Who Owns the Earth? Big Questions for Little Minds on Protecting Our Planet
Who Owns the Earth? Big Questions for Little Minds on Protecting Our Planet
When my 6-year-old nephew declared he “owned” the maple tree in his backyard, I asked, “Does the squirrel in its branches agree?” He paused, then whispered, “Maybe the Earth owns itself.”
This Earth Day, let’s lean into children’s instinctive wisdom by asking: Who owns the Earth? The answer could reshape how future generations protect our planet.
Ownership vs. Stewardship
For centuries, humans treated Earth as a possession land divided by borders, resources extracted for profit. But what if we taught kids to see themselves not as owners, but as guardians? Philosophy for Children (P4C) flips the script:
Debates: “If you ‘own’ a river, can you poison it?”
Role-play: Kids act as lawyers for mountains, bees, or oceans in mock trials.
Art projects: Draw the Earth as a shared home, not a pie to slice.
Real-World Lessons in Disguise
Countries like Ecuador and New Zealand already grant legal rights to rivers and forests. Use these examples to spark discussions:
“Should a mountain have a voice in how it’s used?”
“Who gets to decide what’s ‘fair’ for nature?”
These aren’t just hypotheticals they’re tools to combat climate apathy.
From Questions to Action
Create a “Bill of Rights for Earth”: Let kids draft rules like “All living things deserve clean water” or “No one can harm the air we share.”
Host a “Nature Council”: Families vote on eco-actions (e.g., planting native species) after discussing “What does the land need?”
Map “Shared Spaces”: Identify parks, oceans, or skies that belong to everyone and everyone’s responsible for them.
The Ripple Effect
When kids internalize that the Earth isn’t a commodity, they become innovators. The child who argues “Oceans don’t belong to countries, they connect us!” might grow up to design international conservation policies.
A Challenge for Grown-Ups
This Earth Day, replace “This is ours” with “This is ours to care for.” By reframing ownership as stewardship, we give kids the philosophical foundation to build a world where humans belong to the Earth not the other way around.
After all, the next generation won’t save what they don’t love. And they won’t love what they’re taught to dominate.