No tags yet.
Chris' placard
By: The DBA team
Climate change is experienced as a strange duality in the student body at Dover. Upon reading headlines plastered with the imminent threat it presents to our future, we are filled with an existential dread. Yet our response is characterized most strongly by dragging of feet over Veggie Wednesdays and other lifestyle changes suggested to us.
Perhaps our unwillingness to act on climate change stems from the fact that we do not immediately see the environmentally healing results of our actions. Or is it that we are hesitant to make individual sacrifices for the good of the community?
Either way, we are mired in the easy assurance that our school’s mission has it all under control, that we’re already doing our part in attending an institution whose philosophy is cultivating a sustainable future. We feel far from the frontlines, insulated as we are by a plethora of zealous government promises, cosmeticized urban greenery and ever-rising seawalls.
Chris Sparks, the head of Middle School Sustainability, is here to counter our shuttering of mental blinds to reality. Every Friday lunchtime for the past year, he has stood in the centre of the Tent Plaza, holding a placard that reads ‘The climate is changing. Why aren't we?’ DBA spoke to him about his work. Below is a transcript of the conversation.
What inspired you to take this particular approach to advocacy?
It all began in October last year, when it came to my attention that Fridays 4 Future had called for a Global Day of Climate Action. I had some placards ready-made from protests that my daughter had previously taken part in, so I thought I would go stand in the Tent Plaza and see what happened.
I figured, if this school is meant to nurture the next generation of climate activists, students should see that us teachers believe in it. It’s about living the mission.
Could you talk about your decision to remain silent while holding up the placard?
It’s a way of keeping things low-key, since I’m unsure whether protesting is even allowed here.
Part of it is also my personality. I don’t find it easy to step up and talk to people, nor do I think people want me to go and challenge their views on climate change – that might turn them off the cause altogether. Standing in the Tent Plaza may present enough of a challenge to them.
What has the reception been like? What impact do you hope for your actions to have?
On average, around two people join me every Friday, particularly NCs and boarders. The Boarding House started its own sustainability committee, which was exciting. Someone even chose my placard as one of their TOK objects.
Impact-wise, I hope that I can spark conversations that wouldn’t otherwise have happened, even if that’s one person stopping by to have a chat.
My plan for the foreseeable future is to continue with what I’m doing every Friday. My rationale is that the other option is doing nothing.
How well do you think our school is doing, sustainability-wise?
It’s all relative. Compared to how I think it should be doing, not great. I just don’t think the school’s culture is sustainability-oriented. It’s all about exams and university, which is understandable: the system is a giant machine that the school has to serve. To elude it, something would have to give. Students would have to take a gamble and sacrifice their chances of getting into a good university. Parents would hardly allow this.
The other issue is that regardless of whether the school is willing to look at system-wide change, it’s such a big place that such changes take a long time. I also wish we could make space for sustainability in the curriculum, but is the community willing to sacrifice time for other subjects?
Given all these considerations, I do respect that the school’s trying its best. There are lots of good things going on, like people in leadership who genuinely believe in doing better.
What would you like students here to know about climate action?
Youth activism is strong in Singapore. I hope our students know that there are others their age who are out there doing the work.
I don’t expect to see what I do on Fridays come to fruition. But that’s teaching for you – we don’t tend to see the results of what we do, what with our students graduating eventually.
Climate anxiety is becoming increasingly common among students. What’s your advice on coping with it?
I have three kids only a little older than you. Climate change does make me wonder how secure their futures are – no one really knows how or in what way it’ll kick off. That makes me anxious. Sometimes, I just need to take time away from the issue. That might mean something as simple as watching Netflix for the evening.
I have mixed feelings towards ‘trying not to worry about it’. Your conscience is your best guide to the right thing to do. Cutting out the worry only serves to put off your conscience temporarily. It’ll make a return soon enough.
What do you have to say to staunch climate deniers?
There’s this piece I read from George Monbiot. He writes that upon gaining the agreement of 25% of people, you pass the critical threshold required to flip the system and social norms.
There are always going to be people who aren’t convinced of climate change: leave them be. We were never going to convert them anyway. We’re interested in the people in the middle, the ones who aren’t quite sure. These are the people we can plausibly get on our side to reach the 25% and make a difference.
Comentarios