'E' for Environment

With mega discourses on global warming and climate change dominating news broadcast, print and the web, it came as a surprise when school children responded with blank expressions at a recent interaction on environment at an English medium school in an up-market neighbourhood of South Delhi.

It was quite mellowing to see that these inquisitive students, who are going to inherit a very messed-up environment and the burden of extreme lifestyle shifts to tide-over impacts of degradation, have not been touched by a day-to-day understanding of terms like global warming, e-waste and toxics.

As one broke these concepts into manageable examples, expressions changed and questions started flowing in and two very worrying trends emerged from these queries.

First one is the dangerous lag that exists between what is packaged as education, via textbooks and knowledgebase of the teachers, and what is happening in the real world that they live and breathe in. So while the great benefits of computerisation are talked about the issue of burgeoning problem of electronic waste is missing from the educational communication, similarly while they know that infrastructure is about growth in the cities they, as yet, do not see a connect between these projects and the depleting city trees and shrinking open spaces. The list goes on.

These children are left to ask and answer on their own, as there is no systemic awareness in our schooling system going beyond textbooks and classroom period. It will, however, be unfair not to mention that the need for this connect, even though in a very academic way, is being felt and is beginning to be addressed.

Second one is a perceived disjoint between them and those who they believe are likely victims of environmental degradation. During the interaction, we screened a film on electronic waste that creates two parallel worlds: One of computer using kids and the other of poor street children who work for its recycling. A single computer has enough toxic material in it to kill 15 people and cheap recycling with bare hands and open acid burning were shown in the film.

The overwhelming message that these kids come-up with was "poor people are being forced to endure toxics exposure" and "the poor children will face ill-affects of e-waste". The fact that environment degradation will have cross-cutting impact is not clear to them; they feel there is something separating them and the poor children, perhaps there is but for how long? This sense of privilege or false security can only make things difficult for these kids. On the flip side as conversations are not centered directly on them they see issues of change as a phantom issue that is some one else's battle.

There is a need to address these issues through creative communication and perceptual verbalisation of the fast changing world, by engaging students as sensitive players who will go on to make personal and professional choices that look at issues of environment not as a distant and detached concern, but something real and personal.

It is time to introduce 'E' for environment in our educational communication.