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Breaking the Silence: Kids’ Media Can Step Up On Climate Change
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages
A review of children’s TV shows and popular family movies finds only a handful of references to climate—across hundreds of hours of content.
Breaking the Silence reviews mainstream educational and nature-themed TV shows and popular family movies for inclusion of climate change content.
Key Findings
There is demand. Nearly 70% of parents believed children’s media should include age- appropriate information about climate. 74% agreed that children’s media should include climate solutions.
- Currently, children’s media is largely silent on climate change.
Only 9 episodes of 664 episodes reviewed (1.4% of total episodes) contained climate change content.
Of 20 of the most popular family films of 2021, none (0) of the plots contained themes or content related to climate change.
The handful of references that do exist–- in Octonauts Above and Beyond, Molly of Denali, Arthur, and Nick News--used recommended, age-appropriate techniques for introducing climate causes, impacts, and solutions.
Children’s media has a massive untapped opportunity to meet parent demand, help children navigate the world, and build a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable tomorrow.
