The Transforming Power of Environmental Education
In March, I talked about the feelings, views, and beliefs of the Hilo High School Paradise Pursuits team. Paradise Pursuits is a quiz show, sponsored by the Hawai`i Audubon Society, where high school students answer questions about all facets of Hawai`i’s environment. To our great delight, on April 15, we won the statewide competition. After the competition, and months of practice, our ideas and knowledge of Hawai`i have drastically changed.
Before, all of us in the team – Jessica Hara, Miki Yoshida, Rachel Klein, and myself — had cared about nature and knew somewhat that Hawai`i’s environment was going through some problems. But now we actually know what kind of problems we are going through, and their causes. The education and knowledge we gained while studying for Paradise Pursuits is very important and should be taught extensively in all Hawaiian schools. If we are going to do anything about the environment, we have to make sure that future politicians will know and be aware of Hawai`i’s environment so they can have the desire and ability to protect it. And, as future voters, we must be aware of and care about environmental issues so that when we enter the ballot booth, we will consider the ideas politicians have about the environment.
In school, we have practically nothing that addresses Hawai`i’s environment. The biology that we study is global and too broad to go into detail about Hawai`i. As Jessica Hara noted, Paradise Pursuits “is one of the only chances for us to really learn about Hawai`i’s land.”
All high school students in the state are required to take a course on Hawai`i’s history, but this mainly covers human history: the Kamehamehas, annexation, etc. The education I received by being on the Paradise Pursuits team has made me think that students should have a course that discusses Hawai`i’s environment as well. For example, in Paradise Pursuits, we might be asked a question like, “What is the use of fencing in our national parks?” The correct answer is that fencing keeps out ungulates and some other alien plants and animals. Giving high-schoolers this kind of knowledge would discourage them from mistreating the land in the future.
Even if students didn’t pick up on the problems in Hawai`i, they would still realize that the land we are living on is very intricate and important. There is such little emphasis on the environment nowadays. My classmates are very concerned about superficial things like money and looks, brought on by our society and the media. If society could do anything to reverse its message to young people, emphasizing different values among students, that would be wonderful. One of the most important values that should be taught is the appreciation of nature.
Perhaps if more youth were taught to appreciate nature, our future government and population would be less concerned with our state’s money woes, urging development so strongly, and be more aware of the environmental consequences. At the very least, it would stress another dimension to the decisions to be made here in Hawai`i.
— Emma Yuen
Volume 10, Number 12 June 2000
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