What would you do if your 4th grader wrote a doom and gloom report on Global Warming?

Question

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=113600


the last 14 years. We continue to see record carbon dixoide
levels in the atmosphere year after year. Just notice the strange
weather around us this winter and spring and even summer-like
days in March.

The United States is the leading contributor to the global-
warming crisis, producing one-third of the total greenhouse
gases in the world, more than South America, Africa, Asia and
Australia combined.

Please think about what people are doing and what could
happen if they do not stop.>

** WE HAVE ONLY BEEN KEEPING RECORDS FOR A COUPLE HUNDRED YEARS
**They are learning that AMERICA is leading in pollution and didn't say ANYTHING about China.
**The sun's temp changes and it is hotter now...did they mention that?
THESE KIDS ARE BEING BRAIN-WASHED!
Yes,we should all try not to pollute but liberals are taking this too far with 4th graders.

Answer 1

And THAT is why my son is in private school!!! WE DIDN'T CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING....THE SUN DID!!!

I've said it time and time AGAIN.....LET THESE KIDS BE KIDS!!!!

Children don't have political lines, they don't have political opinions, and they certainly DON'T need to be brainwashed by their parents and schools!

Please, Please let children be children...let them run, jump in mud puddles....for God's sake....don't force them to grow up too fast....It's only fun when you're a child....BEFORE responsibility!!!

Answer 2

So all the pollution pumped into the atmosphere has ZERO effect on the environment and climate?

It is pathetic how global warming has become a political issue. 10 years ago if teachers were telling their students about humans causing warming of the earth due to pollution - PEOPLE WOULDN'T THINK TWICE, but since Al Gore made a movie about it now it's all the Reps/Cons on the defensive. Why do people just follow party lines and disagree with the other side for the sake of politics? What do the 2 sides agree on? Anything?


WHY IS IT A PROBLEM TO INFORM A 4TH GRADER ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING? ALL LEADING SCIENTISTS HAVE AGREED THAT HUMANS ARE RESPONSIBLE.

These are the same scientists we go trust in every other context, but suddenly there all corrupt when it comes to humans effects on increasing global temperatures.

Why can't we just err on the side of caution? Why is it such a big deal? It doesn't take genius to realize that the earth can only benefit from reducing the amount of pollutants we release into the air. We can only benefit from researching alternative energy sources.

WHY DO THE RIGHT/REP/CONS FIGHT THE ISSUE LIKE IT'S LIFE OR DEATH?

I mean, this question asker claims that 4th graders are being brain washed because they are learning facts about the earth increasing temperatures and the role humans have played in creating the atmosphere that we have today.

ARE WE REALLY THAT DIVIDED TODAY THAT SCIENTIFIC FACTS ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTIBLE AND MUST BE DEAMED PROPAGANDA?

Answer 3

They are not being brain washed.

And yes, The US DOES indeed contribute much more to pollution than China. But using a phrase such as "US generates more than X, Y, and Z" draws more attention.

The problem you don't seem to understand is that there ARE things that have happened, been caused by, purely human reasons. Sure the sun may be a little hotter, and our "PURE" records, those with only scientific origion rather than historical records (which can be just as reliable), are not as extensive as we'd like.

BUT, the trends you see when you look through the scientific data, combined with a logical examination of historical data, which very many times is substantiated by alternate sources, shows a very drastic change in TODAY'S climate, compared to many many years more than you think.

And even if you were to exclude any blame on us for the changing climate, that would leave many changes completely unanswered. Such as the increasing degeneration WELL BEYOND natural causes, of the ozone layer.

Stop blaming liberals. They're not always wrong. Just because you don't agree doesn't mean you're right.

PS- The US IS at the top of the list of pollution causing actions. But we're getting better. AND China is catching up, but they have quite a bit to go.

Answer 4

I have been discussing global warming with my 16 yr old. He tends to think that global warming will certainly destroy a part of the world, but I tell him to have hope. Global warming is a fact, not a theory...it is warming up....there may be things Man can do to alleviate the situation...The teacher is doing his job if the child learns of this phenomenon in school..unless your child goes to a private school, where they teach such things as Creationism and force politics into the mix without proof...in public education, the curriculum should be the current scientific views by the respected scientific majority.

If a person chooses not to respect the scientific community and chooses junk science instead, what is their proof that they are correct other than their gut feeling or dogma from some non-scientific source.

Global warming is not politics...

Answer 5

Funny, when I was in 4th (or maybe 5th) grade, we we're writing papers on global cooling.

I wouldn't worry. After my brain washing of the 70s, I'm all about consuming oil, having nuke-plants everywhere power's needed & farting out methane. So, he's still got a chance of being pro-man some day.

Answer 6

I would be THRILLED that my child had started to develop a social conscience. When I was in 4th grade, I think my biggest concern was if I had enough clothes for all my Barbies.

Your "concern" is misplaced and misguided. As a parent, our job is to make sure our kids can grow up being informed, educated, and able to understand that the world is a bigger place than our own backyards. Our kids are not being "brainwashed". If you have a problem with a particular part of a given curriculum, take it up with the school board, but don't advocate censorship. These days, ignorance is NOT bliss. And if what you have printed here is your 4th grader's essay, there is NOTHING "gloom and doom" about it, far from it. I commend your child for having more common sense than his parents seem to have. The issue of global warming is NOT a partisan issue, it is a HUMAN issue. Being "liberal" has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Answer 7

So, according to you, there IS no such thing as "Global Warming"?

Oh thank GAWD! I havent seen "An Inconvenient Truth", but I had been hearing and reading some pretty alarming things:

So then whats on this link isnt true?
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10856

Or this one?
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2003/1023esuice.html

Wow thats a HUGE relief to know all those glaciers melting and raising the ocean level, (which of course, would wipe out both US coasts, Florida the Gulf of Mexico would extend from EL Paso to Savanahh GA.) are just figments of some fevered Liberal tree hugger's imagination.

So I can just delete these links then?
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-11-12-7-wonders-polar-ice-caps_x.htm
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

Answer 8

if your 4th grader wrote a doom and gloom report on Global Warming?

Pull him out and send him to a better school.

Answer 9

Hmmmm....a Republican against taking off
the horse eye blinders off of our kids....
Big Surprise!

I think its GREAT that at such a young age
they are aware of things going on in our world
other than who's the McDonalds toy of the month.

Answer 10

If your kid isn't old enough or mature enought to be exposed to the truth, that is your problem, but don't assume that other kids as are immature or unnsophisticated as yours.

Actually, I am thinking that your child is the one who is mature and becoming intellectually sophisticated and this is what is really bothering you.

Kids grow up. If youd didn't want to deal with that you shouldn't have had kids.

It sounds like you are the one who wants to brainwash the kids...why would they talk about China? There isn't anything that they can do about what goes on in China, but you want them BRAIN-WASHED into thinking that China is some sort of boogey-man.

I bet he/she knows curse words you've never even thought of too. Oh well.

BTW...the sun's slight flucuations in temperature doesn't affect temperatures or weather patterns on earth. That's like saying that the mountains should be hotter because they are closer to the sun. The two don't have anything to do with one another.

Yes, it appears that your 9 or 10 year old is now your intellectual superior. Jeez...that didn't take very long.

Answer 11

The thing is, WHY are they being brain-washed in this fashion?

Let's play devil's advocate (briefly, it's painful) and say that the things in that report are 100% accurate. How in the world is making our children hate our nation helping them in ANY way? It isn't.

We currently have the most miserable, suicidal, medicated bunch of teens in the world. AND THEY ARE THE WEALTHIEST IN THE WORLD!

It's part of a greater agenda. And I'm not sure these people even know what they are buying into. Liberals want us miserable. So we'll reject our traditions. Reject our heritage. Reject our faith. I'll leave you to speculate on why they want that.

ADDED: I think I forgot to answer the question. LOL My 4th grader? He didn't bring home anything like that. It's one of the reasons I brought him back to Tennessee to rear him. But you ought to hear him read! And spell! Math is a bit troublesome.