Chicken Little

A few months ago, I took a lot of heat for criticizing 5th grade teachers for scaring kids about the environment. Today, the E-R printed more letters, purportedly written by 3rd and 4th grade students this time, which contained phrases such as, "The world is dying. Stop the madness." Hardly the thoughts of 8-10 year-olds, or at least, shouldn't be.

The same letter had the child saying, "Eventually there won't be anymore [sic] animals, and there will be a hole in the ozone." There is no evidence to prove that humans can damage or repair the ozone layer. Another letter had a child saying, "We won't have any oxygen and there won't be any trees."

Why would the E-R print such inflammatory material, and why would these children's parents let them? Sure, it's nice to see your child's name in print, but what about him/her going to bed at night in fear that the world may go away while they sleep?

I have come to accept that there are inappropriate teachers, but why are there people who encourage them to scare and intimidate their students? No thinking person wants to destroy the environment, any more than they want their children to live in fear. Let's infuse the children with hope and comfort instead.