Constantly harassing K-12 school children about the dangers of climate change in every lesson, even in math, art and PE, is child abuse.
According to the latest national results, only a third of fourth-graders can read or do math at an elementary-grade level, but climate activists are demanding that children hear about global warming in every classroom. New Jersey mandates it, and now Connecticut is following suit as the school year begins. New York City Mayor Eric Adams requires every public school to participate in Climate Action Day.
The push for climate is purely political, and in New Jersey it is being led by the governor’s wife, first lady Tammy Murphy, founder of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. The findings link urban heat islands to tree inequality, redlining and racism.
New York City is portraying activist Greta Thunberg as a climate hero and role model, telling children to “get involved in the global student climate movement” and “meet community leaders and register to vote.” Everything except pre-enrolling kindergartners in the Democratic Party. Parents should be outraged.
Climate change is the religion of the left. The message is as strict as a catechism in a religious school.
It’s also terrifying. Children are told that global warming is killing their favorite animals. At Slackwood Elementary School in New Jersey, first graders are taught that transportation, heating and raising livestock “make the Earth feel bad.”
The reality is that these children are too juvenile to understand the trade-offs of immediately going zero-emission. What a first grade student doesn’t know is that we can’t afford an electric vehicle – the average price is $53,000.
Children should be taught about the wonders of nature, learning to recognize mammals, reptiles, fish and birds, oceans, plants and deserts. They are too juvenile to address the ethical and economic implications of eliminating fossil fuels.
First-graders don’t understand the impact on their family budget of doubling their Con Ed bill to cover the cost of switching to wind and solar energy, which New Yorkers warn will happen here.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States has already reduced emissions of the six most common pollutants by 78% since 1970. But try explaining that to a first-grader who doesn’t know the percentages and has no reference point to compare the United States’ records with, say, skyrocketing pollution rates in China and India.
These issues are specific to high school students and should be presented as controversial issues – including all viewpoints.
Proponents of climate education claim that they only convey “facts” that everyone agrees on. Don’t buy this.
The scientific community is divided over the urgency of eliminating fossil fuels. A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll of 400 geologists, climatologists, meteorologists and other scientists found that 41% do not believe global warming will cause “significant damage” in our lifetimes.
Most scientists also disagree that children hear from teachers that we are facing a significant enhance in severe weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes.
Eliminating fossil fuels on the radical left’s green agenda will be a pain for ordinary people: it will cost jobs, raise the cost of living, and weaken America’s standing in the world. But climate change educators oppose any discussion of the costs of reaching net zero.
California, New York and Oregon are now considering imitating New Jersey’s “every class is a climate class” curriculum. But some countries are resisting.
Texas education officials are urging districts to outline the pros and cons of fossil fuels and avoid single-page textbooks. That’s astute, considering how many mothers and fathers earn a living in coal-related industries.
In Ohio, Ohio lawmakers want to require publicly funded colleges to present all perspectives on climate change, “encouraging) students to draw their own conclusions” and not “instilling any social, political or religious viewpoint.”
Good luck enforcing this on college campuses. But this should be the rule in every public school.
Parents: Resist indoctrination. Drunking the same scary message into your child’s head over and over again in class after class is brainwashing.
We live in America, not China.
