Conservation as a subject in school

[solarwind]

I believe that if we are to win this battle, we have to start teaching conservation to the very young. Does anyone know to what extent this is being done in our schools?

[justontime]

Originally Posted by solarwind

I believe that if we are to win this battle, we have to start teaching conservation to the very young. Does anyone know to what extent this is being done in our schools?

It was certainly taught at the primary school my children went to. They got involved with a national environmental challenge the required them to study local and world wide issues, it also got them involved in practical ways.

[jazzgrrl]

Environmentalism, Conservation, and Preservation is an elective course at the high school teach at. We have an all school Environmental week (k-12) and have recently banned bottled water from the school cafeterias.

[treehugger]

At least in the elementary schools, they are teaching environmental protection methods and recycling. They are very heavy on the recycling part in our schools which I really like. It needs to be reinforced at home, of course, for it to become a lifelong habit.

[SageMother]

Originally Posted by solarwind

I believe that if we are to win this battle, we have to start teaching conservation to the very young. Does anyone know to what extent this is being done in our schools?

Conservation WAS taught in schools during the 1950's and 1960's. The subject stopped being addressed with Ronald Reagan's administration, from what I remember.

There were companies creating solar panels and other alternative power sources, and their tax incentives were cut during the Reagan administration as well.

[solarwind]

Since kids spend so mauch time at school, I think conservation, recycling and so on should be a part of their curriculum from day 1 at school and throughout their school lives. Until it is ingrained, it wont become a part of us. It's good to hear that it still is a large part of their school life - it's a good start.

[atula]

In the city I was born...there was this rule set by the then ruling government...that if it is your anniversary or birthday or any special occasion...you could just go to a predefined area and plant a tree there....this was not compulsory but people anyways did it....so as children we grew up planting trees and automatically felt closer to the environmental issues....

[Kitten]

Oh wow, that's an awesome idea Atula! I would love if something like that caught on in more areas.

[emiglia]

I remember learning a bit about the "3 Rs" in school (reduce, reuse, recycle), but then we did projects with old things and were told that we were "recycling" when we were actually reusing. I found it confusing.

I agree that all of these things need a bigger place in schools. Kids get really into things like that, and I can imagine kids making parents feel guilty about wasting water, etc., and parents wanting to set a good example for kids.