Generation Z

I spent last week working at the Museum day camp to make a little extra cash this summer, on top of all the research (it's a busy summer!). While being fun and active, it's also a pretty educational camp, especially when you have a newly graduated biologist on Animal, Arctic and Alien day.

So I feel like I spent most of last week pushing environmental and conservation concerns onto the malleable minds of children.

Animal day: Humans are top predator in all habitats. We kill more animals in any environment than any predator anywhere. All we do is destroy.

Arctic day: Climate change is all our fault (sorry Dad!) and we are destroying our Earth and atmosphere (I added a bit on the Ozone layer). Everyone should stop driving and become vegetarians.

Alien day: The 'aliens' in our oceans are way better than the aliens that might be in space. Thank goodness NASA cut their shuttle program.

Okay, maybe I exaggerated (but not by much, I'm afraid), but it's pretty clear. I don't think I was lying (although my Dad might disagree with me re: climate change), but was I right in making and teaching these claims to kids?

I think I was. I mean, kids get smarter every generation with better access to information, and really, they are the ones that are going to make all the difference in the world ('Kids are the future' and all that).

I could go on, but I think this one is going to be a short post (tomorrow's will be longer, I'm sure!). More cliché lines of "plant the idea and grow the knowledge" or whatever, but this is what I leave you with.

I do believe that we have to teach the kids and work up from there. Even if one of those kids asks their parents to stop idling their car (like I do to my dad), it's a small step to a potentially healthy planet.