Climate change is an issue that many young people are worried about and which deeply concerns their future lives. Having the opportunity to share and act on their concerns about the climate crisis can boost young people’s self-efficacy, hopefulness and resilience, while dismissing their feelings and denying or ignoring the climate crisis can negatively impact their wellbeing (Hart, Fisher, & Kimiagar, 2014; Ojala, 2012; Sanson, Van Hoorn, & Burke, 2019). Yet little attention has been given to young people’s voices or concerns. Therefore, as part of Psychology Week 2019, the APS consulted with 60 young people about the climate crisis and other social justice issues, including their views, experiences and support needs.
The team reviewed the research literature on the climate crisis in relation to children and youth, and established a Social Justice Youth Advisory Group to hear young people’s opinions directly. The feedback from young people was used to guide the development of the project, including learning more about the views and experiences of young people, their ideas about actions and changes for addressing the climate crisis and their support needs.
The advisory group
A total of 60 young people aged 16 to 25 were recruited into the Social Justice Youth Advisory Group via APS channels (e.g., member networks, social media). Young people completed an application and consent form and those under 18 years provided parental consent. All of the applications received were accepted.
A closed Facebook group was formed and contained 34 active members who engaged in discussions initiated by APS staff and two peer facilitators. In addition, 14 young people (including nine people from the Facebook group) participated in up to two workshops at the APS National Office, and 12 young people in secondary-school grades 8 to 11 with a refugee background discussed the issues at their schools with project members in two different sessions. Seven of the young people also volunteered to take part in filming video messages about their views on social justice.
Youth Advisory Group highlights
The young people we consulted with:
- identified a range of concerns about social justice but the climate crisis was the most prominent
- felt that we need to develop empathy for ‘the people of the future’ with respect to climate change
- spoke of their anxiety about the climate crisis and their frustration at the lack of action in Australia to mitigate it
- expressed uncertainty about what they could do at an individual level, a feeling which was at times overwhelming and affected their confidence that they could make a difference
- felt more supported and more hopeful around the climate crisis when they were actively involved in pro-environmental behaviours (e.g., through being part of an environment-focused group), supported by parents, teachers and peers, and if they were shown that they could make a difference (e.g., through volunteer work, classroom activities and community role models) and that there was realistic hope that change could occur.
What social justice issues matter to young people?
The members of the Social Justice Youth Advisory Group identified a range of concerns about social justice. The climate crisis was the most prominent issue. Others included inequality, both globally (between nations) and within Australia, including the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, and unequal access to other resources. Issues related to gender, disability, race and refugee status were also mentioned. The young people thought many of these concerns were related to climate change (e.g., it is increasing the number of refugees, Indigenous Australians are being disproportionally affected by climate change).
“My main issue is how we’re going to fix global warming” female, 16
Young people’s concerns about climate change
Many of the young people spoke of their anxiety about the climate crisis and their frustration at the lack of action in Australia to mitigate it. When asked to rate their level of worry (from 0 = no worry to 10 = extremely worried), some said ‘10+’ or ’12’, most gave a rating of 10, and some said it ranged from 6 to 10 depending on whether they saw anything hopeful happening in Australia. Some of the youth expressed uncertainty about what they could do at an individual level, a feeling which was at times overwhelming and affected their confidence that they could make a difference.
“It is terrifying not knowing how long we have left to do what we want and achieve our goals!” genderfluid, 18
What factors hinder and facilitate engagement with social justice issues?
The young people were concerned about the apparent lack of care about social justice issues by many people (e.g., “Everyone has the potential to care a lot, but they just don’t”). They felt that the hardest part was getting started with showing an interest or taking action on a social justice issue. At times they felt powerless and uncertain about their capacity to get involved and disempowered by pessimistic messages (e.g., that the world is going to end anyway).
Some young people said that it was easier to be involved with social justice issues if they joined a group or activity on the topic they cared about, if they were part of a committee or if they were involved with volunteer activities. They felt it was important that young people were shown that they could make a difference and that there was realistic hope that change could occur. They suggested role models might help more people feel inspired to show that they care about social justice. For example, the predominantly female group noted that it was hard to get males involved because it was seen as “not cool” to care about these issues.
Learning from young people
Many of the members of the advisory group were very passionate about action on climate change, demonstrating determination, courage, persistence, problem-solving, collaboration, ability to manage their feelings about social justice and the capacity to take a global perspective on the world. They felt that society had much to learn from young people.
We sought feedback from the advisory group members on what they thought different groups in society could be doing to support children and young people around climate change.
Young people
The feedback from young people about their own experiences also gave positive messages about what young people can do to help increase their self-efficacy, realistic hope and pro-environmental behaviours in relation to climate change. For many of the young people a strong motivator for being interested in the environment was being part of a group or activity on a topic they cared about. This helped them see how climate change affected them personally and also feel like they were contributing to climate change mitigation efforts.
“I think that the easiest way to get people to do things is join a group that they care about, you know, they have to find something else out of it not just education” female, 17
Parents
The young people recommended that parents empower their children to be involved with climate change discourse and mitigation efforts by:
- being great role models in their own climate change understanding and activism
- listening to their children’s concerns and encouraging them to be interested in and active in social justice and climate change issues
- supporting them in the choices they make around their involvement in social justice and climate change issues (e.g., driving them to meetings of a group they are part of, letting children form their own viewpoint).
They thought it was important that parents recognise that it is their children and grandchildren who will inherit the consequences of the climate crisis.
“Parents should encourage and empower their children to explore issues they are passionate about” female, 23
Education
The young people spoke about the need for climate change to be more formally part of the school and university curriculum, so that it’s normal to care about the environment. They thought it was important that education initiatives went beyond just delivering information and assisted young people to get involved in pro-environmental behaviour, such as identifying small and large actions students could take themselves as well as through establishing and supporting “climate teams” in schools comprising young people who take a lead in pro-environmental behaviours.
“Putting it into our curriculum as well is something that would be really good, maybe starting from primary school” female, 23
Community
Common messages from the group for the community in general were to understand that young people can both make an important contribution to discourse and action on the climate crisis and have a good reason to be actively involved because of the impact of the climate crisis on their futures. The young people thought that the community could support them by providing role models within the community for being interested in the climate crisis and taking action to help mitigate it (e.g., football players promoting that it’s ‘cool to care’ about climate change). They could help provide volunteering, mentoring or scholarship opportunities for young people to be involved in social justice and climate change activities.
“I want to see us young people have positive opportunities in a sustainable future... it’s important to have our voices heard so that future generations will have better (not worse) ones too” male, 25
Psychology profession
The young people thought that there was a role for psychology trained professionals to develop and run workshops for students, teachers and parents about coping with climate change stress. They also thought they could develop curriculum materials for preschool, primary, secondary and tertiary level teaching. Another suggestion was that they could mentor and support “climate teams” in schools, that is, groups of students taking the lead in pro-environmental activities.
“I’m very afraid of what climate change can bring about and what it means for the future of the world” female, 17
Government
The advisory group members wanted to see more action on climate change by governments, such as by declaring a climate emergency and acting on it as an emergency. They were in favour of governments working closely with multinational organisations, not-for-profits, other organisations and citizens to work together towards a common goal. They believed that governments should promote positive attitudes towards women and Indigenous people in leadership roles. They were also in favour of governments funding programs to improve the wellbeing of people struggling with climate stress.
“We need to make immediate change on a micro and macro level” female, 22
Key messages
Young people have a voice we can all learn from in relation to social justice. The climate crisis was the most prominent concern of the young people we consulted. They wanted to be actively involved with efforts to mitigate climate change, such as through an environment-focused group or being part of a ‘climate team’ in school, part of community initiatives and supported by their parents to be involved. However, young people also need support in managing their deep concerns about the climate crisis and their futures. They need help in developing realistic hope and confidence that their own efforts will make a difference.
This feedback was used by the APS, in conjunction with the findings for a literature review, to develop recommendations of how different groups of society can be supporting young people in relation to the climate crisis. They have also helped us build on our existing resources on managing climate change stress. This work has been promoted through a report on the project, public events, media and social media and is expected to inform future work by the APS in this area.
We wish to thank all the young people who contributed to this project. They have been an inspiration, are role models and have provided invaluable feedback that has played a critical role in this project and the broader Psychology Week campaign.
The full report of the Psychology Week project is available from the Psychology Week 2019 campaign website: psychweek.org.au