For young people around the world, climate change no longer seems a distant threat, but a present reality. One recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet Planetary health surveyed 10,000 young people in 10 countries. A staggering 59% were very or extremely worried about climate change, and the vast majority (84%) were at least moderately worried.
Those who have experienced climate-related disasters suffer even more mental stress: Nearly one-third of disaster-affected people may experience negative mental health outcomes such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression. Children, in particular, are bearing a significant emotional burden.
Given these realities, it is imperative that we equip our children with the mental and emotional tools to navigate this changing world. We must move beyond teaching abstract concepts and focus on practical, tangible solutions that empower young people and support their mental health and emotional resilience. Three promising strategies are emerging.
Teach children to design connected spaces
When faced with climate catastrophes, children become anxious about the fate of animals and plants as much as their own and their families. We already know that nature play and education enhance children’s self-confidence, self-regulation, and ability to care for the environment. Now some schools are involving children themselves in codesigning and creating spaces where they feel safe and connected to nature and their community. This hands-on approach not only educates but also provides a sense of agency and control.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter in January 2025 and you’ll be entered to win an exclusive, personalized climate action consultation with a Yale Climate Connections staffer.
In New York City, for example, some 220 schools, like the Pacific School (P.S. 38K) in Brooklyn, have taken part in the Green Community Schoolyards initiative, transforming asphalt playgrounds into more natural and vibrant spaces. The program integrates students in the design process, teaching them eco-design principles from stormwater management to gardening with native species – and then setting them loose to design their own spaces.
In Quito, Ecuador, a city that recently suffered unprecedented urban wildfires, one school encouraged students to respond through attainable actions, like cleaning the campus and participating in the forest restoration process by planting drought-resistant species. Carolina Ulloa, the school’s human development and academic director, explained that rather than teaching children to control nature, teachers want to nurture their sense of belonging to a community in which plants and animals can be cared for.
Teach nature-based solutions
Introducing children to practical, nature-based strategies for cooling the planet has been shown to transform abstract – and anxiety-provoking – problems into concrete actions.
Learn more: Find out which climate actio