Plant the Power of Knowledge in the Fertile Soil of Youth
- Onalenna Tlholakae
Onalenna Tlholakae is the winner of the 2024 Climate Change and Me essay competition.
In this essay she reflects on the importance of the youth’s voice in the climate change debate.
I have been lucky enough to experience different living circumstances on the spectrum of life.
I know what it is like to float in comfortability with the wealthy. I know how it feels to be torn apart by the hustle of trying to stay afloat. One such adventure to visit my grandmother in rural Madinyane proves this. Let me break this trip down. Notwithstanding that I intend to talk about climate change, I will break this trip down in relation to global warming.
My journey started with my leaving home (Pretoria) to the sight of my brother fixing himself a sandwich. Might not be much, right? I know. Still, this instance is important because he did this with the refrigerator door wide open. Wild, I tell you! Did you know that fridges contain the F-gas Hydrofluorocarbon that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions? According to Theodoridi, refrigerant emissions make up a third of annual HFC emissions in the United States. Therefore, closing the fridge door is not just about keeping our food and drinks cool. We are essentially saving the world! That said, let us move on. Driving through the city exposed me to factories releasing clouds of smoke due to production. Fellow citizens fanning themselves due to intensifying heat littered without a care. What was more, decomposing garbage graced our towns and neighbourhoods. My heart shattered for our world. However, sky-scraping concrete jungles morphed into sandier walkways that beheld cracked RDPs and leaning shacks faster than I could be consoled. And like fuel to fire, I would be further saddened at the sight of raging fires along the road. The car driving in front of me would be smoking from the exhaust. While just beyond my windscreen, I would catch visual of self-made dumping-sites that swelled with each visit. People would queue with buckets, awaiting a truck to deliver clean water. By the time I pulled into grandma’s barely yielding farm, I would be sullen. But God forbid that stopped me from being productive in a black African home! Nono and Bessie (grandma’s cows) needed to be milked! “All that methane!” I would think. Nonetheless, I geared up.
Scenes like these befuddled me in a stench-laden kraal of cattle. For why did people do this? I know the effects all these have on Earth. I would not dream to participate. Why do people? It would then occur to me. People may not be as aware of climate change as others are. Thus, I did the research. A research survey conducted by Afrobarometer reveals that fewer than 43% of South Africans say that they have heard about climate change; whilst 51% say they do not know what it is (2023). Here lies the problem. Climate change is an increasingly imminent issue that hinges all our lives in the balance. Yet, majority of South Africans know nothing about it.
Which brings me to my argument.
Climate change should be taught in schools as early as primary, not just as a concept in Social Studies but a standalone subject. I was in sixth grade when I first heard about climate change. Never again was it spoken about to me until this year’s GTS Climate Change and Me course. Evidently, I fell into the 43% who only heard about climate change. Although, it is not enough to just hear about it. Brad Plumer of the New York Times says we may barely have a habitable home to live in by the early 2030s. Consequently, incorporating climate change into our curriculum is mandatory, much like Mathematics is, or English. It can be argued that children may not take to it as a subject. Why try? I ask how many individuals did not take to Mathematics or English and are doing just fine today? Yet these are crucial in our education system. Climate Change is important too. Now especially as the lack of knowledge about it leaves us susceptible to detriment. Prioritizing it in all schools will be beneficial.
Teaching climate change sets us up for potential transformation in the way we leave our carbon footprint. Envision schools (private and public) enlightening the youth about how we live in states of troubling, prolonged weather conditions, this being due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and land clearing. An article recently posted by the Australian Government makes clear that these activities increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that trap heat. Igamba from Greenpeace substantiates this stating that warming in the interior of Southern Africa occurs at twice the global average rate. Knowing this, South Africans may start to understand why they experience heat waves. Grandma may understand why her crop yields are decreasing and why she is down to just Nono and Bessie when she used to have more cows. People will understand that water resources are adversely impacted and that is why they queue for water trucks. Educating people on ways to avoid the abovementioned issues may move them to make choices that cut down their greenhouse gas emissions.
Sadly, South Africans do not even have the choice. They do not know. How can we expect to reduce GHG emissions when people are deprived the knowledge of what is happening? Ignorance stands against us in making positive changes. Therefore, let all schools plant seeds about climate change in the minds of youth. Mathematicians have made headway in their sector. Imagine what impact could be brought to the fields of climate change should more souls connect to it. If only we could be taught about it, just like Mathematics.