How can schools tackle eco-anxiety in young people? | Sponsored

In this edition of the Tes podcast, senior editor Simon Lock meets lecturer, researcher and climate-aware psychotherapist, Caroline Hickman, to discuss eco-anxiety, which she warns, is a growing mental health concern, especially prevalent among children and young adults.   In her latest research, Hickman asked 10,000 young people aged between 16 and 25 about their feelings towards climate change: 60 per cent reported saying they felt “very” or “extremely” worried about climate change, while 45 per cent of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily lives.    “We are overusing resources and we are failing to take care of our environment,” explains Hickman. “As you wake up to the increased ferocity of storms, the increased risks from flooding, increased risks from sea level rise, it makes perfect sense to feel anxious, worried [and] to feel scared.   “But anxiety is not the only emotion that we feel. It is the first one we feel because we feel threatened. But it develops into a whole mixture of other feelings including depression, anger, frustration, grief, guilt, shame.”  Hickman believes that it’s vital that young people find a balance between acknowledging the climate crisis without letting it become overwhelming. So, what can schools do to ensure that concern for the environment does not boil over to become a serious mental health problem? Listen to the full interview in this edition of the Tes podcast. This podcast is sponsored by Greenpeace who have teamed up with Everyday Plastic to create The Big Plastic Count.  Right now, nobody really knows how much plastic we’re having to throw away. There’s simply too much of it, and recycling alone isn’t going to solve the plastic problem. The Big Plastic Count will uncover the truth about how much household plastic we throw away in a week, and how much is really recycled. This new evidence will be crucial to convince the government, big brands and supermarkets to take ambitious action on reducing plastic packaging. Join hundreds of schools across the country taking part, with fully-resourced, cross-curricular classroom-based activities developed for 9-12 year olds, linking to citizenship, science, maths, English and geography.  Find out more at thebigplasticcount.com/TES, and empower your pupils to be a part of driving real-world change.