Do you think 4 year olds should be told their parents are "stealing their future" because of climate change?

Climate change activists are now targeting the very young and impressionable with books about how Western society is responsible for climate change. What do you think of this approach?

For example, Jonathon Porritt's book "Captain Eco and the Fate of the Planet", recommended by Barnes & Noble for ages 4 - 8, tells the young children that [quote]


""...your parents and grandparents have made a mess of looking after the earth. They may deny it, but they're little more than thieves. And they're stealing your future from under your nose""

Nice, ey? After being told that their parents are "thieves" the toddler's book takes them on a virtual tour around the earth, showing them all the environmental damage and climate change caused by "rich, self-centered Westerners" and - as Captain Eco points out to them "that's YOU": [quote]

""Not you personally, but the whole human race. There are so many of you, it's getting harder and harder to meet everyone's needs--and harder for other creatures to find breathing space....""

The answer, according to Captain Eco is to "keep the pressure on" by writing to the Government to complain about climate change caused by "rich, self-centered Westerners" and the book even gives advice and addresses for this.
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Do you think this is the kind of thing a four year old should be hearing?
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http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Captain-ECO-and-the-Fate-of-the-Earth/Jonathon-Porritt/e/9781879431126

Anonymous2010-02-08T17:08:41Z

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I'll happily slap the daylights out of anyone I hear saying that.

New Deal Democrat2010-02-08T13:08:19Z

Brainwashing kids into thinking that their parents are monsters is a hallmark of only the most tyrannical regimes. What's especially sinister about this is that if you destroy the relatively more advanced societies - the "rich, self-centered Westerners" - the poorest people in the world, who the eco-fascists feign sympathy for, will be the first to go.

Didier Drogba2010-02-08T10:23:29Z

I don't think it's right to brainwash children.

On the other hand, they're trying to brainwash children into believing something for which the evidence proving or disproving it will be right in front of their eyes, and most of them will remember, and resent, being lied to. This could have significant repurcussions. Say 20 years from now there's a genuine environmental crisis - the 20-somethings of 2030 might be inclined to dismiss the notion out of hand. I call this the environmental movement's "boy who cried wolf" problem. After Teflon birds, Bt corn pollen butterflies, DDT, global warming, etc... the environmental activists don't have a lot of credibility.

hilton_b_20002010-02-08T15:41:52Z

Yes along with Santa,the Tooth Fairy,and a egg laying Easter Bunny just as much truth to that as
what you propose!!!

Nin10dude2010-02-09T16:36:03Z

I don't think we should be using the words "thieves" but the truth is inevitable. Instead, we should be saying that "everyone is doing something wrong, including you."

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