Worth sharing students’ responses in our first Environmental Policy Foundation’s class. Students were given the prompt to identify a policy, rule, tradition, or custom they either love or dislike in society. The comments left me feeling hopeful about the next generation.
In summary:
1. Five students support the carry in/carry out or leave-no-trace policy another wants to promote composting.
2. Several mentioned the high cost of tuition as a problem.
3. Two mentioned endorsing Jessica’s Law- making sure your car is free from ice and snow that can impair vision.
4. Another likes animal crossing signs.
5. A student from Vermont singled out ACT 250 which is designed to prevent sprawl. This is a land use and development law. (I particularly liked hearing this mentioned as this is something I learned about in my environmental studies class as an undergraduate at Dartmouth in 1977. The lawyer who was instrumental in helping pass this act was one of the co-instructors. https://nrb.vermont.gov/act250-program/history.)
6. Students don’t like the plastics industry- disposable one time use straws and silverware.
7. Very specifically, a student resents that there are times when Yosemite doesn’t restrict the number of visitors in the Park.
8. Humorously, a student is an advocate of the 5 second rule for food that has fallen on the ground.
Also, you have to love that when asked to identify a particular skill, one students wrote, “imagination.”
These comments are why I continue to teach in spite of being retired; these young people maintain my faith in humanity!