Linda, a mother from Arvada, Colorado, called our Advice Line to relate a disturbing story. Her kindergarten son, who was learning to spell, had come home from school that afternoon, and upon spotting a globe in their study, pointed to it and excitedly said, “Look, it’s M-o-m!”

Linda wasn’t sure what her kindergartner meant. After all, she was his mom. When Linda called the teacher to see whether she could shed any light on the situation, she learned that the principal had visited each classroom that day to read a story about “Mother Earth.”

It is a fairly common practice of teachers around the country to innocently refer to the earth as “Mother Earth”, thereby giving a personality to the environment. However, what they may not be aware of is that this is also a theological issue rooted in earth-based paganism.

Parents like Linda need to be aware of the three different approaches to teaching about the environment: scientific, political, and spiritual. By understanding these three aspects, parents can help teachers more appropriately teach about the subject, and help their children be more discerning.

The scientific side of environmentalism sticks to the science of studying the environment. It teaches students to explore nature, enjoy its beauty, and measure how nature grows. The scientific side researches how nature works and how man interacts with it, while also recognizing that there is room for debate on various topics regarding environmentalism.

The political side of environmentalism comes out when a teacher (or the material a teacher uses) is one-sided on disputed subjects, or when the lessons move away from a rational look at the evidence. Students are pushed emotionally to react to doom-and-gloom scenarios, in which mankind is looked upon as little more than a pestilence to the earth.

Sometimes, in the name of applying the lesson, students are asked to write government officials or corporations to push a particular political agenda that tilts to the left. In one school district, a high school sponsored an evening lecture for parents entitled, “The Fate
of the Rain Forests.” That evening ended with a fund-raising pitch for the World Wildlife Fund. That’s not education. That’s activism.

This is not to say that the environmental movement has not had positive effects on our society. Air pollution has been reduced dramatically in many of our large cities, and our water is cleaner. Nonetheless, we need to be careful that we are not passing off propaganda as serious curriculum.

The spiritual side to environmentalism teaches that we are one with nature in a spiritual sense. This is an Eastern religious concept, pure and simple. The Gaia theory – where earth is a mother goddess - is a New Age idea that may spring up occasionally in science curricula. The idea is that since the earth is a spiritual entity, all life on the planet is a part of that entity, like cells in a global brain. I once came across an outdoor activity in which children were taught that trees had spirits we could talk to. Each student was handed an activity worksheet entitled, “We Are One with Nature.”

WHAT TO DO
Parents must be vigilant regarding the environmental education their children are receiving. Here are some things you can watch for:
1. Read any textbooks or supplemental readings that your children bring home.
2. If something catches your eye, make an appointment with the teacher to discuss your concerns. When talking with the teacher (in a non-threatening way), ask her to help you to understand what she wants the kids to learn. Affirm her in what she is trying to do in general, but emphasize that you are interested in seeing a balanced approach to disputed issues such as global warming. Perhaps you should take along an example of such a fair-minded approach.
3. Keep an eye out if your children are encouraged to become politically active, by contacting political or corporate leaders. If you find that your children are being used in this way on topics you don’t feel comfortable about, request that environmental
instruction stick to scientific education. State that there should be a balance of views, rooted in science, not in politics or mystical theories about the universe. Help the teacher see that the political angle would be more appropriate in a social studies class and that
Eastern mysticism would be more appropriate in a course on comparative religions.

Our children should appreciate and enjoy nature, not see it as a source of anxiety and alarm. A great resource to help you talk to your children about the environment is Facts, Not Fear: A Parent’s Guide to Teaching Children About the Environment. This helpful, 300-page paperback book will give you insight into the unscientific and fear-provoking teaching that could be affecting your children. It is available at local bookstores and at www.amazon.com.