Overcoming Overwhelm
Recently, a dear friend reflected, "I feel overwhelmed by this climate change business. I'm 85, a veteran of the Civil Rights struggles and all sorts of peace movements. But this climate change.... I feel helpless to do anything about it. The scientific complexity! My inability to understand the science is one reason for my being overwhelmed. The second reason is the global scale. ”
Many feel overwhelmed. These feelings are normal. In my experience, action is the best way to overcome overwhelm.
NPR: Climate Change Comics
NPR has created a teaching tool about climate change action for late elementary through high school students. Listen to the NPR story at this link to "Coping with climate change: Advice for kids — from kids."
Click here for a link to a scrollable or printable COMIC about creating a climate change community and doing climate action. The comic tells how climate change affects two students in Colorado. It includes advice from a psychologist and depicts the students' struggles and effective climate actions.
A related resource from NPR is "Climate change is here. These 6 tips can help you talk to kids about it."
Think-Care-Act Projects
My sixth graders conducted similar action projects (on a variety of issues) as depicted in the comic. For a step-by-step guide to doing action projects in your classes, click here.
"I learned that you can change the world in small doses, one at a time."
Sixth Grader
To act in a world whose problems seem overwhelming requires being able to use the powers of
critical and creative thinking and compassionate and inclusive care. Employing these tools, adults and youth alike can act effectively and conscientiously to solve problems big and small, global and local."
Susan Gelber Cannon
