Climate despair, eco-anxiety, climate grief, climate rage, climate depression. All of these are part of our lives now. There are Millenials and Gen Zs deciding not to have children because of their climate fears. Katie O’Reilly wrote in an article for the Sierra Club, “I’m worried that if I procreate, I will contribute to melting ice caps, rising seas, and extreme weather. Worse, I might create brand-new victims of climate change—people who never asked to be part of this human-made mess.” She goes on later to equate children to “consumption machines.” Caroline Hickman, a member of the Climate Psychology Alliance, has counseled parents who have actually fantasized about killing their children out of fear “of the climate-ravaged future.”
Children are not consumption machines
With the number of adults who consider children to be nothing more than consumption machines, is it any wonder that children around the world are feeling depression, eco-anxiety and guilt more than ever before. From the time they can comprehend what climate is, they are being told over and over again by parents, teachers, the news that the world is doomed and, oh, by the way, it’s your fault. There are no official counts to the number of children who have committed suicide specifically out of fear and guilt over climate change. There is only the fact that the rates of suicide among children, teens and young adults is growing.
Climate alarmists want you to believe global warming is causing the increase in suicides. The heat is affecting everyone and decreasing people’s ability to think clearly and make sound decisions, they say. I don’t know about you, but I find it more than a little hard to believe heat-addled brains are the cause.
Being told day after day after day that your carbon footprint is causing the end of the world is a burden no child should have to bear. Patrick Moore put it well, “Young people have always been vulnerable to feelings of hopelessness. Greta is fueling those fears.” But Greta is just the face that was chosen to market those fears to young people. She did not come up with these ideas. She admits to going into depression due to eco-anxiety after learning about climate change as a young girl. Isn’t it ironic that she is now being pushed to the forefront and is frightening a whole new wave of children into panic and despair?
It isn’t over yet
These children need to be told the other side of the story. There always is one. Climate change is nothing new. The climate has been changing since the beginning of time. There have been hot periods; there have been cold periods. Humans had nothing to do with them. And if having no control over climate change is still a frightening thought to a child, reassure them that we are all still here. That climate-related deaths are the lowest they have been since there have been records of such things. Change is often a good thing. They changed from babies to kids, and soon to adults. The world is doing the same thing, and we get to be here to enjoy some of it. Let’s not pass on this eco-anxiety to the next generation.
