The Making of Young Activists By Kenny Bruno, Beth Handman and Antonia Bruno, co-authors of the Josie Goes Green series. Beth is the Assistant Principal at P.S. 321 in Brooklyn and Kenny and Antonia are activists in the environmental movement. We wrote the Josie Goes Green book series because we were inspired by kids in our neighborhood who are enthusiastically taking action to protect the environment. In our experience in both environmental activism and in the public schools, we have found that young people have a moral authority and authenticity that is hard to resist. Although there is no singular recipe for cooking up a young activist, here are some common steps that inspire kids to take action. Find something your kids really care about. If a kid has suffered, or know someone who has suffered, from an injustice, violence, disease, or pollution, they are going to be determined to do something about it. Kids are also drawn to animals and nature, and have an instinct to protect the beauty they believe is part of their world. Kids quickly realize that their actions are connected to things they care about. Choose A Winnable Goal Sometimes problems seem overwhelming. If kids believe the only solution is a new federal law, or electing a different president, they might lose their mojo. But there’s always something important they can do on a smaller scale. In our neighborhood, kids are going around to stores and persuading owners to stop using disposable bags. We adapted that real-life example in Josie and the Trouble With Trash, in which the kids persuade store owners to stop selling disposable water bottles, and more. Communicate – first to friends and then to the rest of the world Social action is sometimes defined as what an individual can do – turn off the lights, recycle, give to charity. But coordinated action is so much bigger. In our Brooklyn neighborhood school, the kids do a giant Walk-a-Thon and raise thousands of dollars for green groups. In all the Josie books, Josie starts by recruiting her friends to the cause. And then, through meetings, flyers, and fundraisers, they take their message...
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By Claire b on Feb 7, 2018 The Josie books taught me about rainforest deforestation, and all the facts surprised me so much! It makes me care about jaguars way more than I did before. I want to help it as much as I can and when I see my friends help the rainforest it makes me super happy. The Josie books not only teach a lot, it makes me happy that Josie always finds her way around. She has her friends always helping her. I always admire Josie because of her confidence and her kindness to help the world when she hears a problem happening. I wish everyone could find a way to help the world and make this world a wonderful place. My name is Charlotte C. and I am going to teach you a few facts about my topic I am learning about in school, deforestation. Every 5 minutes 1 animal species dies off. Deforestation is mostly caused because farmers want money and fast food restaurants need burgers. Some cures for diseases are found in plants and animals, but if these plants and animals go away we will not find them. Some animals that live in the rainforest are, jaguars, golden poisonous frog, postman butterfly, toucan, two-toed sloth, red howler monkey, agouti, and green anaconda. Chocolate is hurting rainforests because chocolate comes from cocoa beans and you have to cut down the Theoromba Cacao tree to get the cocoa beans. Special thanks to Ronni Horowitz. You are a great teacher and your class...
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Some kids in class 3-306 at P.S. 321 have been writing about why we should protect our planet. Their teachers, Anneliese Torgerson and Lily Scott, shared their students writing with us. Here are some excerpts from their great essays. Green Crusader Paul says: SAVE THE SHARKS! “Sharks balance the ecosystem. If all the sharks were dead, all the fish would eat all the food and other animals would die. Also, too much octopus ink would pollute the ocean.” Green Crusader Max says: STOP GLOBAL WARMING “Global Warming causes flooding and other bad things. I think people should use solar panels because they don’t warm up the earth.” Green Crusader Dashiell says: SAVE THE RAINFOREST “Deforestation kills animals. Scientists have found that if one animal becomes extinct, then the whole food chain wobbles. For more info. on sharks, see sharkangels.org For more Information on Global Warming see: climatekids.nasa.gov For more information on deforestation, see Rainforest Action Network at...
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Since Josie’s from Brooklyn, we thought we should feature some good news from the borough: Starting Jan 1, 2018, Prospect Park is 100% car-free. That means it’s safer than ever for bikers, runners, pedestrians, roller skaters and skate boarders. And the air will be cleaner. The Fourth Grade Bike Brigade is happy! Those of you who read Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade will remember that the kids wanted to ride to school to reduce the amount of gasoline they used. Burning gasoline is one of the big causes of global warming. But it took a lot of organizing to get the kids to ride, and it took some convincing to get the grownups to agree to paint bike lanes to make riding safer. The same thing happened in real life Brooklyn. Groups like Transportation Alternatives have been pushing for a car-free park for years. Cars used to drive any time on the park’s main road. Then they were banned on weekends. Then they were restricted only to rush hours, and then reduced to one lane. Meanwhile, people have not been waiting around for the rules to change. There are more people using the park than ever. But having those people share the road with cars isn’t safe. It’s too crowded on the road. People wrote letters and organized protests until they won! Finally, last fall Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that starting January 1st, no cars are allowed in the park at all, except for emergency vehicles. Basically, the bikes and the runners took over. And the mayor and his staff finally realized that cleaner air and a safer park went hand in hand. Gotta stop writing this blog now. It’s time for a ride in the park! But remember-organizing works!...
Read MoreIt’s been a cold winter so far in Josie’s hometown of Brooklyn. New Year’s Eve was so cold that the President tweeted about it: “In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming…” When we have cold weather, does that mean global warming isn’t happening? Of course not! First, let’s remember that global warming and climate change are the same thing. They refer to the gradual warming of the average temperatures all over the earth (including the oceans). The weather changes every day, but the climate changes only very gradually. Weather is what we experience each hour, day and week. Climate is the pattern of weather and the averages over the course of the whole year. The weather determines what we wear. The climate determines what kinds of animals and plants live in a place, and what kinds of crops can grow. If you have salad for dinner it doesn’t mean you’re a vegetarian. If you catch a cold it doesn’t mean you’re unhealthy. And if it’s cold for a few days, it doesn’t mean global warming isn’t happening. When it’s cold, lots of people joke they’d like to get some global warming. But they’re joking. Josie and her pals enjoy a good global warming joke as much as anyone. Unfortunately, denying climate change isn’t...
Read MoreLooking for the perfect gift for your little ones? Kids ages 7-11 will love the latest addition to the Josie Goes Green series, “Josie & the Trouble with Trash,” by our very own Antonia Bruno!...
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