Blog post

"Most children already have a far more grown-up attitude to the climate crisis than many adults."

Joe Brindle
January 14, 2020

Over the last 2 months, many organisations have come out in support of Teach the Future, here I wanted to show you some of the great messages we've had from these groups.

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Over the last 2 months, many organisations have come out in support of Teach the Future, here I wanted to show you some of the great messages we've had from these groups.


Teach the Future and Friends of the Earth

Here Friends of the Earth's CEO Craig Bennet explains why he thinks our campaign is essential:

"We need to plan for a net zero future. That means drastically cutting emissions as soon as possible. And it also means developing the skills and knowledge that a zero-carbon future will require, to ensure that young people growing up now are equipped for what the coming years will bring."


"Our current education system is woefully inadequate in addressing the climate and ecological crisis. Back in February, the then Prime Minister Theresa May famously told striking kids  to stop wasting lesson time and get back to the classroom. The fact is, since changes to the national curriculum in 2013, schools are not required to teach about climate breakdown. "

"In my experience, most children already have a far more grown-up attitude to the climate and ecological crises than many adults.

But we owe our young people an education that will prepare them for the adult future they are facing, one that will be quite different from that experienced by adults today. They deserve to be told the truth, and given the skills and support they will need to navigate the unprecedented decades ahead. "



Teach The Future – Young People Deserve a Better Education System

Green Schools Project supports schools to set up and run student led environmental programmes, here their founder, Henry Greenwood, explains why he thinks Teach the Future is essential.

"In this context we have to recognise that our education system is failing them and that they are fully justified in striking from school. It is unfit for purpose when it is possible to leave school, with climate change being mentioned in as little as 10 out of 10,000 lessons. Even geography and science, subjects that should facilitate in depth exploration of the climate crisis, have limited space for it when there is so much other content for students to cover in order to pass out of date exams that are fixated on to the exclusion of everything else.  Students, if they do their research outside the classroom, can see through this and are angry that what they see in real life is not being reflected in what they learn at school."

"Young people are crying out for adults and leaders to step up to this existential challenge, it’s time that we give them an education system that stops being part of the problem and begins to be part of the solution."