One in Three Children Fear Earth Apocalypse

This isn't new... I feared it as a kid from having evangelical parents tell me it was coming soon. It made for some pretty intense acid trips, especially New Years '99 after a huge rave in SLC. I thought for sure the world was ending, even the waitress at Denny's told us that the sun might not come up. She must have known we were twisted bad, I don't know how she couldn't of.

I'm actually kind of mad that my parents made me feel like I might never see adulthood, it was not the best thing to grow up with in the back of your mind and perhaps part of the reason I ended up experimenting with drugs like I did.

Wow I can relate to that. I grew up with my Seventh Day Adventist great grandmother and was filled with "end times" rhetoric from an early age. I never quite bought it though and asked too many questions but I went through the whole drug thing too but there were other factors involved in mine as well. One unfortunate philosophy that I developed was that if the world was going to end why prepare for a future that wasn't going to exist... That fucked up my life in general... haha good times, good times...

this is good that we are thinking more about the planet. we need to have people start thinking like this.. maybe it will scare us into doing something good

Without clean food and water men will prey on each other, and an apocalypse will come, just not a religious one...

Teaching children about an impending earth apocalypse is child abuse, and it should be illegal and punishable by law. People who raise their children to live in fear should be hung upside down by their toes over razor wire, so that when their toes finally break and their body falls they will be cut to little bits, face first.

I have liberated myself from this horrible fear and it took me until my early thirties before I could sleep in the dark. This is not a fear I would wish on any child.

I used to fear nuclear war . I think this is a key problem today . the fear is overwhelming for some . They cling to the dogma that terrorizes them for comfort and cannot come out of this protective semi-denial . I think it is damaging and impedes emotional maturity . If we empower these kids they can master their fear and find a solution . It is what humans do best . And many have forgotten this .

0yea suer just fill there head with a bunch of 2012 propoganda and c if there not scared... no one else seems to be worrying cus it hasent happend yet ,, grown ups r dumb!!!

Children should always be guided not driven ia particular direction because it suits the person who should be the guardian to them...
Children should be allowed to choose theİr functional responses in a changing society..which means allowing them access to the required choices of information they will come across..and how to define for themelves,what is true or not..
The world for them is a different place from some of the contributers here who are already going through a historical biased process in the worls..formed up from their own lifes experiences...
Children do not need to be put upon by the words of others who may or may not know the meaning of guardianship for the children of the planet..
A genuine instruction of how things really are in the world is better than the illusions of what could be hoped to be..by most..
Allow children their time..their future concerns are really our past mistakes now coming to light and fruition..show them the respect they deserve and be honest for once?

maybe if people looked to hope as much as they looked to doom this article wouldn't be here .pjacobs51need i say more

me too. and a fear of being a disciplining target by public services too.

Is it still paranoia if what you fear represents a real threat?

Ah...poor kids. :(
It's really up to the grown ups to explain. . .and I am sick and tired, of the History channel and all their end of world theories!!! UGH!!

If this doesn't show the direction in which this world is headed (to the point where even children wonder about the future) then quite frankly, we are screwed.

do the math
there is reason for concern

I have had more fear since I started reading posts on current than ever before .I was always told by my parents that the world would end in my life time .I think i believed it but never looked at it and as a young person I had three children .I would die for them without a thought.All I do now is worry for them.I would be dishonest if I said it hasn't consumed alot of me.My 7 year old son asked me a question he said why do we use trees for paper and I said to him because thats what has always been .That is why we recycle it because without trees the world would not have air and it would be hot so always recycle .It was not a scary transaction and he said ok. I am not tring to call you out pjacobs but you said to me that the powers that be keep us in fear were you tring to say that your articles help in some way or just contribute yo the fear .This is a real question for you I want to understand what you were triing to say. Sorry for the typing (not my best attribute)

that's weird cause i heard one in three children are home schooled.

This is why more kids should play Fallout 3, to b prepared.

Well there already has been pretty significant environmental damage done in the past generation, so the kids concerns aren't completely unjustified.

Our oceans are pretty badly fucked up, plastic, dead zones, overfishing, death of reefs etc. Most of the rainforests on earth are gone and we're essentially living in an age of animal mass extinction.

Not saying the future is gonna be like Blade Runner, but as of right now things really aren't getting better.

That being said I hope these kids don't stay up at night worrying about these things.

Their feelings are probably justified.

Absolutely bull shit.
You can get a child to say anything based on how you phrase the question.
Ask 1000 kids what they want to be when they grow up. Just a simple question no leading bull shit.
Every kid will tell you what they want to be when they grow up, not one will say I don’t think I will grow up before the world will end.
Yah ,scare the hell out of the kid then ask if all these bad things happen do you think it will result in the end of mankind.
Leave the kids out of this , let them enjoy being kids, they will have to face the real world soon enough.

kind of sad, but each generation is shaped by its collective childhood fears...

I used to think a lot about the end of the world when I was in school, and that was even before the internet!! Then I grow up and learn that the end of the world comes everyday for a lot of people in different parts of the world.

Also, my biggest natural fear was earthquakes; I saw a lot of minor earthquakes when I was a child. But ironically, I stop fearing in them when my dad almost dies in one.

One in Three Children Fear Earth Apocalypse The other two fear Dick Cheney!

Seriously! I would like to see the choices given in this survey.
Do you.....
A) Fear butterflies
B) Fear bunny rabbits
C) Fear Earth Apocalypse
Do kids really say "I Fear Earth Apocalypse" if you ask them what they are afraid of? Do they even know what it means? Most kids I know this age fear losing their cell phone or being seen with their parents in public. I am not saying that kids shouldn't be worried but are they really? Whatever, it is kind of an interesting topic either way. Maybe it should be properly researched.

The title of this post is misleading. It actually points out the exact opposite mentality than what is seemingly being expressed by these kids.

It's NOT saying that the kids polled are super-religious freaks who fear the "apocalypse." It's saying that they are environmentally conscious enough to be aware, at a young age, of how the earth is being damaged at an alarming rate, and how it may not be in very good shape when they are grownups, thanks to the actions of previous generations...