As a teacher, I was bombarded yesterday by my Kindergarten class's blunt questions concerning our planet's health. "Are the dolphins dying?" "Can we save the polar bears?" "Is the earth dying?" I tell the truth with grace and hope.
"Large mammals everywhere are in danger. Scientists citizen advocates, and the E.P.A. are trying to help them."
"The earth is showing signs of being very sick, but if we all work together we can help it get better again."
But one question is always tough to answer: "If people know the earth is sick, why isn't it getting better?"
Launching into the topic of man's greed is not easy for adults, let alone for those 6 and under. Explaining our unique governmental system based on the convoluted relationships between lobbyists, government, NGO's and our citizenry is not Kindergarten material. Still, I create an answer, sensitively and honestly, advocating that we all can do our small part.
Those at the top of our these symbiotic relationships must heed the words of the pledge that the children recite each morning -- "with liberty and justice -- for all..." Our neglect of the natural world, now affecting the health of the largest mammals, has already begun to adversely affect the health of our youngest citizens as well.
The moral burden rests with those who knowingly choose short-term profit and personal comfort over long-term conservation and justice. In some way, we are all involved in this dirty business, but we know that there are large corporate interests that exist by playing a grand role in advocating the rape, pillage and plunder of Planet Earth.
Are we willing to leave a legacy of environmental devastation for the next generation to clean up? And, will I read Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar as a historical document if there are no caterpillars to emerge?
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