As a child some of my favuorite books were those of Dr. Seuss’. I hadn’t realized until expressed by a professor in Economic Geography about a year ago that social undertones in children’s can effect the norm by the time we reach adulthood.

His example was Dr. Susses with the book titled “The Lorax”. The book portrays what happens when you come to a chunk of land and destroy the natural environment. The air and water become dirty and the animals that used to live there leave. Upon cutting down the last tree he realizes what he had done. At which point he tells his son to plant it and start a new forest so that the animals come back. The moral of the story is to take care of the environment or else you will destroy it. Everything that was once beautiful about it will leave for greener pastures so to speak.

I hadn’t thought much about this until just the other day. I was watching one of my favourite shows, クレヨンしんちゃん (Crayon Shin-chan). This show is usually watched by Elementary school students and such, though when it plays in foreign countries it is generally marketed more towards adults. This episode had a segment on living Ecologically.

The segment starts with the family eating dinner watching TV. The program they are watching has a segment on Global Warming which Shin-chan naturally asks about. He is given an answer about warming temperatures and the like. Shin-chan’s immediate vision is the water stops in front of his house so he has his own personal beach which two bikini-clad girls frolicking in the water before him.

Upon further explanation he has a new vision of it. This time it is everybody sitting on top of their roofs like after a flood. Shin-chan is bored so he asks about his Toys. His mom replies “they’re in the water”. Bicycle? In the water. Television? In the water.

It is with the realization that global warming would lead not to his own personal beach that he starts to care. He takes actions such as turning off the AC, television, extra lights. They eat what they have in the refrigerator instead of going to the store to get more meat.

What struck me about this episode and is ultimately the reason for this post is human nature. It is the same as it is in Japan as it is in Africa and Europe. If you discuss world problems, such as environmental problems, and give solutions to children in terms they can relate to, they will understand. When they become adults the problem and solutions will be obvious to them.

Ultimately the solution to most of the world’s problems is education. Be it global warming, genocide, poverty, sexually transmitted diseases, population, you name it – education will fix it. Educate the populous on the problems and solutions and there will be improvement. Be willing to educate and be educated.