It is argued that it is more common for children to be environmentally conscious compared to older people. I totally agree with this statement because young people are made aware of environmental problems in school, and older individuals tend to be more resistant to new ideas.
In recent years, environment-related topics have become a part of the school curriculum in many schools. This is because new research indicates that human lifestyle has impacted the environment on many different levels, such as the climate change and pollution. At school students are made aware of this so that they learn about the consequences of their way of living. By raising awareness of these issues, it is more likely for young individuals to act more environmentally friendly than older generations that were not as informed. For example, Greta Thunberg was just a teenager when she started to ask authorities to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases to help our planet to heal.
Another reason is that older people tend to have a set belief system. As humans age, it becomes much harder to change one’s point of view, and older people tend to only learn about the environment from the news or from their relatives. Additionally, most of the time this information is delivered in a passive, informative way, and the elderly person may not have internalised the idea or fully understood its meaning, making it less likely for them to become fully aware of the current environmental issues, unlike children at school. For instance, many older people rely on old-fashioned ideas and items, such as printed maps for navigation, instead of getting to know new alternatives.
In conclusion, I believe that children are more confronted with problems relating to the environment than older people because they are taught about this in school, while older individuals also have a less malleable way of thinking.