On Friday’s “Rod and Greg Show” on KNRS-AM, RealClearEducation editor Nathan Harden discusses his recent article: We’re Teaching Kids Scarcity in an Age of Abundance.

HOST: Now, we’re going to be talking about that a little bit later on in our Listen Back Friday segments. We’ll talk about the war with Iran. Of course, it was announced earlier this week by Treasury Secretary Scott Besson that an economic D-Day has been launched against Iran. What impact will that have? We’ll talk about that. We’ll replay that interview we did. We’ll also talk about education. A lot of kids, I think all kids are now back in school, but are things different this year now that Linda Bingban is Secretary of Education and trying to dismantle that organization and give more power back to the states. We’ll talk about that. Plus, our CEO, you should know, we’ll be talking with the head of Bullfrog Spas to get ideas about their success. So a great hour coming your way, and we invite you to be a part of it. All right, I want to get to this study. It was done by Planetary Health of 10,000 young people in 10 countries. Seventy-five percent said the future is frightening, and 56 percent said they believe humanity is doomed. Meanwhile, here in America, there’s another study that showed that one in five Americans aged 16 to 24 are afraid to have children because of climate change. Frightening figures, isn’t it? Let’s dig into this a little bit more. Joining us on our Any Hour Newsmaker line right now is Nathan Harden. He is an education, energy, policy, and free speech expert and wrote about this in Real Clear Politics. Nathan, thanks for joining us. You’ve taken a look at all kinds of surveys. What do you see going on right now, Nathan? NATHAN HARDEN, REAL CLEAR EDUCATION: Well, what I’m seeing is two things. One, kids are undereducated, and two, they’re terrified because information they are getting isn’t accurate most of the time. HOST: Yeah, go ahead. HARDEN: Yeah, I mean, if you look at the statistics that I bring up in the article, it kind of clarifies the picture. So more than half of kids say that humanity is doomed. And you know, one in five Americans, young Americans, is afraid to have kids because of the climate. So these doom and gloom messages are really having a powerful effect on kids’ outlook about their futures. HOST: Where are the doom and gloom messages coming from, Nathan? HARDEN: Well, one thing we found, or I found in doing the research for this, is there’s a little bit of a break because most students say that their primary source of information was their teachers. But when we talked to teachers, or when researchers talked to teachers, they found that the actual time that they spent teaching climate issues in a given school year was no more than a couple of hours. And then in fact, while kids may not be aware of this, the lion’s share of the information that they are gleaning throughout the year is coming straight from social media. And if you look at 100 climate videos on TikTok, only eight of those, according to the study, actually cite a reputable source of information. So a lot of this is just fear-mongering without any data behind it. HOST: Well, if that is the case, because I was going to bring up social media and the role it is playing here, how do we stem that tide or what can be done? Because if, you know, we don’t want to blame the teachers. They, like you said, Nathan, they don’t spend a lot of time talking about this, but these kids are on social media all the time. How do you give them the full picture without all this gloom and doom? HARDEN: Well, you know, if I could solve the social media problem in this country, I would be, I would be the most popular man among parents in America. So I don’t claim to have that problem solved just yet. But I think, you know, what I’m arguing in the piece is that we need to do a better job in our schools of giving kids a well-rounded education about the climate and about energy, and that actually there’s a lot of good news out there. Our country is pouring more resources than ever into nuclear power development, which is by far the cleanest source of energy with the lowest impact on the environment. It’s kind of a miracle, actually, compared to the other primary sources of energy generation that we have. And, you know, kids need to know that that build out is happening at a rapid pace right now, and that’s something they could be a part of when they’re looking at their careers or they’re looking at, you know, what do I want to do with my life? This, we know that with all the data centers that are being built and this whole AI transformation that’s happening in our economy, that the need for electrical power is growing at an unprecedented rate. And that’s not only the power generation, it’s the electrical grid. It’s the guys who are, you know, climbing up and working on the wires, you know, that string all of these hubs and nubs together. So that’s a good news if you’re, you know, interested in that kind of work or wondering what you want to do with your life. HOST: You know, Nathan, I’m glad you brought that up because, I mean, there are two parts, I think, to your story. You’re talking about the fear over climate change and the fear over job prospects, but jobs prospects, if you’re properly trained, I think the future is very bright. Would you agree or disagree? HARDEN: Well, you know, it’s possible to make over a hundred thousand dollars a year as a nuclear technician without a college degree. And so that’s not too bad in most parts of this country. And, you know, there are tons and tons of new opportunities that never existed before that are part of this new energy economy that’s being built up around the AI revolution. And I think that the crux of what I’m saying though, is that when it comes to the messages that we’re giving kids, fear is a really lousy career counselor for them. And a video feed that’s full of, you know, despair, isn’t a good substitute for a fact-based curriculum that shows the whole picture and says, wow, there actually are incredible technologies that young people can be a part of that are opening up not only new job opportunities, but the opportunity to have abundant and low cost energy that’s going to help every part of our economy moving forward. So that’s a much more positive message than most kids are receiving. HOST: Is there a step we could take to give them the full picture? Do you think, Nathan? HARDEN: Well, I think it starts with curriculum. I mean, I think if you’re a person who’s involved with a local school board or writing a curriculum, or if you’re just a high school science teacher, you can go out and get resources and you can do it as a parent too. There are several organizations I’ve cited an article that are, you know, bringing this new information. One of them is the American Conservation Coalition. One of them is called Blue Energy Nation. And these are resources that if you’re a homeschool family or if you’re just, you know, a parent who wants to give your kid the full picture, you can actually go and give them these resources. But I would personally love to see it brought into the classroom where every kid gets this information. I think, you know, a little bit of fact-based science education could be an antidepressant for all the climate doom and gloom that kids are getting off social media.

RealClearPolitics Videos