Climate change is an important issue to many, especially young people. We are concerned for what is happening now and we continue to be concerned for what might happen in the future. Many other very significant topical matters have entered the public eye, such as the pandemic and the black lives matter movement, therefore climate change has almost been forgotten. Fortunately, the topic is continuing to be taught with persistence in school. Several of our classes are taking this topic as it is in our syllabi and putting their own spin on it. For example, we are learning about the causes and effects of global warming on a planetary and molecular scale in physics and chemistry; in addition to understanding the human as well as the environmental triggers and impacts of climate change in geography and biology.
Recently, we had the opportunity to explore a variety of viewpoints on this issue in year 11 chemistry, when we participated in a class debate on whether climate change is caused by humans. By taking on the perspectives of different people, such as scientists, the car and oil industry and laypeople, we could explore why people have different opinions on climate change and how their agendas, even ones such as saving money, can influence their choices. This insight allows us to identify and understand arguments we come across, consider and counter them.
Although there seems to be a consensus regarding climate change amongst the students (that it is real and caused by humans), we are encouraged to challenge what we see in the media and online: to have our own opinion, but be open to others’ and to base our arguments on facts and logic. The school not only teaches us about climate change through the syllabi handed to them by exam boards but also how to stand for our beliefs and values. Last year, during the school strike for climate protests that took place on Fridays, the school permitted students to take part. When I attended one myself, I saw many of my fellow students there.
Environment-friendly behaviour has also been promoted by the school: with recycling bins in every classroom, a second-hand clothes stall at the summer fair, a controlled use of the school printers and the promotion of second-hand books for the library. For many of our classes, we have to finish our exercise books to the page before we receive another. When we join the school community in year 7, we learn about how we can reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment; how to foster healthy habits that we can incorporate into our personal lives. Although the school, like every one of us, can do more to reduce its impact on the Earth, it nurtures a proactive attitude to climate change that many of its students will take forward in the future.
