Environmental Health Perspectives Volume
103, Supplement 6, September 1995
[Citation
in PubMed]
The Youth Role in Creating a Healthy Future for the Earth: An Examination
of the Link between Collective Action for the Environment and the Emotional
Health of Children
Sabrina Alimahomed1 and Barbara Keeler2
1TREE MUSKETEERS, Inc., El Segundo, California; 2El
Segundo, Calfornia
Abstract
As children learn about environmental hazards and threats to the Earth's
ecosystems, they often react with fear and despair. However, children become
less fearful and more hopeful by taking action to address environmental
hazards, preserve resources, and protect the health of global and local
ecosystems. They gain confidence in their ability to create a healthier
environment through managing and minimizing environmental health hazards
and through control of their future environment. No clinical or empirical
studies were conducted. To support our conclusion, we have presented case
histories that are representative of the experiences reported by hundreds
of boys and girls polled.
-- Environ Health Perspect 103(Suppl 6):63-66 (1995)
Key words: empowering children, the role of youth, environmental
concerns of children, emotional health of children, youth concerns for the
environment
This commentary was presented at the Symposium on Preventing
Child Exposures to Environmental Hazards: Research and Policy Issues held
18-19 March 1994 in Washington, DC. Manuscript received: December 5, 1994;
accepted: May 15, 1995.
The authors wish to thank Tara Church, President and Youth
Director of TREE MUSKETEERS, Inc. and Gail Church, Executive Director of
TREE MUSKETEERS, Inc., for their valuable editing suggestions concerning
this work.
Address correspondence to Sabrina Alimahomed, TREE MUSKETEERS,
Inc., 136 Main Street, Suite A, El Segundo, CA 90245. Telephone (800) 473-0263.
Fax (310) 322-4482.
This paper presents conclusions based on informal observation,
interviews with individual youngsters over several years, and polls of
hundreds of boys and girls 10 to 18 years of age conducted at the 1993
first National Youth Environmental Summit.
When, at age eight, I first heard about the environmental problems that
surround us, what came into my mind was a visual image of the future. I
pictured people living underground, because the world we used to call home
became unlivable. I felt trapped underground, but people who remained on
the Earth's surface hurried to escape to this deep chamber. Chaos surrounded
me while I sat on some steps I used to reach a peephole that allowed me
to see the surface. I stared out into a world that was in flames. It was
completely dark and barren except for the sky that was lit up by the fires
raging on the surface of the earth. Seeing my future threatened was enough
to scare me into action.
-Sabrina Alimahomed
The above paragraph describes a reaction to news about the dangers of
ozone depletion. When young children first learn about rapidly developing
environmental crises of global proportions, the facts alone are terrifying.
Where information is missing or misunderstood, the details that a child's
imagination may fill in can envelop a young girl or boy in pervasive dread
and anxiety.
In his work with children, Pacific Grove psychologist Robin Keeler encounters
similar fears and despair over humanity's rapid exchange of earth's wilderness
and resources for pollution, waste, and crowding. "The kids I work
with have experienced some despair about the dying of the natural world,
and fear of what the earth will be like in the future. In fact, several
of my young clients have told me that they started using drugs after losing
hope for the future," (R Keeler, personal communication).
Perhaps more significant than the fear expressed in the opening paragraph
is the last sentence: "Seeing my future threatened was enough to scare
me into action." The emotional well-being of children is enhanced when
they take action in creating a healthy future. By contributing to change,
children who once felt helpless gain confidence in their power to improve
conditions and control their destiny.
Dr. Joel Wieman, former president of the Alaskan Psychological Association,
does not agree that anxiety over environmental threats contributes to drug
abuse, but he confirms that psychologists have long observed the mood-elevating
potential generated through accomplishment, which subsequently can lead
to a sense of power. "Research shows that depressed people tend to
perceive themselves as having an external locus of control, meaning they
feel powerless. As they move out of depression, they tend to move toward
an internal locus of control. Activities that result in a sense of accomplishment
tend, over time, to change the locus of control from external to internal,
where individuals feel a greater sense of power," (J Wieman, personal
communication).
The children interviewed by the authors demonstrate the progression described
by Wieman. When they first learned about rapid deterioration of the Earth's
ecosystems and the resulting threat to the health of humans and other life
forms, they felt at the mercy of external perils. As they took positive
action to arrest or reverse the alarming trends, they felt more power and
ability to control their lives and futures. Determination and commitment
replaced terror and despair.
Acting independently, individual boys and girls sometimes view their
efforts as fighting a forest fire with a squirt gun. By pooling efforts,
youth organizations such as those described in this report help young people
tackle manageable pieces of global problems and recognize the collective
value of individual efforts.
The description of underground living refers to one vision evoked following
a conversation in 1987 at a meeting of Brownie Troop 91 of El Segundo, California.
As they explored the pros and cons of disposable dishes, the discussion
wandered from the slaughter of trees to the landfill crisis and then expanded
to include ozone depletion. One leader related a conversation with a researcher
who claimed knowledge of a top-secret project in which scientists were researching
options for mankind to live underground after the atmosphere was gone. Thirteen
girls exchanged somber looks. Then a question dropped like a stone into
the heavy silence, "Can you play soccer underground?"
Though various reports of such projects have surfaced since, none of
the girls has confirmed that underground living was, in fact, under consideration
as a strategy to survive ozone depletion. Of significance in this report
is that, at 8 years of age, the girls believed underground living was indeed
a government survival strategy for the future.
With similar realizations as those expressed above, the girls set out
on a journey that came to be known as TREE MUSKETEERS. Step by step, child
by child, family by family, boys and girls of all ages, enthusiastic parents,
teachers, local authorities, and community members were attracted to the
organization's ubiquitous "all for one and one for all" spirit.
"Youth and community digging in" became more than a motto for
the youth group; this was demonstrated by hometown accomplishments such
as the planting of 700 trees throughout the city of El Segundo, finding
homes for thousands of seedlings, establishing the city's first complete
recycling center, enlisting corporate giants in a children's movement, and
publishing a regular environmental column in the local newspaper.
Almost immediately, this youth-administered corporation initiated a national
network program as an outreach vehicle to empower children, in groups and
as individuals. They set up a youth speakers bureau to address large and
small audiences on behalf of the environment and established a nation-wide
800 environmental hotline.
During the next few years following the founding of TREE MUSKETEERS,
unbeknown to each other, children throughout the country launched similar
efforts--neighborhood by neighborhood, the presence of youth leaders could
be felt. Paths of these diverse contingents crossed on 16 July 1993 as they
converged upon Cincinnati, Ohio, to open the first "by kids -for kids"
National Youth Environmental Summit.
The youth-chaired steering committee included members ranging from 11
to 18 years of age representing 11 environmental groups from around the
country. Reflecting diversity in gender, age, ethnicity, culture, geography,
programs, and organizational size, the committee met for the first time
only 8 months before it presented the precedent-setting summit. The youngsters
established group ground rules; determined the location, date, and general
format; and assumed chairmanship of empowered subcommittees to handle various
aspects of the conference. With support from adult partners, they created
budgets and time lines and generally took charge of their area of responsibility.
This first summit attracted 600 delegates from as far away as Guam and Russia.
The summit's "Partners for the Planet" theme has become an ongoing
relationship between kids, adults, government, environmental groups, the
private sector, and forestry professionals.
Youth delegates pledged to provide leadership in launching projects at
home in the environmental field of their choice. In preparation, delegates
joined theme teams related to their projects. The interactive workshops
were conducted by young people, with or without adult partners, and focused
on topics related to trees, other natural resources, and waste management.
Most participants already had gained a sense of power by taking action
on behalf of the environment, but the experience of connecting and pooling
efforts with youth nationwide lent greater hope for the future, as expressed
by hundreds of participants polled. The founder and president of Seton High
School's Eco Club, Holly Menninger, remarked, "The summit united us,
and gave us the opportunity to create solutions for the environmental problems
that plague our generation." Robert Costa, who with fellow students
conducted a composting workshop, summed it up when he said, "I was
amazed at how many schools were involved in recycling and composting. When
I found out how many other groups were doing what we are, I felt great.
I feel like the world is actually going to make it now."
The following case histories represent a few of the hundreds of children
interviewed or polled.
Case History 1: Tara Church--TREE MUSKETEERS. Tara Church,
now 15 and president of TREE MUSKETEERS, recalls her third-grade leap into
environmentalism, which was motivated by the planting of Marcie the Marvelous
Tree. "After the planting, we sat around Marcie. I thought about how
big she'd grow, and how much good one tree could do in the future. Realizing
what one individual could accomplish by planting one tree gave me a sense
of power I didn't have before. I didn't feel my individual efforts could
make a difference until that moment." With a sense of urgency to assuage
fears of those uncertain about the future and to connect with others harboring
deep concerns for environmental issues, the youngsters set about creating
methods to let other children know what was happening to their Earth. "It's
going to be our world--our problem. It's getting really bad and it's going
to get worse if we don't do something," an emphatic Tara explained
in local forums. As word spread, the demand for speaking engagements became
heavy. "When we go to talk to other kids it helps a lot. Sometimes
you don't really understand when adults talk to you. Hearing it from someone
your own age is much better," Tara explains. Her advice to other youth
remains consistent and clear, "Don't ever let anyone tell you that
you can't change the world. If we all dedicated ourselves to changing our
own little parts of the world, then we would have changed it."
As summit coordinator, Tara describes how the possibility of such an
event became a driving force for her at 12 years of age. While attending
the 1991 Urban Forest Conference, Tara thought about the value of bringing
environmentalists from all over the country together to discuss these issues.
"We were the only kids' group on the steering committee. I thought
about our youth environmental movement and that it would be nice to have
a summit of our own, maybe not as large, but just for kids." Fortunately,
Tara did her thinking out loud in the presence of USDA Forest Service representative
Robert Conrad. The Forest Service and National Association of State Foresters
provided a grant for TREE MUSKETEERS to organize the summit.
Her dream having come to reality at age 14, Tara stood before the delegation
and echoed the sentiments of young activists documented here. She closed
the first by kids National Youth Environmental Summit with these words.
"It is time to take charge of what belongs to us, and create for ourselves
the kind of world we want to live in, and raise our children in. Together,
we are a tremendous force. The power rests within us, and the world rests
in our hands."
The individuals and groups described in the remaining case histories
were participants in the 1993 Youth Environmental Summit.
Case History 2: Melissa Poe--Kids For A Clean Environment (Kids
F.A.C.E.).
Figure 1.
Melissa's letter (Figure 1) dramatically underscores Robin Keeler's point
about the fear and despair children experience when faced with the possible
long-term consequences of consumption and pollution. In 1989, Melissa watched
a television program that showed the future in 20 years. "You had to
wear a gas mask to go outside. I'd be about 28 years old then and I didn't
want to live in a gas mask. I was really scared and I wanted somebody to
fix it for me. At that time I didn't think I could do very much by myself,
so I wrote to the President. I thought he could just fix it. That isn't
how it turned out."
President George Bush's answer did not arrive for 12 weeks; meanwhile,
Melissa decided he had not received her letter. That decision provided a
healthy impetus for her. "I soon realized that if I wanted something
done, then I was going to have to do it myself !"
Unlike depressed individuals, Melissa leaped headlong to an internal
locus of control. "I started Kids For A Clean Environment (Kids F.A.C.E.)
at my school, and we started recycling, planting trees, and learning about
the environment."
Melissa then began calling advertising agencies. Shortly, her letter
to President Bush pleaded eloquently from 250 billboards nationwide. Concerned
children began calling Melissa. Understanding their alarm, Melissa suggested
they start Kids F.A.C.E. chapters as vehicles for action. She maintains
a growing network of 110,000 members to share ideas and join forces to tackle
large problems.
Case History 3: Kizzie Mayo--Pulaski Middle School. Kizzie
Mayo had long worried about both the environment and the knowledge that
some people in her community suffered from malnutrition and constant hunger.
At one time she did not think she could do much about the problems that
worried her.
Kizzie learned about positive action through the garden-based science
project at Pulaski School in Chester, Pennsylvania. Students maintain an
organic garden on school grounds and grow superior, safe, pesticide-free
produce without polluting the air, land, and water. They donate produce
to a center that feeds the homeless and needy in their city. "I feel
better about myself as a person," says Kizzie. "I see now that
I can do more than I thought I could before. I now feel I have great power
to change the world."
National Tree Trust grant funds bridged economic barriers making it possible
for Kizzie to attend the summit where she realized an even greater sense
of power. "I was amazed that kids could pull all that together. That
summit really did something to me. It made me think, and now that I know
other kids are doing all these projects, I feel different knowing I am not
doing it by myself, that they are working with me."
Kizzie and four other students comprising the Pulaski delegation brought
the "Partners for the Planet" theme home to a community described
by science teacher Bobby Stewart as "impoverished with a bleak future,
and an abundance of despair." Inspired by the national summit, the
young leaders will host a 1994 Northeast Regional Youth Summit.
Case History 4: Charles Tate--Natural Guard. Like many
steering-committee members, Natural Guard's representative, Charles Tate,
a 14-year-old boy from New Haven, Connecticut, was initially motivated by
shock and distress. He recalls, "I was watching the news. I saw how
the oil spills were messing up the beaches and the animals. It shocked me.
I didn't think anything like that could actually happen. I started checking
into these issues and I got so involved with it I just couldn't stop myself."
Charles began to discuss possible solutions with peers. "Some of
my friends were in the Natural Guard," he said. "I heard them
talking about planting trees and gardens," remembered Charles. "They
told me about going into the woods and studying nature, learning to test
for acid rain, and things like that. I joined to learn more about how to
help."
Recalling his decision to serve on the steering committee for the National
Youth Environmental Summit, he admits, "I knew it would be a lot of
responsibility. My father said 'Are you sure you can handle this?' and I
said, 'sure I can handle this.' "
Charles sees a ripple effect taking place as a result of the summit and
projects. "Already a girl in Wisconsin is organizing cleanups in different
places every week. A lot of people left the summit feeling they could do
something about the environment and didn't feel as helpless as before. Seeing
youth put the summit together gave them a sense of pride and confidence
in what kids could do. They realized they didn't always have to rely on
grownups."
CASE STUDY 5: Kimani Birden--Commencement 2000. Kimani
Birden had never seen wilderness until, at 17 years of age, he joined Commencement
2000, a USDA Forest Service project that encourages minority youth to pursue
careers in the environment. The project took him out of inner-city Oakland
to the forest. "The city of Oakland was a place of extreme sorrow--cold
cement, cold people, and a cold place. Friends get killed, friends go to
jail. The environment is a stone jungle. Crime, violence, and depression
are all interlocked together. If you were to go near any highway or road
in the city and put your finger on a leaf there's this black soot on it.
I don't scientifically know what it is, but I know that it shouldn't be
there. That scared me."
When Kimani speaks of his first visit to the forest, he is almost reverent.
"Arriving in the forest--it was awesome, you know? It was indescribable.
Can you imagine? I was used to city lights, and all of a sudden there were
no lights. There were stars--you know what I'm saying? That's just one of
the beautiful things I saw and learned that elevated my heart. What struck
me was that there were all these trees--you know, trees! Big green ones!
Bobcats, cougars, owls, and all kinds of wildlife living in the area. It
was wondrous--you know what I'm saying?"
Vowing to take what he learned in the forest back to urban youth, he
plans to be a botanist and to attend college with support from Commencement
2000. His major goal at the summit and in his work is to "help make
urban youth a resource in the fight for the environment. We are thirsty,
not just for jobs but to be a contributing part of the community and the
movement."
Case History 6: Teresita Morena--Conservation Career Development
Program. Of her work with the Los Angeles Chapter of the Conservation
Career Development Program (CCDP), 18-year-old Teresita Morena, says, "The
best is being part of something important, working for change."
Teresita says she herself has changed dramatically since she began her
environmental work. "I was in a gang before. After I took a job with
the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, and later with CCDP, I didn't have time
to hang out with my gang. Now my values have changed, and I wouldn't be
in a gang even if I had time."
Teresita finds that young people in environmental work are different
as a group from other young people she knows. "They're happier. They
have something to do, and it helps that what they do is something important."
The point Teresita Morena makes about her move from gang member to environmental
worker underscores the benefit to society in providing opportunities that
promote the emotional well-being of its youth. Not only does the physical
health of the local and global community benefit from contributions by youth
to the environment, but populations as a whole benefit when young members
are confident, future leaders.
To some degree, each child in Case Histories 1 through 4 experienced
distress and a feeling of helplessness over environmental threats to human
health and threats to ecosystems and all life forms. As they took positive
action to create a healthier environment, determination and commitment replaced
fear and despair. Children who once felt powerless gained confidence in
their ability to improve conditions and control their future.
Adults associated with the young people cited in this paper, as described
in Case Histories 1 and 2, made enormous contributions on different levels
by supporting children in their own initiatives, while others, such as those
in Case Histories 3 through 6, created frameworks whereby children channel
and pool their efforts. Both models result in facilitation of action by
youth to improve quality of the environment, but, more importantly, such
participation helps children enhance their emotional health.
Amid public debate about the validity and scope of environmental crises,
researchers and educators continue their pursuit of definitive answers to
environmental questions. Meanwhile, boys and girls actively open doors in
the hallway of choices and select the routes to a healthier future. In doing
so, they became committed, confident, and responsible.
City by city, trees are planted, waste is reduced, litter is abated,
and young people teach other young people. State by state, groups unite
to seek solutions through the very fiber of the United States--its empowered
children taking collective action for the environment.
It is imperative that youth such as these be invited to play an active
role in the development of policies that will affect their future. Accordingly,
we recommend the following policies.
* Include youth leaders in the planning processes involving children,
education, and strategies for the future.
* Develop partnerships between mainstream environmental organizations
and youth groups to amplify results created in the various arenas of issue.
* Establish categories in grants and funding programs for by youth environmental
activity as it transcends matters of the earth.
* Invite young environmentalists to serve as speakers, presenters, and
panelists at conferences where young wisdom might enrich the meeting environment.
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