Four year-12 pupils at School 21 in Stratford have joined Newham Voices on a short project to learn about journalism and the community. Ibrahim Alom, Abu Miah, Sazzard Hossain and Sneha Patel report on reaction to the climate crisis and the Cop26 conference.
Talking to students at School 21, it becomes apparent that there is a general lack of awareness about Cop26 and what it hoped to achieve.
However, many pupils seem to understand what climate change is and how it will affect future generations.
One student claimed that the reason they had a lack of understanding about the recent climate change conference was because of a lack of input in the school curriculum.
“A lot of subjects avoid the topic of climate change even when it can easily be incorporated into the lessons,” they said. Another commented: “Only subjects such as Politics and Geography briefly cover it but even then, it is not enough”.
Though there was a lack of understanding of the conference, there is general agreement that not enough is currently being done to solve this issue.
Many pupils raise concerns about how we are destroying the environment and other species that inhabit it.
One proposed that “we should all do our part. It could be small things like using paper bags instead of plastic bags or turning the tap off whilst brushing our teeth.” All those we interviewed believed that they were already doing this.
Some gave more complex solutions. One pupil said that there “needs to be a massive change. The reason this issue is so bad is because the government allows private corporations to throw waste into the waters, a reference to recent publicity over waste water and raw sewage being dumped into waterways by water companies which prompted government promises of action last month.
Despite the government’s action the pupil added: “The government most probably won’t do anything. Their whole involvement in Cop26 is nothing but a media stunt. They are just pleasing the people and distracting them from the harm they are causing to the environment.”
However, one student offers a more moderate and optimistic view. They said: “I agree that enough is not being done. The government is using this situation to distract attention from the harm and damage they are causing but something is better than nothing. So it is good that they are at least involved in Cop26.”
Overall, this research leads us to conclude that a lot more needs to be done. School 21 and other schools need to actively ensure that their students are aware of climate change.
Many pupils strongly believe that, sadly, Cop26 may turn out to be mostly a media stunt. Whether this is true and whether or not the promises made by the UK and other governments will be delivered only time will tell.
Responding to this report Louise Holyoak, Head of Geography and Co-Head of Humanities at School 21 said students learn about climate change in geography lessons from year 7-13 as well as in other subjects including science.
”In the future it would be great to see climate change featured in coaching (form time) so all students can learn about these issues,” she said.
No news is bad news
Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.
The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.
If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
Monthly direct debit
Annual direct debit
£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.
Enjoying Newham Voices? You can help support our not-for-profit newspaper and website from £5 per month.