Children require early environmental education<\/p>\n
Wuryadi, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Ahmad Bukhori's article in The Jakarta Post, on Jan. 22,
\nRaising Environmental Awareness in Children, provides the
\nfundamentals of environmental education in general.<\/p>\n
There are some important points in his piece: First
\nenvironmental awareness should be developed to enable children to
\ndevelop environmentally sensitive behavior.<\/p>\n
Second, basic environmental knowledge should be introduced
\nearly by giving them interesting experiences in their own local
\nenvironment.<\/p>\n
Third, the most accountable parties for developing
\nenvironmental awareness among children are parents, social
\norganizations and schools.<\/p>\n
Fourth, we, as children's primary role models, must be
\nconsistent in how we treat nature.<\/p>\n
I'd like to give some complementary concepts to Ahmad
\nBukhori's thoughts, not only to support his ideas but also to
\ndemand that the accountable parties develop a comprehensive
\nconcept for environmental education.<\/p>\n
Education for developing sensitive behavior toward the
\nenvironment is a very fundamental concept in environmental
\neducation, and a very important paradigm in effective education.<\/p>\n
Sensitive behavior is usually developed by a series of
\nmeaningful experiences, either real or programed. Such
\nsensitivity among the people of Simeuleu island toward the
\ntsunami was developed by real meaningful experiences, hence they
\nwere already familiar with the tsunami phenomena following an
\nearthquake.<\/p>\n
In normal education such experiences can be programmed in
\nformal or informal education, by using a deductive method of
\neducation. Small things or simple things in the form of
\nexperiences should be organized or programmed to have a
\nmeaningful learning target.<\/p>\n
Basic environmental knowledge already exists in the local
\nenvironment, but in the form of unorganized facts or phenomena.
\nEducators should utilize the environmental facts by organizing
\nthe facts to become interesting experiences for the children. But
\nhow to introduce these to children?<\/p>\n
The most responsible educators are parents, and they should
\nstart with simple and small things related to their children's
\nliving environment. Parents should show their children how to
\nproperly dispose of garbage so as not to block the rivers for
\ninstance.<\/p>\n
The other small things to do is to turn off lights or
\nelectrical appliances when they leave the room, and how to use
\nwater properly and efficiently. The children should know the very
\nsimple relationship between rain, deforestation and floods. All
\nthese are about nature and its relationship with human life, as
\nbasic environmental knowledge within their local environment.<\/p>\n
The pre-school age is very sensitive, and things perceived at
\nthis age will have a long-term impact on their life afterward.
\nEnvironmental awareness developed by direct positive experiences
\nwill have a significant contribution to their attitude, ethics
\nand moral responsibility toward the environment.<\/p>\n
Respect for the environment will develop ethics and a moral
\nfoundation for the nation to support Indonesia's sustainable
\ndevelopment in the future.<\/p>\n
The three centers of education -- parents, social
\norganizations\/non-governmental organizations, and schools --
\nshould have a functional relationship to develop a fair and
\neffective education. This functional relationship could be used
\nto develop environmental awareness in young children.<\/p>\n
Real education should start within the family, and the parents
\nwill shoulder most of the responsibility until the very early
\neducation. If the parents fail to develop the basis for
\nenvironmental education in their children, the schools and
\norganizations cannot do much. But most parents are not aware of
\nthis responsibility and almost all of them have the perception
\nthat education should start in the school.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately not all children have the opportunity to go to
\nschool, either because of economic considerations or intellectual
\nlimitations. Each school has its own system for selection, and
\nboth limitations have a significant role. So there will be no
\nschooling for the poor and intellectually challenged children in
\nour current educational system.<\/p>\n
Who will be responsible for this? No schooling is not
\nnecessarily no education. Parents and society will educate them
\nbut in a very random setting and they will be exposed to positive
\nand negative risks. If negative risks occur, then there will be a
\nnational disaster of greater proportions than the tsunami,
\nbecause the cycles of intellectual deficiency and poverty will
\ncause a moral destruction of the nation. No more national
\nidentity, no more national spirit, and no more Indonesia.<\/p>\n
We as adults, as parents, teachers or leaders in the society,
\nshould consistently treat the environment in a proper way. The
\nchildren will take us as their reference point in their decision
\nmaking. If we exploit the environment to a level beyond its
\ncapacity, the children will do the same.<\/p>\n
Adult education for parents, teachers, social leaders,
\ngovernment officials, has the same importance as early childhood
\neducation. There must be adult education before they educate
\ntheir children directly or indirectly.<\/p>\n
Prof. Dr. Wuryadi is a lecturer at the Yogyakarta State
\nUniversity, Yogyakarta. He can be reached at wuryadi-
\nuny@telkom.net<\/p>\n
wuryadi-uny@telkom.net<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/children-require-early-environmental-education-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }