This public health report details the results of research about how climate change is impacting the mental health of young people in Oregon.
The study includes many direct excerpts from interviews with teens and young adults in Oregon, information from mental health professionals, spotlights for hope and change, and ideas for the future.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This report is thorough but easy to read and comprehend.
The Executive Summary does a great job of introducing the connections between mental health and climate change.
Students will benefit from the non-fiction text features included in the resource, which include bulleted lists, images, headings, subheadings, and breakout texts.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be comfortable reading and talking about climate change and mental health.
Youth suicide rates are discussed in the paper, so be prepared to support students on this topic.
Differentiation
Connections can be made in social studies classes that are discussing how communities are impacted by climate change or in science classes exploring the secondary impacts of climate change on human health.
This resource would best be utilized by reading and/or discussing it in groups. This could be done in a myriad of ways, depending on your classroom culture and students' willingness to discuss their own feelings about climate change and mental health.
Consider having students respond to some of the ideas presented by young people in Oregon, sharing their similar or different points of view.
Consider using the Spotlights (page 23) and Future Directions and Partnerships (page 28) sections to encourage students to take action. There are many interesting and worthwhile ideas listed in these sections.
This report can be utilized as a supportive guide for other teachers as well.
Scientist Notes
This resource from the Oregon Health Authority discusses the effects of climate change on mental health. An outline is provided for how the study was performed and there is a discussion about the feelings of Oregon's youth about climate change. This resource would be a great addition to a classroom discussion about how climate change not only affects the planet but how the mental health of everyone on the planet can be affected by the changing Earth.
Standards
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.7.9-12 Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.5 Analyze how the text structures information or ideas into categories or hierarchies, demonstrating understanding of the information or ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.10 By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
National Health Education Standards
Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
1.12.3 Analyze how environment and personal health are interrelated.
Standard 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.
2.12.2 Analyze how the culture supports and challenges health beliefs, practices, and behaviors.