Jane S. Shaw is a senior associate at the Political Economy Research Center. In schools today, it is typical to see walls covered with posters depicting endangered animals. Students hold tee-shirt sales to raise money to save the rain forest. Children write pleading letters to government officials to save the planet. In math class, students may solve word problems about deforestation or air pollution as well as multiply fractions.
Environmental issues are part and parcel of children's education.
This emphasis could be a good thing. When taught well, environmental education can be informative and absorbing. It can bring to life the scientific principles and information that underlie ecology, for example. Children can learn about how plants grow and how different kinds of vegetation foster different ecological communities. And making children aware of environmental problems can encourage them to think critically and creatively.