What was it like teaching climate justice to primary schoolers?

“Wait so how old are they?” My next question immediately was, “And how do they grasp this stuff?”

She smiled with a slight look of confusion lingering in her eyes. This is my friend and co-leader of the sustainability coalition Alice. She was telling me more about her work with the NGO she co-founded Spring Forward as a high school student. The organisation teaches elementary (primary school) students about climate change and climate justice.

At the time climate justice was still a concept I was wrapping my head around. Although I had been writing essays on the concept, I had only recently found the name to attach to the fact that the countries, corporations, and individuals that contributed most to the climate disaster were not the same people to be directly impacted by its most harmful effects.

As a seventeen-year-old in the climate activism space for almost two years, I was yet to fully fathom the complicated systems of climate change. How then was I supposed to explain it to someone half my age?

I continued to grapple with the concept for weeks to come all the way until the end of spring break when I found myself at home and partaking in the leadership workshop for the 2022-2023 cohort of 25 Most Remarkable Teens in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Eagerly I shared the ideas that had been simmering in my brain for the past few weeks with the staff of the youth department:

I want to go into the primary and secondary schools of the Federation to talk about Caribbean climate justice.

I recruited fellow remarkable teen Malika Benjamin to be my partner in crime and by the following week I had emailed a proposal to anyone I imagined was a relevant stakeholder. My project went nowhere near anticipated; but there was some lasting insight to be gained from it.

So...what was it like teaching Caribbean climate justice to primary school students?

Malika (left) and I (right) demonstrating climate justice with a game.

It was difficult trying to translate complex social justice issues into a form palatable for children at the fifth-grade level, so we decided to use an activity to illustrate the concept. We called for three volunteers. One was the United States, one was Saint Kitts and one student was Tanzania. Each volunteer received five candies (which in hindsight I now realise might not have even been the most accurate since in real life, both societies and people don't always begin at the same starting line).

"A category five hurricane passes through the Atlantic ocean. If you are Tanzania: this doesn’t affect you so you give up no candy. If you are St. Kitts then 50% of houses need rebuilding so you give up 2 candies. In the US, the damage was only in some parts of Florida so you give up one candy."

I watched as Saint Kitts and the US reluctantly dropped their candy into the basket. Slowly realisation dawned over participants' faces as they recognised this activity for what it was: a losing game.

"Round 2. Your country has just experienced the hottest summer on record and now has a water shortage. Tanzania: your country was already water rationing so you give up 2 candies. Saint Kitts: you are also water scarce and you give up 2 candies. US: you are water scarce in some places but have the option to build dams in others so you give up one candy."

By now Saint Kitts was livid and the audience was entertained by the volunteers' misery. I could see some of the students nudging those next to them and chatter began to overtake the classroom.

"Last activity. Due to the hot summer there is also a wildfire that ravages the country. Tanzania: You have huge nature reserves that you depend on for tourism. The fire doesn’t spread far but environmental damage is severe. You give up two candies. St. Kitts: You are a small country so the fire spreads far. You also depend on nature for tourism. You give up two candies. US: The forest fires are concentrated in some places and cause people to lose their homes and even their lives. Two candies."

Each participant was rewarded with one candy to keep. Even Saint Kitts who ended up one candy in the red was given one to take back to her seat.

"So what did you think? Do you think that was fair?"

And just as I hoped hands shot into the air as it seemed that everyone had an opinion. You can hear the opinions of some of the students in the video below.

It became evident to me that within a simple exercise they had grasped the basic truth that the climate crisis is not fair. One of my partner's and I's greatest next concern was that we would infect children with the grim climate fatalism that plagues many in our generation. I also returned to the question that I thought of when I originally began this project to ask myself why is it important for young people to care?

Beyond teaching primary schoolers about the grim truth of the climate crisis, there was the feeling that this would instill a greater sense and appreciation for the interconnected nature of our world.

The climate crisis that affects the Caribbean is not one grave existential risk but rather an overlap between the many elevated risks of climate change and the already existent risks present to us as a tropical small island developing state (SIDS). Therefore, Malika and I placed great emphasis on the concept of intersectionality including the intersection between gender and climate change.

Perhaps there were other emotions present by the end of our presentation. There was definitely evidence of genuine concern for our environment and interest in the effects of climate change. However students were also curious about how Malika and I became educated in this field and what our experiences were like. They wanted to know more about the projects that we had done and had even asked us when we would return to do another session.

I think that part of the impact we had on them stemmed from the connection we shared as young people. It mattered tremendously that this message was being delivered by fellow students. Although I predicted it, I couldn't have imagined to the degree that this would have influenced their receptivity and interest. To them talking about climate change became a little more accessible, a little more engaging, a little less scary and alot more human.