“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” – Madeleine L’Engle
The youth of today are smart. They are smarter than any generation in our past. Scientists have used the Flynn Effect as a measure of increasing intelligence. They have had younger generations take the same tests designed for the older generations and found across the globe, that the younger generations score higher. Not by any small matter either; volunteers have scored 3 IQ points higher in each decade.
But we don’t actually need to refer to the Flynn Effect to prove our point. The youth understand climate change. I’m not ready to say that the older generations do not – but maybe they just don’t care. The youth are forming communities to have their voices heard. They are striking to get governments to take affirmative action. They understand that the generations of past are failing them. They are smarter.
The poster child for Climate Action is Greta Thunberg. In 2018, she began striking from school until the Swedish government takes action on the climate. Greta addressed world leaders at the COP24 United Nations Summit on Climate Change in Katowice. She has recently been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. But I’m sure she would give up all of this recognition if our leaders would act now to save future generations.
At the end of 2018, a youth led lawsuit (filed in 2015 in Eugene, Oregon) against the government, which they accuse of endangering their future by promoting policies that have increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other planet warming gases, was put on hold indefinitely by arguing that courts have no business ordering the nation’s climate policy. The lawsuit does not want money. They want the courts to order federal agencies to dramatically reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. The 21 plaintiffs in the case are aged between 11 and 22 years old.
In March, students in the US, led by 13-year old Alexandria Villasenor of New York, 12-year old Haven Coleman of Denver, and 16-year old Isra Hirsi of Minneapolis, organized a school strike of their own, and students in nearly 100 countries joined them. Tens of thousands of students banded together to have their voices heard. And now they are lobbying. And if our leaders don’t listen, they plan to organize another strike in May.
Goodbye Earth, authored by 9 year old Zayne Cowie, is a children’s book written especially for our older generations. How has it come to the need for a 9 year old to so ingeniously belittle his elders who have failed to address climate change?
When it comes to Climate Science, our youth have reversed the roles of teacher and student. But the aging student refuses to be taught. Never has an old saying been more fitting. You cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Our challenge to the older generation – listen to what your youth are saying. Learn what we need to do to combat climate change. Protect their future.
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.” – Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
