states — including Illinois — require climate education in public schools K-12.

Environmentally focused curriculums have crucial, real-life applications and benefits. Climate education prepares students for what they’ll be facing for the rest of their lives. Providing young students with an awareness of their impact on the environment will help them to break destructive habits, promote sustainable technology and encourage conscious food consumption.

Climate change curriculum is shown to benefit students in numerous areas. Students with climate change education improved in problem solving, critical thinking, leadership and social skills, according to a study from the North American Association for Environmental Education. Knowledge in other subjects like mathematics, science, reading and writing also increased. 

Civic engagement and advocacy rates rise alongside climate change knowledge as well because students who understand its urgency are more dedicated to making a difference — whether by protesting or exercising their right to vote.

Exposing high schoolers to the world of environmental sustainability also encourages participation in higher education, introducing them to a variety of career paths and job opportunities. High school should prepare students for their professional lives beyond secondary education, and the demand for jobs related to sustainability is only increasing.

Joe Marx, a science teacher at Wisconsin Heights High School, said he believes environmental education should be required for all students in the U.S., if not the world. 

“It definitely needs to be put into the National Science Standards,” Marx said. “If not, in core classes kids are required to take, like biology, we must dedicate an entire section to it.”

Difficulties like lack of funding and teachers could be solved through grants and government policies. However, lack of resources isn’t the only thing keeping climate education out of high schools, as politicization of the issue has made implementing climate change curriculums difficult.

However, climate change being considered too controversial for classrooms is tired rhetoric. Despite debates over the legitimacy of global warming, students, as learners, should be exposed to up-to-date environmental facts — the vast majority of which affirm the existence of climate change.

Climate change can also negatively impact mental health by causing climate anxiety, but that doesn’t mean young students should be hidden from its harsh reality. If anything, it should further motivate educational initiatives to give them tools to combat climate change’s negative effects.

“There are ways to teach kids that won’t scare the crap out of them,” Marx said. “That can’t be an argument, otherwise we’d just ignore everything negative, and we can’t do that.”

Global warming is real, dangerous and detrimental to students’ futures. Educating them on the current environmental reality and how best to fight it will empower them and give them hope.

At the bare minimum, secondary schools should offer environmental science. But to give climate change the importance it deserves, it should be built into the curriculum. Our very existence on Earth is being threatened, and as global warming reaches irreversible levels, younger generations will be dealing with the most extreme effects.

Not providing students with a climate education will leave them unprepared for a future with a disastrous climate. The issue should take precedent, as it is arguably more urgent than any other subject.

“It’s the same concept as painting your house, while the foundation is crumbling with termites. There’s no sense in making it look good, because it’s going to collapse anyways,” Marx said. “What’s the point of having a great economy and world relations if the world itself doesn’t exist in 100 years?”