Beyond the climate crisis gloom and doom: A healing dose of kindness and science

This four-part series, Beyond the Climate Crisis Gloom, explores why as we adults navigate the harsh realities of the climate crisis and do the hard work of creating change, we must also build an environment of hope and opportunity for ourselves and our children that sets our sights on a brighter future. The first instalment focused on how we can provide positive messages that our children need. The second zeroed in on how kids instinctively get what is good for the planet and how climate action can be fun and uplifting. This third instalment focuses on how we can help today’s kids grow up with the ability to apply kindness and science to repair the planet.

As an adult navigating the choppy seas of parenting in an era of climate change and a global pandemic, I am often reminded of the proverb, “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.”

No parent has all the answers to calm the nerves of our children, all of whom are living in anxious times. However, every parent can help buoy children amid the rising tide of challenging news by focusing on select elements of the larger problems — demonstrating kindness and trust in science while calmly swimming forward.

In the April edition of The Harvard Gazette, the article Snapshot of pandemic’s mental health impact on children notes that it is too soon to have enough data to make hard conclusions, and remarkably, some children actually fared better mentally during the pandemic than before it.

Not surprisingly, however, it also notes that a British study found “the level of [pandemic] lockdown greatly affected mental health and behavioural issues, with England’s first complete lockdown greatly exacerbating issues from hyperactivity to depression” in young children. As intuitive as this finding is to most parents, what can we do about it?

A valuable clue can be found in the oft-repeated words of British Columbia’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, who coined the phrase, “Be kind, be calm, be safe.” This message, heard across Canada, and possibly around the world throughout the pandemic, served to reduce anxiety and bolster hope.

Henry’s use of data and scientific principles while delivering calm messages during news conferences, especially in the early stage of the pandemic, was a fantastic example of leadership. This was crucial while families were in lockdown and many parents felt like they were barely afloat. “Be kind, be calm, be safe” became something that adults and children alike could hold onto.

Something to hold onto is what we all need.

Since kids seem to innately know what is healthier for them and the planet, why not feed that instinct by providing healing doses of kindness and science in whatever way we feel inspired to? We don’t have to do it all, we just need to pick something — anything — to start.

Want to help remove a little more carbon from the atmosphere while reducing the ill effects of air pollution and giving your kids some joy? Switch your gas car to an electric vehicle* or walk and bike together as a family.

Want to reduce your community’s use of plastic packaging? Connect with your local leaders to enact plastic bans.

Want your home to have a lighter footprint? Make the switch from natural gas heating to solar.

Want to help Mother Nature sequester carbon while ensuring biodiversity? Get involved in protecting old-growth forests and local natural areas.

Want to get involved in your local schools? Lobby the school board to migrate from diesel school buses to electric ones.

Find your something — your one thing — and do it with joy and kindness. After all, we adults hold the life rings for the planet in our hands. It is up to us to use them now with our children so that they grow up seeking ways to help heal the world.

Today’s children will be tomorrow’s scientists, engineers, business executives, activists, artists, politicians and policymakers working to either right this ship or scuttle it further into the waves.

We are at the helm now; we have a duty to reduce their anxiety and provide them with the navigational instruments and calmness required to steer wisely into the future with a sense of hope and opportunity. If we can administer regular doses of kindness and science in our stewardship, I am convinced we will be in capable hands.

* If you want to explore the net impact of EVs versus fossil-fuel-burning vehicles or dirty electrical grids versus transportation energy efficiencies, drop me a line and I will point you to compelling scientific data.

Next week’s instalment, Tipping Points of Hope, will focus on how small groups of passionate people can effect change surprisingly quickly.

Paul Shore is an award-winning author and technology consultant who has worked in the worlds of software, semiconductors, health care and the Olympic Games. His current writing project is a graphic novel series for children in collaboration with co-author Deborah Katz and illustrator Prashant Miranda called Planet Hero Kids: I Can Hear Your Heart Beep.