{"id":343453,"date":"2024-09-17T12:04:53","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T10:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=343453"},"modified":"2024-09-17T12:04:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T10:04:55","slug":"la-times-its-almost-shameful-to-want-to-have-children-climate-anxiety-the-kid-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=343453","title":{"rendered":"LA Times: \u2018It\u2019s almost shameful to want to have children\u2019 \u2013 \u2018Climate Anxiety & the Kid Question\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Climate Depot<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Marc Morano<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/environment\/story\/2024-09-11\/climate-anxiety-and-the-kid-question<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By Jade S. Sasser<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpt: Jade S. Sasser is an associate professor in the Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies at UC Riverside. Her research explores the relationships between reproductive justice, women\u2019s health and climate change, and she\u2019s the host of the podcast \u201cClimate Anxiety and the Kid Question.\u201d The following excerpt is from her newest book, \u201cClimate Anxiety and the Kid Question: Deciding Whether to Have Children in an Uncertain Future,\u201d which was published earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These interviewees have more climate change knowledge than most people do. All of them are college-educated; most of them either grew up or have lived for some time in Southern California; and most have taken environmental studies classes, either as undergrads or in graduate school.

Their experiences as members of marginalized groups have shaped their experiences with climate emotions like anxiety, fear, and trauma \u2014 as well as hope and optimism. Paying closer attention to those emotions and mental health in communities of color, including how they shape reproductive plans, will become an increasingly important component of climate justice in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melanie, a 26-year-old Native American woman, was raised on the Navajo reservation and in Southern California. She idealizes having a big, happy family, but there are aspects of the world that give her pause, so she struggles with whether it\u2019s morally OK to have children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c I think I may not have children although I do want them,\u201d she notes. \u201cJust because, with all of the things we see going on in the world, it seems unfair to bring someone into all of this against their will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melanie\u2019s feelings about climate change include a general sense of powerlessness and lack of control over other people\u2019s actions, which directly translates into her fears about parenthood: \u201cWith climate change, we\u2019re the driving force of things breaking down, but then also, the planet\u2019s going to do what the planet\u2019s going to do. \u2026 So \u2026 it almost feels, like, kind of shameful to want to have children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jade S. Sasser is an associate professor in the Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies at UC Riverside. Her research explores the relationships between reproductive justice, women\u2019s health and climate change, and she\u2019s the host of the podcast \u201cClimate Anxiety and the Kid Question.\u201d The following excerpt is from her newest book, \u201cClimate Anxiety and the Kid Question: Deciding Whether to Have Children in an Uncertain Future,\u201d which was published earlier this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":343458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691823923,691818056,691830620,691830621],"class_list":{"0":"post-343453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-anxiety","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-department-of-gender-sexuality-studies","11":"tag-kid-question","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/021climate-anxiety-superJumbo.jpg?fit=1750%2C1166&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1rlz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":215379,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=215379","url_meta":{"origin":343453,"position":0},"title":"WEF: Teach Compulsory Climate Change Studies to Alleviate Youth Anxiety","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The UN is calling for climate education to become compulsory in schools from 2025 to better equip children to cope with global warming\u00a0in the future.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1044.png?fit=711%2C397&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1044.png?fit=711%2C397&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1044.png?fit=711%2C397&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-1044.png?fit=711%2C397&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":266242,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=266242","url_meta":{"origin":343453,"position":1},"title":"Psychology Today: Climate Activism will Set you Free from Anxiety","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"According to New York Licensed Psychologist Jennifer Keluskar, people suffering climate anxiety should set aside self doubt and wholeheartedly commit to environmental action.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-244.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-244.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-244.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-244.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":204236,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=204236","url_meta":{"origin":343453,"position":2},"title":"Vox: Stop telling kids that climate change will destroy their world","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Essay by Eric Worrall Vox contributor\u00a0Kelsey Piper\u00a0describing her realisation that climate anxiety is a far worse threat to the welfare of kids than climate change. Stop telling kids that climate change will destroy their worldSome \u201cclimate anxiety\u201d is the product of telling kids \u2014 falsely \u2014 that they have no\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-56.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-56.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-56.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-56.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":235294,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=235294","url_meta":{"origin":343453,"position":3},"title":"Climate Anxiety in Bristol","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A rational response to doom impending, or an irrational response to untrue\u00a0propaganda?","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/00b24slash7.webp?fit=1005%2C618&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/00b24slash7.webp?fit=1005%2C618&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/00b24slash7.webp?fit=1005%2C618&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/00b24slash7.webp?fit=1005%2C618&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":246632,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246632","url_meta":{"origin":343453,"position":4},"title":"59% of Young People \u201cExtremely Worried\u201d about Climate Change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/03\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Of course the kids don\u2019t just sit there feeling frightened. Brainwashing the kids with climate fear is likely also leading to self destructive behaviours, like drug abuse.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-107.png?fit=1200%2C763&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-107.png?fit=1200%2C763&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-107.png?fit=1200%2C763&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-107.png?fit=1200%2C763&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-107.png?fit=1200%2C763&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":253362,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253362","url_meta":{"origin":343453,"position":5},"title":"Environmental knowledge is inversely associated with climate change anxiety","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The British mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872\u20131970) is quoted as saying, \u201cThe degree of one\u2019s emotions varies inversely with one\u2019s knowledge of the facts, the less you know the hotter you get.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0head-in-the-clouds.webp?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0head-in-the-clouds.webp?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0head-in-the-clouds.webp?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0head-in-the-clouds.webp?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0head-in-the-clouds.webp?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=343453"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":343460,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343453\/revisions\/343460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/343458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=343453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=343453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=343453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}