Schools getting heat for teaching "going green"

Is teaching something that can help the world a more breathable place to live still needs to be debated? Unbelievable! No one is reacting when theories of creation are presented to students as if they are facts then why all of a sudden, some are reacting as if cleaning our environment is a disease.I can't understand when people reacts negatively to things that can do positive change in society. If you are here in the Philippines, you will notice that most of our metropolis have unmanageable garbage. Some of the residents, children and even adults, don't know how to dispose their garbage properly when they are on the streets that canals and drainages are clogged with lots of plastic materials and other garbage. As such, even slight rains can bring flood to some of our cities. I will therefore encourage that since some parents don't know anything about cleanliness and environmental conservation, children be taught in school not just how to dispose garbage properly but to help in conserving/preserving earth. This world is the only planet we got for ourselves.

I think it should be up to the parents. That being said, my daughter's school has "going green" as their theme this year so they talk a great deal about the environment and recycling. I don't love it because some of the things they talk about are a bit much for me....like using milk jugs to make crafts. I don't care about that I don't have time to do it. We just make sure we sit down with our daughter and talk about what the school is saying and how we feel about it and why. We try to be proactive....but I know many parents at her school that just allow the school to tell their children what to think.

Nothing wrong with the school teaching something good. I don't see the problem at all. I think parents should also teach this whole thing about "going green"!

Unless you are an abysmally stupid person who has been living under a rock for the past decade you know and your kids know that the earth is warming up and we need to do something about it. This is not a liberal or conservative thing anymore. It's about planetary survival of the species and if we don't do something soon our kids will suffer for it. I say good for schools for exposing kids to this idea early. It's not the schools fault if parents don't do their jobs.

Well, I think it's a great thing, as long as the schools are also doing their part. My school, for instance, uses recyclable styrofoam-like cups that are made out of corn oil and uses all biodegradable recycled paper plates and cups. That is a great place to start.

I think it is all right for schools to start such education. Children are a blank sheet of paper, the first imputs are likely affecting their lifetime. Another issue brought to notice by the educational administration is related with observation of traffic rules. They are the first to take serious attention to the traffic lights, and they are so serious that parents look ridiculour and feel ashamed if not doing properly.

I think it is finally a step in the right direction. If schools can teach responsible habits at a young age those values and ideas will stick with the kids all their lives. North Americans use up 40% of the world's resources. Imagine if every country in the world would be as wasteful and careless as we are there would be no green spots or forests left for our grandchildren only rubble and piles of garbage. I know many people in the US resent it when authorities try to implement programs. There is always the cry that it is up to the parents to teach the kids responsible ways. The sad truth is there are so many irresponsible parents who could not care less. There are also ingrained habits that are hard to break. I see it here on mylot. Sometimes there are discussions where people express their disgust at the idea of using a bathtowel more than once or changing bed sheets every two or three weeks instead of every few days, and yet there are already severe water shortages in many places in the USA. We as Canadians are getting worried about our water resources and attempts by companies to divert lots of water to the US which is not really a solution in the long run either. It would deplete us and leave parts of the US in the same predicament as before. Conservation and a commitment to use non renewable resources in a respectful and responsible manner are the key. The earlier we get to the kids the better.

Isn't it ironic that teachers and administrators are constantly telling us that there just isn't enough time or resources to teach our kids the basics of Reading, Writing, Arithmatic, History...etc... but somehow they always find the time and resources to spew propaganda.

I do think it is the school duty to teach not indoctrinate as you have put it our children to be eco friendly. If we instill good values in our youngsters we are ensuring a better future for us all including them. I don't see anything wrong in schools promoting a healthier environment.

"Environmental Religion"? Are they fricking kidding me...lol? Using this Competitive Enterprise Institute's reasoning we might as well not even have school because they could probably come up with an argument why everything they're taught is a form of "political indoctrination"! I know people have differing opinions about global warming and other environmental concerns but is there anyone who thinks waste and pollution is good? Does anyone really think it's better to continue to fill up our landfills than to recycle things that can be used again? It's not unusual for parents to actually learn things from their children. I say if any parent is upset that their child is being taught to be "earth friendly" in school, let them take it up with the local school board to home school their kids. Annie

I think that some of it should be left up to the parents to teach there children but I don't think that the schools are wrong in trying to educated chilren on the benefits of going green. Anything that helps the environment is a plus. Kids cant help it if there parents buy ziplock bags instead of using plastic containers that can be washed and reused but its also good to teach them the difference in what the effect is on the environment just so they know. I think the National Green Week sounds wonderful. I remember when I was in elementary school we had small cardboard milk cartons. Some group or organization came through and did an assembly on how these other milk containers that were literally like a square plastic bag that you punch a straw into to drink the milk. When empty it was no more then a empty ziplock bag size which saved a lot of room in the landfills. The school didn't use them for long as when the kids were done drinking from them they would fill them up with air and pop them. It was punishable by having to stand out in the middle of the floor in front of everyone until lunch was over. I think its stupid that they let a little nuisance like kids popping the bags change the wonderful idea that they came up with to help reduce the amount of garbage. Its been many years since the alternate to cardboard milk cartons came about but I believe they are still using the cardboard milk cartons. They take up a lot of room in the landfill and its pointless when they could cut down on the garbage by going back to the plastic bag idea! I think its really important that not only do the schools teach kids the benefits of recycling but that they show a good example by having collection bins for scrap paper and making small compost piles in science rooms or outside the school. There is a lot that a school can do to teach kids how to be earth friendly without having to impose on parents to much.

I think schools should do this but not at this age. 5 year old children can barely think for themselves and they are told how to save the environment. I think it should be taught when they are older so that they can make the decision on their own and not be forced by the school.

I think it is fine. Maybe they shouldn't necesarilly touch on global warming, but everyone knows it is good not to be wasteful and recycle and enforcing these habits when young is good.

Well, I'm a teacher, and I believe that all students know that we should save the earth by doing recycling. My students toke paper from the recycling bins to use to decorate the class display board, saving money and resources. I'm happy with that. However, my school just announced that as a Go Green gesture, and because an organisation is organising an inter-school recycling plastic bottles competition, all students are to bring empty plastic bottles to recycle and minimum is 20 bottles per student. They offer an individual prize and class prize for this and the organisation is offering a school prize. Suddenly I have students who normally do not purchase sugared drinks during their breaks purchasing them so as to make sure they fulfil the quota within the month. Is this really recycling? They are doing it not for the Earth but because they do not want to be punished by the school, and also for some students they are targetting for the individual and class prize. As a teacher of the school who has been telling students to recycle when possible, I feel that the Green Committee teachers made a wrong move to set a minimum per students just because they would want to look good to the outside people by making sure we really send in a good amount of bottles. 1400 students time 20 each means 28 thousand bottles! But how many of them are really for recycling purposes? And teachers' quota is 25 bottles each! *shake head*

It should be up to the parents. What they are teaching in schools seems to be a religion, and I would not be surprised that they will soon teach about the worship of the mother goddess, or something in that line. I do think it is all right for the schools to have a recyclable bin, and to throw in their plastic bottles and cans to maybe help some cause such as relieving poverty,collecting to help a hospital, but to demand that the children avoid plastic water bottles, etc. Now if they found out that plastic water bottles cause cancer, etc. then the school could suggest that the kids refuse those glass juice bottles, but if it is not right to impose Christian world views then it is just as wrong to impose a pagan world view which is what this going green for the sake of protecting the earth and not for honoring God is.

I depends on how it is taught - taught incorrectly, it will scare the smaller children instead of educating them.

hey, very good topic. and what a good idea, i love that and i truly hope such foundation takes root in my city, in my country. Children take what their teachers say more seriously than what their parents say. Therefore, when students are called for doing something to protect the globe, shown the easy way of contributing to the environmental protection, this will become school children's good habit. consequently, these children will correct their parents' wrong doings.

The problem I have is the schools are not teaching facts, they are pushing an agenda using propaganda. Global warming is NOT man-made, it's natural. Throughout the history of our planet, it has naturally cycled through cooler periods and warmer periods. They should be teaching these facts. I do believe that children should be taught not to litter, but beyond that, it gets silly. School is for teaching reading, writing, and arithmatic. Leave morality, and beliefs to the parents. Parents, take back your children!