Politics in School

This week, my class has begun the task of exposing ourselves to as many types of text as possible to prepare for the dreaded TAKS test in April. One of the pieces we really sunk our teeth into was entitled "Global Warming". What an experience! The article discussed what it is, how it works, and possible outcomes if warming continues at the rate is currently is occurring. It freaked out a couple of the kids but we discussed that the extremes that the article presented was a long way away and not going to happen tonight. It seemed to calm some ruffled feathers.

The part of the article that struck me was a box on the side. It presented the Kyoto Protocol and how the nations were attempting to cut back on pollution. At the end of the box, it stated that President Bush was refusing to sign the treaty because it would be too expensive for American companies to make the changes needed and that America would do nothing to hurt our economy. Once we figured out what "economy" meant, the kids were full of questions. Does the president care more about money than the earth? Why does he want us to die? If we are big polluters, why doesn't President Bush want to help clean up?


I spend many, many minutes explaining that we don't know if global warming is a natural occurrence or if we are hurting the Earth. It didn't seem to help. I find myself lost in the debate but have reached the only conclusion that I can right now. The kids seem to agree so either I am as simple minded as a room of 10 year olds or I have a very bright class. The bottom line is that our Earth is our home. We must take care of it. If we are going to live here, we must respect where we are to the best of our abilities. We must leave our world in a better shape than we found it. In a way I guess I am saying, go hug a tree!


You can't tell me there aren't politics in schools!