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Kid Climate Educators Open Adult Eyes

Avoiding the worst effects of climate change will require action. But it’s hard to take action when you don’t even know there’s a problem. Around the world, only half of adults understand that humans are causing climate change through activities that produce greenhouse gases.But the picture is different for kids. Previous work has shown that children are more engaged and more knowledgeable¹ than adults are about climate change. The question is, can this be harnessed to make a difference?

要避免气候变化的最坏影响，就需要采取行动。但当你甚至不知道存在问题时，就很难采取行动。在世界范围内，只有一半的成年人知道人类正在通过产生温室气体的活动导致气候变化。但孩子们的情况就不同了。此前的研究表明，儿童比成年人更积极参与，对气候变化的了解也更多。问题是，能否利用这一点来改变现状?

“We had come across this idea that kids are capable of influencing their parents. And when we say influence, we really mean just teaching them.”Daniella Lawson, a social scientist at NC State University.“That’s what we set out to really investigate: can we design things in such a way that kids are able to teach their parents about climate change. And because of the fact that it’s someone’s child speaking to them instead of just an adult on the street or a different climate communicator, a parent’s willing and able to listen to their children.”

“我们认为孩子有能力影响他们的父母。当我们说影响时，我们实际上是指教育他们。北卡罗来纳州立大学的社会科学家丹妮拉·劳森说道。“这就是我们开始真正研究的问题:我们能否设计出一种让孩子们能够向父母传授气候变化知识的方式。”因为这是某人的孩子在和他们说话，而不仅仅是一个在街上的成年人或一个不同的气候交流者，所以父母愿意也能够倾听他们的孩子。”

To test the idea, Lawson set up a wildlife-based climate course for kids. This approach was based on previous courses, but the team added a twist: involving the parents. First, parents were invited to come along to an event that formed a part of the course. And that’s not all.

为了验证这个想法，劳森为孩子们开设了一个以野生动物为基础的气候课程。这种方法是基于以前的课程，但团队增加了一个转折:让家长参与进来。首先，家长们被邀请参加一个活动，这是课程的一部分。这还不是全部。

“So we also had students interview their parents. And this interview never mentioned climate change specifically. But it had questions like: how have you seen the weather change over the last five to ten years? Do you believe the sea level is rising? How do you think that could impact our communities?”

“所以我们也让学生采访他们的父母。这次采访也没有特别提到气候变化。但是它有这样的问题:在过去的五到十年里，你是如何看到天气变化的?你相信海平面正在上升吗?你认为这会如何影响我们的社区?”

The study showed that the course did indeed increase concern about climate change: not just among the kids, but their parents too. And there were some surprising findings in the results.

研究表明，该课程确实增加了人们对气候变化的担忧:不仅是孩子们，他们的父母也是如此。结果中有一些令人惊讶的发现。

“This process of children teaching their parents, it really was most effective among those parents who were previously² the least concerned about climate change. So that was conservatives³ and fathers. And then what was also really exciting was that the treatment was particularly effective if the child that was doing the teaching was a daughter.”The study is in the journal Nature Climate Change.

“孩子们教育父母的过程，对那些以前最不关心气候变化的父母来说确实是最有效的。这就是保守派和父亲们。另一件让人兴奋的事是如果教孩子的是女儿，这种治疗尤其有效。这项研究发表在《自然气候变化》杂志上。

These findings come at a time when more kids are becoming climate activists⁴. And Lawson says that her study shows just how persuasive⁵ young people’s voices can be.

这些发现出现在越来越多的孩子成为气候活动家的时候。劳森说，她的研究表明，年轻人的声音是多么有说服力。

Kids are really powerful. They are having an impact, they are taking over the news, they’re not letting us not talk about the issue. It makes me really excited to see how much of an impact kids can have. And I think kids can just have the power to bring us together in a way that we haven’t seen yet when it comes to climate change.”

孩子们真的很强大。他们正在产生影响，他们正在接管新闻，他们不让我们不谈论这个问题。看到孩子们能产生多大的影响，我真的很兴奋。我认为孩子们有能力把我们团结在一起，这是我们在气候变化问题上还没有看到的。”