Education minister Carol Steere launches climate change posters at The Grammar School and talks to pupils about global warming. With her is (left to right) Alun Williams, Christian Kerzel, Jenny Falla, Alex Bonnel, Lisa Corbet, Nadine Cockburn and Martin Spoelstra. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0604632)
THE GRAMMAR School put its views on climate change to Education minister Carol Steere yesterday. The discussion took place at the launch of posters designed to highlight young people’s opinions on global warming.
Students from the school attended a seminar on climate change in March and were asked to consider the effects it could have on Guernsey. They were asked to think of ways islanders could respond to the challenges of climate change and those ideas have been developed into a range of posters which will be distributed in the island.
Schools and businesses will be given copies and Alun Williams, lifelong learning manager at the Education Department, said the students’ views were very valuable.
‘Young people contribute and can resolve this situation more so than any other group in the community because it’s something they will inherit,’ he said. ‘The posters will show the views of young people regarding climate change and what they feel needs to be done.’
During a lively discussion with Deputy Steere, students told her what they believed needed to be done in Guernsey to combat global warming.
Alex Bonnel said the message about climate change needed to be more hard-hitting.
‘The human mind doesn’t react to subtle messages,’ said the 17-year-old.
‘Like the adverts on TV at the moment, they are thought-provoking but not hard-hitting enough. Otherwise people will never listen.’
Pip Orchard, 17, said it needed to be made easier for people to recycle in the island.
‘I also think that sewage treatment is a big issue because I spend a lot of time in the sea and don’t like the idea of what I might be swimming in,’ he said.
‘And Guernsey is a prime candidate for electric cars.
I don’t see why we don’t use them.’
Lisa Corbet, also 17, said there was a number of things schools themselves could be doing to be more green.
‘There could be an island-wide policy for schools to turn off computers and lights at night, because I know that we don’t at the moment,’ she said.
‘We also need to extend our recycling.’
Deputy Steere said the students had a lot of good ideas and the posters highlighted that fact.
She said the island had a role to play in the fight against climate change.
‘If the big boys such as the US and China won’t run with it, why shouldn’t we?’ she said.
‘That’s why it’s so encouraging that learning about it is starting in schools when children are very young. The message is getting across to pupils and I think everyone has a responsibility for the future.
‘We live in a throw-away society and that is the challenge that is facing us.’
Article posted on 11th July, 2008 - 2.29pm
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