Environmental Literacy Being Integrated in Schools

Posted on Oct 6, 2011 11:19:57 PM

With countless concerns about our environment, we all realize that much of the responsibility for preservation issues will fall on the next generation. Depending on our actions today, the environment of tomorrow could be one to enjoy – or one to try and repair.

Consequently, many schools are taking steps towards helping their students be more environmentally aware. By taking the initiative now, students will be better off in the future.

Setting an Example

Maryland has required its schools to teach kids about environmental awareness for years, but feared that not enough was being done and that schools were still trying to dance around the issue.

In response to these concerns, state lawmakers now require school districts to have a lesson plan for environmental literacy set firmly in place for each school year. The goals of these lessons are to teach students how to protect the environment and how to identify any environmental threats.

What Does Environmental Literacy Look Like?

For elementary students, abstract concepts like "environmental awareness" can be difficult to grasp. But, younger students can come to understand abstract concepts through real-life application and integration.

For a school in Maryland, science is the best way to help students understand the world around them. Something as simple as taking students out on a quick boating field trip and testing the temperature and levels of oxygen in the water can teach students that the world around them is alive and in need of their care. When an entire school district participates, science and environmentalism can become more than just another in-classroom subject.

What Can Your School Do?

1. Encourage Kids to Take Their Knowledge Home: This idea is one of the best ways for kids to better understand what they’ve learned – and for the knowledge to spread. If kids learn about energy efficiency in school, they might go home and ask about their family’s appliances, air filters, light bulbs, windows, wall insulation and electronics. This will help kids understand that environmentalism is not just a school subject, but a real-life issue.

1. Organize Relevant Field Trips: Instead of going to the zoo or children’s museum, why not take students to a nature preserve, water company or an eco-friendly building? They can see firsthand how their work in class is actually relevant to the world around them.

1. Point Out Real World Trends: Have your students noticed more recycling bins in public places? What about unstable gas prices? Or maybe extreme weather and unpredictable changes? Talking about these issues or brining in local experts to speak about the topics is another great way to show kids the importance of taking care of our environment.

1. Practice What You Preach: If you encourage students to recycle, put plenty of recycling bins in the school. If you tell students how to save water or not waste food, try to implement these techniques in school bathrooms and cafeterias. If students see these practices in action, they’ll get in the habit of doing it themselves both at school and everywhere else.

An Enjoyable Future

We want our kids to enjoy the environment in future generations and not have to clean up our problems. Readying a generation of thought leaders and environmental activists could spell the difference between prosperity and disaster.

Why Shouldn’t I Spank My Child?

Posted on Oct 4, 2011 05:15:16 PM

Abuse Survivor Offers Tips For Alternative Punishments

Esther Joseph doesn’t need to read studies or statistics to understand the problems of child abuse. She survived it.
Joseph, an advocate against corporal punishment in the home, spent her childhood alternately suffering physical abuse from her mother and emotional abuse from her father. But she doesn’t consider herself a victim.
"I’m a survivor of child abuse," said Joseph, author of Memories of Hell, Visions of Heaven—A Story of Survival Transformation and Hope (www.unityinherited.com). "In overcoming the damage of an upbringing riddled with violence, I was adamant that I would not grow up to be an abuser, as well. I know the dangers of striking a child to discipline them and then explaining that you’re doing it for their own good and because you love them. All that does is teach the child that violence is an acceptable part of love, and as they grow up, they accept violence in their adult relationships because they’ve been taught that it’s completely normal."
Joseph believes that discipline is important, but that it can be delivered without making violence an acceptable part of life.
"No matter how out of control a child may be considered, a beating is never an effective way to get their attention, obedience or respect," she added. "Parents must understand that there are other disciplinary measures, less violent and degrading methods that will garner the results they seek, while raising children to become emotional health and fulfilled adults."
Joseph offered a few simple tips for alternative means of helping children behave. They include:

• Be a Good Example – Parents must live by example, allowing their actions and not just their words to exemplify the kind of person they would like their child to become.

• Be One Step Ahead – Don’t wait until your child has done something "wrong" to have a talk with them. Parents can circumvent many foreseeable challenges by addressing them before they become an issue.

• Be Creative – One type of punishment does not work for every child. Parents must figure out and utilize a form of reprimand that would work best for their child’s particular temperament.

"Every spanking, no matter how mild, has an impact," Joseph said. "Parents should be aware that a spanked child becomes a emotionally crippled adult who goes out into the world and plays this handicap onto others, perpetuating the idea that abusive relationships are just a normal part of life. Now, I understand that people justify it by thinking, ‘I was spanked as a child and I turned out okay,’ but that equation doesn’t work for everyone. When we begin to justify violence as a part of our children’s lives, it becomes a slippery slope when we try to determine how much is too much? A spanking every once in a while? Using a belt or a hairbrush instead of a hand if a child is really misbehaving? At what point do you say it’s too much? The bottom line is that once is too much, because it makes a second, third and 20^th time that much easier to rationalize. But for those who have been abused, no matter their pasts, it does not define them nor does it determine their future. Everyone can break the bonds of their past experiences and find their way to the life and future they crave."

About Esther Joseph

Esther Joseph was born and raised on the tiny Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. She moved to the U.S. at the age of 16 with her mother and two older bothers. She holds a Master’s Degree in international affairs from New York University. Her goal is to help others still in the grips of abuse and violence to break the cycle and find a way to a place of healing.