How Can Teachers Support Students Experiencing Climate Anxiety?
I struggled with climate anxiety for a big part of my youth, so this is a topic that hits close to home for me. I remember confusion (why don’t more people seem concerned about this?) mixed with anger and despair (why aren’t we doing more about it?). The emotions that might surface as you wake up to the realization of our climate crisis are many, and they’re real!
So if you work with young people — whether as a teacher, parent, or community leader — you’ve probably felt it: the mix of hope, fear, and uncertainty that climate change brings. It’s not just a scientific topic anymore; it’s an emotional one. More and more, I hear from educators and mentors who notice the same thing: students grappling with eco-anxiety, asking tough questions, or expressing deep concern about the future.
Professor Angus, a geography teacher in the UK, is one of those people. Earlier this year, he reached out and asked if we could please have a chat, since he kept getting questions from his students about climate change — and especially how to navigate environmental anxiety. I obviously said yes.
I also asked if it was okay that we recorded the conversation so that it could benefit more people, and if you want to listen to the conversation in full, you can tune in here:
How do we talk about climate change with kids and young adults without leaving them in a place of hopelessness and despair?
That’s the question everyone working with youth needs to be asking themselves today! Below are some tools and mindset shifts I often share in my workshops and conversations with teachers, parents, and youth leaders. These are small but powerful ways to help young people build emotional resilience, hope, and agency in a time of global change.
Below, you can also download a free PDF with tips and classroom discussion points.
1. Start by Validating Their Feelings
Before we can move toward solutions, we have to make space for the feelings that arise. When young people share that they’re scared, angry, or hopeless, the best thing we can do is listen and let them know those feelings are valid.
When adults rush to reassure or distract, kids often feel even more alone in their worry. But when we name the emotion and let them know “It’s normal to feel this way”, we give them permission to process and move through it. Avoid spiritual bypassing and know that you can meet them in their feelings:
Yes — it’s okay for you to be worried too!
2. Reframe the Story: From Burden to Opportunity
Too often, climate change is framed as a responsibility — something heavy and daunting to fix. While accountability matters, we also need to show that this moment is an invitation to rethink our systems and come up with even better ways.
What if young people saw climate action not as a weight on their shoulders, but as a chance to help shape a better, more sustainable world? When we reframe climate challenges as opportunities for creativity, innovation, and community, we open the door to hope and positive change.
3. Help Them Discover Their “Climate Superpowers”
What are you passionate about? What would you consider your natural skills and talents? How do you want to matter? These are all great questions to circulate with young people to help them figure out their “climate superpowers”.
Whether it’s storytelling, art, science, engineering, or community organizing, there are infinite ways to be part of the solution. Help kids connect what they already love to the larger story of positive change. When they realize that “every job can be a climate job*,” they begin to see themselves as capable agents of impact — not passive witnesses to our crisis.
I highly recommend working with Dr. Elizabeth Ayana Johnson’s Action Venn Diagram for this exercise:
Climate Action Venn Diagram by Dr. Elizabeth Ayana Johnson
*I recommend listening to episode 96 on Hey Change Podcast, where I interview Charlie Sellars, the Director of Sustainability at Microsoft, and he talks passionately about how every job can be a climate job.
4. Teach Emotional Resilience and Inner Leadership
We can’t promise our kids a predictable world, but we can help them develop the inner tools to navigate uncertainty with courage and creativity.
That means teaching emotional intelligence right alongside science: how to manage anxiety, turn frustration into action, and stay grounded in times of change. In an ever-changing world, we must teach inner development and personal leadership skills, and nurture the curiosity and self-confidence that can guide students through changing times.
5. Practice Optimism — Together
Optimism isn’t about pretending everything is fine. It’s about choosing to keep showing up with curiosity and belief in what’s possible. That’s why I always remind people (from all walks of life) that optimism is a practice — and one we can get better at the more we show up for it!
Model this practice. Explore stories of innovation. Celebrate local solutions and small wins. Create moments of joy and connection around nature and community. Optimism grows when it’s practiced collectively — it’s contagious.
When discussing optimism as a practice for empowered climate leadership, it can be worth talking about the Climate Optimist Leadership Venn Diagram, shown below.
Climate Optimist Leadership Venn Diagram, showcasing how our practices nurtures optimism, fuels feel-good hormones, and creates pathways for change.
Is it OK to talk about climate change and not have all the answers?
If there’s one thing I want you to take away, it’s this: our students don’t need us to have all the answers. They need us to show up with honesty, empathy, and the belief that together we can co-create a better future.
If this post and episode resonated with you, I’d love for you to share it with a fellow teacher, a parent, or anyone who’s working with young people right now. The more of us who lean into these conversations, the more support we can offer our next generation as they navigate the challenges of our time.
If you’re a teacher, I’d love to hear from you. How are your students experiencing climate anxiety, and what’s working for you in the classroom to help them navigate it? Share your thoughts or questions with me here.
And again, if you’re looking for a guide on how to navigate these conversations in the classroom, in community meetups, or at home with your children, you can download the free Youth Guide below — it comes with conversation starters and good topics to explore deeper together!
