Teaching Children True Patriotism: How Kids Can Foster a Love for the Environment

Wikipedia describes patriotism as “love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one’s country.” And what fosters this love? It can be a plethora of feelings, emotions, and physical factors involving ethnic, cultural, political, or historical aspects. Why is it important to inculcate a sense of patriotism in our children right from childhood? It is to ensure they grow up loving their country, and thereby learn to appreciate their history, heritage, and resources. This will make them responsible citizens in the future.

But in today’s multiethnic world, where we can see the whole world as “ours” in our mobile screens, the notion of “home” and the collective experiences of “belonging” are changing fast. Children find rootedness in shared emotions and causes more than connecting with a country, and today, what better cause than climate change and protecting one’s environment and resources? So, what if we can help our children see patriotism as an environmental virtue, if we show them how to care for natural beauty, resources, and the health of one’s country and its people? They will feel responsible and motivated to protect and preserve their immediate surroundings and that of the country as a whole, surroundings that sustain them and enrich their lives—the trees and mountains, rivers and seas.

So, what will happen when patriotism is presented as an environmental virtue to our children? They will:

Feel connected with family and community:

A love for one’s country gives children a sense of home and belonging as they grow up. It can help them appreciate the unique and diverse landscapes, ecosystems, and species that make up our country. This in turn can help them feel connected to the places where they live, work, and play, and also the family—the people who they share these things with. Patriotism can encourage children and all of us to explore, enjoy, and celebrate our country’s natural wonders.

Take responsibility for their actions:

A sense of love for their country can make children aware of the environmental challenges and threats facing our country and its people, such as pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, or resource depletion. They will then feel accountable for their actions and choices that affect the local and global environment. This will help them naturally gravitate toward sustainable lifestyles and participate in environmental initiatives.

Cultivate values:

When children feel proud of their surroundings, they will learn to love, respect, and care for them. Their environment then becomes a part of their country’s heritage and identity. The feeling of being a part of a larger community can teach them to be humble, grateful, and generous, and can inculcate virtues such as justice and courage.

 And now, for the key question: How to explain to young children (ages 3–8) that patriotism is an environmental virtue? How to help them understand the connection between love for their country and the importance of caring for the environment? Here are a few things parents can do:

• Discuss love and pride for the country:

Tell your children how their home, family, traditions, culture, and other people are all a part of their country and that taking care of the environment also means taking care of them. For instance, at our home, our grandma would tell us about the real importance of celebrating harvest festivals, and how they are meant to celebrate and worship nature, which nourishes us.

• Talk about the environment as a shared resource:

Help children understand that the land, forests, rivers, and lakes belong to everyone in the country. Explain how these things provide us with clean air, water, food, and natural beauty, and how it’s our responsibility to protect and preserve them for future generations.

• Show how we are all dependent on each other:

The interdependence between the environment and the well-being of people will help children realize that the environment’s health directly affects their own health and quality of life, as it does the lives of all citizens of the country.

• Take up hot topics for conversations:

Family discussions can include environmental challenges such as pollution, deforestation, climate change, and the impact these crises are having on humans and animals alike.

Note: Be careful not to alarm them, for very young children may not grasp voluminous concepts like an environmental crisis; they might just begin to feel anxious and tense with a sense of immense loss.

• Tell them conservation is caring:

Talk about our responsibility to protect and care for the environment, and about how we must all work together to preserve our country’s natural resources by using resources wisely and sustainably. Children must understand that their individual actions can make a difference. Simple actions like switching off lights to conserve energy, reducing waste, recycling, and being mindful of water usage can collectively contribute to a healthier environment.

• Help them connect with nature physically:

Encourage children to spend time in nature and appreciate its beauty. Let them feel the sand, rain and mud, leaves and twigs, sun and shade. By enjoying it firsthand, they will learn to respect nature and develop a deeper connection and understanding of why it’s important to protect it.

• Share success stories:

Discuss the positive impact of simple environmental initiatives like tree plantation drives and beach cleaning campaigns. Help them contribute to causes of their choice and feel responsible for creating a better future for everyone.

• Lead by example:

Nothing can beat parents being role models for this cause. Show your love for the country via your environmentally responsible actions. Adopt sustainable practices in your own daily life, and as a family. Let your children see you making eco-friendly choices and follow suit.

To conclude

Patriotism perhaps came easily to our parents’ generation and their parents, having grown up in an India that was chest-thumpingly celebrating its nascent independence. But today, our children mostly only hear us disparaging our country all day long—the prices are rising, the roads are bad, corruption is rampant, amenities aren’t good, politics is ailing, people are cheating. These are dinner table conversations that our children listen to daily. Rarely do we loudly profess our love for our country. Scenarios where the entire family is watching the evening news, and the adults are arguing about politics, corruption, rates of tomatoes, pollution levels in Indian cities, and concluding “India bekaar hai, foreign chale jaana chahiye (It’s better to go abroad than being in India)”—mindless of the little ears and eyes listening to and observing all this—are fairly common these days.

At times like this, how do we get our children to feel the rootedness of a particular tradition or culture that makes them feel proud to be an Indian? How to make them fall in love with their country? By changing the narrative of patriotism to something they can connect with, like the environment, right?

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