The concept of addressing environmental issues through fear
is a route I am not necessarily comfortable with taking. I prefer presenting an
issue honestly and without bias (when possible), and then offering realistic
solutions. I will provide facts about an issue, but quite frankly scare tactics
in Environmental Education aren’t my style. After reading ‘Fear Won’t Do It” by
O’Neill and Nicholson-Cole, I felt validated with my approach.
I understand the strength in the emotion of fear; it can rip
people apart mentally, and paralyze physically depending on the degree of
emotion.
Is this emotion being overused or abused when offering
information about environmental issues? Research addressed in the O’Neill and
Nicolson-Cole paper mentioned the skepticism and apathy demonstrated through
the reactions from audiences receiving the messages from climate change
organizations. The doom and gloom messaging depicting images of icebergs
melting, famine and flooding doesn’t hit home with the receivers. Inundation
from the media ranging from print to Internet can saturate a market with so
many messages, that many lose their meaning or become filed under the “doom and
gloom-I can’t do anything to help” pile.
Is fear the best tactic or method to elicit the notion of
change or empowerment? I work with an audience made up of primarily fourth
graders. My field of work involves, but is not limited to waste diversion.
Scaring nine year olds into believing they have no future space for their
garbage in landfills is not a productive use of my time or their time. They
need positive messaging to inspire them. We can be realistic without instilling
fear. I want them to feel like they can make a difference, and their actions
matter, despite the mistakes that may have been made in the past. Children need
safety, guidance, support and leadership. Is scaring them really and truly
going to inspire change or understanding?
I hope that we as Environmental Educators can move beyond
the doom and gloom messaging, not only for kids but for adults as well. Is it
fair to assume that adults don’t need the same requirements as their younger
counterparts? No, they need to some degree: safety, guidance, support and
leadership…modify as required.
Fear for me is a negative. We can be honest, valid and
reliable without fear. Let’s message for the environment as such.
My question for you is: Is it possible some news or data or information is just plain frightening? No matter how we frame or present it? A flood, the prospect of a breakdown of food supply chains, etc? This is the crux of the issue - not necessarily the use of fear to convey certain messages, but what we do when the news or material is fear-inducing. And how some acknowledgement of that in our work can potentially be hugely productive, constructive and actually support people far more powerfully than if we only put on a happy face and focus on solutions? I think actually how we think about how we can relate with fear more constructively is important, perhaps, because we cannot simply will fear to not arise. It will, or it won't. Some people will feel it more than others. But how we engage with it, is really the question.
ReplyDeleteGood questions, & thinking.