Teaching Kids Scarcity in an Age of Abundance

Students head back to classrooms this month. Many arrive already convinced their future is hopeless. In a Lancet Planetary Health study of 10,000 young people across ten countries, 75% said the future is frightening and 56% said they believe humanity is doomed. A 2025 PNAS study found one in five Americans aged 16 to 24 is afraid to have children because of the climate. That gloom has deepened over time. In Yale's long-running survey, the share of Americans 18 to 34 who say global warming is already harming this country rose from 40% in 2012 to 64% in 2022. What's causing such a dramatic shift? It could be what's missing in the classroom. Teenagers name teachers as their leading source on climate and energy. Seventy-one percent say they learned "a lot" or "some" from a teacher, ahead of pa