So, how to teach our children about their civil rights, their fragile future, the climate crisis and equip them with the life skills they may need in the event of societal collapse without panicking them and taking away their innocent childhoods?
Holly Cullen-Davies
Environmental activist Holly Cullen-Davies shares with us her experience raising her children whilst being mindful of the current climate crisis. Read on to find out more about how she approaches this very tricky topic.
This is my family
My name is Holly. I’m 38 and the mother of a 9-year-old boy and 7-year old girl. I separated from their dad four years ago. Just before lockdown 2020 I met someone new and he has been living with us since January 2021. My children now have a stepmother, a stepfather and a half baby brother from their dad.
There are lots of elements of this setup that I could write about but what I would like to focus on in today’s article is the subject of raising children in the climate crisis. This will be on the minds of lots of parents, whatever the age of their children, and the journey for me has been an interesting one, particularly over the last two years during the Covid pandemic.
I have always cared passionately about the environment and have had the fear of global warming hanging over me since I was a child. I had a pretty happy upbringing. My parents didn’t put pressure on me. They were loving and nurturing and to be honest I didn’t really know what ‘stress’ was until I left home. But I did carry the weight of climate change on my shoulders. And it has simply got worse as our carbon emissions continue to rise, more roads and runways are built and the rainforests are felled.
Finding my family and raising my children to be aware of the climate crisis
I met my new partner two years ago through environmental activism. Both musicians, we found a way to to use our skills and careers to sing and fight for change. This felt good. It felt natural also to incorporate the children into some of what we did. We took them on protests, taught them to climb trees, let them help in the package free store and sang fun songs.
But it quickly became apparent to me that this was a delicate subject which would have to be carefully considered and constantly monitored.
For starters their dad wasn’t at all happy about us involving them in our activism. It became a new point of contention that was being passed indirectly between us via the children. And quite aside from this I wanted to protect my children from some of the frightening truths the scientists are telling us. Kids their age are not ready to take this on yet in my opinion.
So, how to teach our children about their civil rights, their fragile future and equip them with the life skills they may need in the event of societal collapse without panicking them and taking away their innocent childhoods?
What steps have I taken to raise my children in the climate crisis?
I don’t have all the answers. But this is where I’ve got to: I’m still going out of my way to give them the childhood I would have liked them to have if the climate crisis didn’t exist. We sing, dance, go swimming, camping and rollerskating, travel via train to exciting places and they attend a regular local primary school.
I do NOT tell them about my fears of societal collapse, or even extinction (of humans). But simply focus on the positive things we can do to make things better. Including questioning some of the laws that threaten our future and our human rights.
I try as much as possible without preaching about it to live the life that I feel we all need to move towards. I sold the car and bought an electric tricycle – probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever bought! The kids love it and I highly recommend it. We no longer fly. My partner spends considerable amounts of his time up trees to stop them being felled. I address the crisis in all parts of my work and refuse (as I often did before) to avoid speaking about it as if it were a taboo subject.
We still eat some animal products but in small quantities and I’ve really stopped focusing on growth (monetarily or career wise). I’m trying simply to live more in the moment. This is not easy for me.
On top of this I don’t tell my children that I or their dad have the right answers. They are desperate to know who is telling the truth which is sad but I simply tell them they will have to decide for themselves in their own time. I don’t want them to feel they have to take sides.
Dress rehearsals and awareness for the future
I wish I could be raising my children without thinking about the climate crisis. But if there is one good thing that has come out of the covid pandemic it has been the proof to me that people can come together, they can look after each other and they can slow down and re-evaluate their lives. I can only hope that this has been a dress rehearsal for what is to come in the future. I’m not going to tell my children what to believe. But I do feel proud that whatever happens they will know I did do something.
I tried. And this is all any of us can do.
As well as being an environmental activist and mother Holly runs singing classes called Thula Mama for babies and toddlers where parents learn songs from around the world in easy to grasp harmonies. It is open to all and has frequently been described as “the best thing about parental leave!”
Check out Thula Mama London on Happity!
Do you want to share your story and be part of our #This Is Family blog series? We’d love to hear from you. We want to hear your story, your challenges and your triumphs so other parents in similar situations can learn, share and realise that they are not alone. Read more about #This Is Family and find out how you can get involved too.
0 Comments