Beyond green: The intersection of eco anxiety and Black youth

By Mackenzie WilliamsAFRO Internmwilliams@afro.comAccording to the 2024 Deloitte Gen Z and Millennial Survey, “environmental sustainability remains a top concern for Gen Zs and millennials, with 62 percent of Gen Zs and 59 percent of millennials reporting feeling anxious or worried about climate change in the last month.”The United States is experiencing record breaking temperatures, and research shows schools have no course of action regarding climate change or mitigating their eco anxiety, especially for Black youth who are highly impacted by this continuous heat wave. Credit: Unsplash The American Psychological Association defined the term “eco-anxiety” in 2017, describing it as a chronic fear of environmental doom. In light of July being Minority Mental Health Month, The AFRO spoke with some experts of the repercussions of how Black youth are affected by eco-anxiety.& “As far as I know very few people are planning for the climate future and really thinking about the impact on schools and students,” Erin Seaton, school psychologist at Tufts University and researcher on the intersection between climate change and education told the AFRO.& & According to Education Week’s research center,” Only 30 percent of district leaders and principals who answered a nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey said...