WE ARE GETTING KIDS HOOKED ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Atlantic States Legal Foundation has developed a new youth program for Summer 2021 through the help of their summer intern, Julia Greco, who is graduating from SUNY-ESF in December with a degree in Environmental Studies. ASLF has been working with the Boy Scouts at Camp Woodland, children at the MOST who are there for camp, and youths at Fayetteville Library.  It is important to get children involved about environmental topics at an early age. Our youth program is designed to educate children ages 8-15 and spread awareness of key environmental topics and issues.

Included in the program are three core sections: environmental justice, environmental advocacy, and rain gardens. Two programs were developed around these topics. One program is designed for children 8-12, and the other is geared towards children 12-15. The program developed for younger children is briefer with simple wording. The program developed for older children is longer, has more information, and contains complex words such as biocentric, which is the belief that human rights and needs of humans are not more important than those of other living things.

The section designated to environmental justice educates children on the meaning of environmental justice. We stated that environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income concerning the enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. This section stresses the importance of treating everyone equally amongst all people regardless of their demographic.  We also provide examples of environmental injustices in and around Syracuse. Some of the examples we give are the construction of I-81, food deserts, and the reduction and relocation of Onondaga natives  land and  over the years have settled to only a small portion of their land which is primarily swamps and marshes.

The following discussed is environmental advocacy. In this section we explain that environmental advocates are people who support an environmental cause or policy. We also discuss the fact that anyone can be an environmental advocate, at any age. We educate the children by stating that being an environmental advocate means being honest and responsible for your actions and how they affect the environment and that it also means speaking up for the environment. Some examples of environmental advocates that we use are NGO’s, environmentalists, activists, nature conservancies, and environmental lawyers.

The third and final section of our youth program educates children on the importance, construction, and maintenance of rain gardens. In this section, we explain that a rain garden is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rainwater from an area and allows it to soak into the ground and that they are planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses. We also explain that rain gardens are strategically located to capture runoff from hard surfaces such as a driveway, small parking area, sidewalk or rooftops. After educating them on what a rain garden is, we go into detail about construction and maintenance. We stress the fact that anyone can build a rain garden, and that it would be a fun project to do with the whole family.

We believe it is important to have fun while learning about these topics. Throughout the program, we play games with the children. One of the games we play that is a big hit is a nature feely bag. Inside the bag are items that one can find in nature. The children take turns blindly feeling around the bag and are asked to describe what they feel in three words before they try to guess what is in their hand. At the end of the program, we distribute a fun sheet about saving the rain that contains a maze on one side, and a crossword puzzle on the other.  Overall this program has been an enormous success so far. The children have been attentive and receptive. ASLF hopes to continue this program in the future and to educate as many children as possible.