[steam_cannon]

Howdy all, I was reading this comic "Luz" and telling a few people about it
and I got a lot of responses that this might be a good way to
introduce children to peak oil. No kids myself, but I'm sure a lot of you
have wondered how to explain to your kids what you're typing
about every night, why that backyard garden is so important to
you, that things can be different, that you expect things will be different.
This cartoon might be a good start and I'd like to hear other peoples
incites on introducing kids to peak oil and other changes you expect
in the world we live in.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')img]http://i26.tinypic.com/2qdqxyt.jpg[/img]

Page 1: http://www.transmission-x.com/luz/2007/ ... llo-world/
Click next on the page to see the cartoons.

About the artist/doomer "Claudia Davila"
http://www.franpages.blogspot.com/

Peak Oil Cartoon - Luz Girl of the Knowing
http://peakoil.com/fortopic39491.html

[hippiema1]

As the mother of a nine year old who has absorbed a lot about peak oil and climate change, I'll say that these cartoons have already gone over well. I posted yesterday about his current emotional situation.

I have not actually shown them to my son yet--but even for adults to pick up the serious-but-positive message of these drawings is great preparation for talking with young people. I had not thought of the link with the Cuba story, but it is a great one. (In fact, my son watched and loved that documentary!)

[Pops]

SC I'm thinking kids like most of us aren't as motivated buy doom as by enjoyment.

I never cease to be amazed by how much little boys are fascinated by chickens and little girls by baby calves, how most all kids love the feeling of riding a bike, have great wonder at the natural world and tending their own little part of the garden, soak up knowledge of all kinds like a sponge, look forward to helping gram make bread, build something with their own hands and put a few pennies in the Bell-Ringer's kettle.

Teach them hope and skills and reason and compassion and they will figure things out when their time comes.

[joeltrout]

I agree with Pops. It would be smart to raise your children in a post peak oil lifestyle starting now.

Dont buy them ipods and cellphones when they turn 12 years old. Don't let them get suckered into dreaming of buying fast cars and big trucks.

Teach them to love the land, provide for themselves through hardwork (which happens to be fun when you are young), and help them realize the govt won't always be there to bail them out.

joeltrout

[hippiema1]

Oh Pops, you are so right! In fact, I would go so far as to say that the things you are talking about are important experiences for children in all situations. They are things that can be understood by children. We learn a kind of powerlessness when we only buy industrially-made things and never have a clue how to take care of ourselves. Learning that we can in fact make things happen, even if we never need to do it, gives us a life-long sense of confidence and ability--in the face of depletion or abundance.

[Aaron]

Looks kids... peak oil is just like this clown.

And it's coming to eat you...

[IanC]

I have 2 PO aware children, ages 7 and 4. That's right, we don't really sugar coat it for them. Sure, we leave out the biker zombies, but we give them no allusions that life will be changing significantly very soon. In thier childlike way, they believe that things will be okay, even fun - especially the horse-drawn wagons! We'll leave the mass starvation for later...

My first recommendation is to lose the TV pronto. That devilbox is responsible for grooming their consumer appetites for a completely unsustainable, irresponsible lifestyle. My kids are in the habit of entertaining themselves, reading books and using thier imaginations instead of aping what they see on TV (with the exception of the Avatar DVDs we had to buy. Man, that series is so totally cool. Check it out!).

May PO skeptical wife took the kids to school on our new triple tandem this morning. The kids beamed the whole way, singing and enjoying the day. No traffic in sight, unless you count the other bikers. This is Portland, afterall.

-Ian

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'L')ooks kids... peak oil is just like this clown.

And it's coming to eat you...

[catbox]

As I have posted in another thread, our daughter is aware of PO @ 7. Somehow, she wound up with a first grade teacher who weaves PO into her daily lessons at school. At home, our daughter has and will be part of our transformation and can tell you exactly why we are doing what we are.

As far as TV goes..we limit access to an hour 5-6pm...pbs...and watch movies as a family. I never watch the thing myself and refuse to pay for cable...we did have it a few years back and I have to admit missing all the grand cycling Tour coverage from Europe and Football (soccer)! But, there's more to life!

I think that if you don't scare the hell out of your kids, make them part of the prep, and LISTEN to their concerns, it should work out fine.

We're in for an interesting ride!

catbox

[steam_cannon]

Nice picture pops

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', 'L')ooks kids... peak oil is just like this clown.

And it's coming to eat you...

[usncom]

Wow this is very interesting. I'm a parent as well and I've just barely thought about this. I also happen to be somewhat of a first person shooter gamer and came across a video game called "Fuel of War" as I was searching youtube for peak oil videos.

It does a pretty good job of showing the complete idiocy and futility of fighting of killing each other fighting over some of the world's last energy resources. A quote from the game reads


"In hindsight, it should have been hard to miss what happened net. The price of oil jumped form $70, to over $100 per barrel. Aside from paying more for gas and heating your home, no one seemed to notice at first. It was conventional wisdom that the prices would go down again. But instead, oil prices begin an irrevocable rise that slowly began to weigh on global economies and advance energy to the forefront of national policies."


I lurked on over to the official game forums to see if the game's peak oil long emergency (and yes they did use the phrase LONG EMERGENCY in the game's opening storyline) scenario got anybody talking about the subject and sure enough it did. No one took it seriously as far as I could tell...but at least its getting kids thinking about this.



The popup link edited out by Pops.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('usncom', 'N')o one took it seriously as far as I could tell...but at least its getting kids thinking about this.

[usncom]

Sorry guess i wasn't clear. No one took the subject of peak oil seriously as a result of this video game. However, at least it looks like it got a lot of kids thinking and talking about it in the forums.

[mercurygirl]

Pops, those are beautiful pictures, full of life.

My baby is too. Have been reading and learning about the natural world all along. It's weird trying to explain the food chain to a little one, but she just takes it in and wants to find out more. Unfortunately, sometimes she's seen mommy cry over things, but not so much any more.

At her age level, we're getting into how to treat other creatures. There's a huge fascination, along with which must go respect.
Already, though, kids notice different treatment. I tell her, I don't mind the ants outside, but if they come in my house to get my food, I kill them.

My thoughts for now.

[Barbara]

I love when I hear my 8yo talking to friends and saying proudly: "Well, I won't have any car when I'll be grown up. I'll have an horse."

[AnIowan]

As a teacher who's recently found this web site and really started to dig into the subject, I've brought it up with my students, not as a doom and gloom subject, but more as a journaling type of activity (describe what live might be like for you without a car, that type of thing). We talk about how life might have been like 150 years ago in this area and relate it to the Amish community that is around (no electric power, no gas power vechicles, etc.) This will at least get some of the students thinking about it.

As for my own children, we've started having the discussions about how life will be different when they are grown up, we'll have them more actively involved with the "hands on" aspects of our little acreage (one daughter is planning a small garden plot for our farmers market, raising animals), and my wife is having them help more in the kitchen, so they'll be able to create things using more home grown, whole foods, along with being able to can and preserve as well.

All in all, as a country, we shoud be preparing the next generation to have to make the decisions we either didn't, couldn't, or won't make. Instead, we are turning a blind eye, making that transition even more painful for all involved, especially the children.

[phaster]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joeltrout', 'I') agree with Pops. It would be smart to raise your children in a post peak oil lifestyle starting now.

Dont buy them ipods and cellphones when they turn 12 years old. Don't let them get suckered into dreaming of buying fast cars and big trucks.

[hopethreat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'S')C I'm thinking kids like most of us aren't as motivated buy doom as by enjoyment.

I never cease to be amazed by how much little boys are fascinated by chickens and little girls by baby calves, how most all kids love the feeling of riding a bike, have great wonder at the natural world and tending their own little part of the garden, soak up knowledge of all kinds like a sponge, look forward to helping gram make bread, build something with their own hands and put a few pennies in the Bell-Ringer's kettle.

Teach them hope and skills and reason and compassion and they will figure things out when their time comes.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hopethreat', ' ')And I would also love to teach my children this (although how can one teach something they do not know?).

[mystiek]

Children learn by example-specifically parents and/or the other signficant adults in their life. My kids venture out to the amish with me and buy bulk butter, vegetables that we put up. We talk about how the amish live so they understand how people can thrive without a gasguzzler and electricity. We have a garden that they enjoy looking for the ripe tomatoes, etc. Another thing we do is go to the pick your own farms and they have a blast scurring around picking strawberries, etc. I try to teach them what is available in the wild that is edible. In the next couple of weeks we are going blackberry picking. The boys watch me make jam, can vegetables, etc. (the key word is watch right now since their ages are 12,10 and 4). They help stock the pantry and our storage area in the basement after going to Sams. They helped pick out my mother days gift which was 5 new kerosene lamps -now before you all laugh, the lamps are very nice looking in our antique bedroom and will be functional in a power outage.They hear about how we limit excess trips down the road, turning off unnecessary lights in the house. We try to minimize waste of food and resources. We are discussing a clothes line, especially for big things that are hard to dry like comforters, sheets, pillow shams, a load of jeans. I know this sounds like just little steps, but its a start in developing their thinking about conservation of our resources. They do not have cell phones or ipods. We used to have a tv in every bedroom, but stopped that not just for conservation purposes, but the kids need to be outside riding their bike, playing ball, climbing trees, etc. None of my kids have obesity issues. On the other hand, my 10 year old still dreams of being a famous nascar driver and my 4 year old is going to be a football player-do I try to dash their dreams-no, I just try to mold their world view around the reality of life while still letting them be kids.