Green Education for Kids: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Environmental Narratives on National Geographic Kids Website

Abstract

This study employs discourse analysis to investigate ten environmental resources from National Geographic Kids to identify the climate and sustainability frames presented to children, the language, and themes as well as values implicit in texts about climate change, plastic pollution, recycling, water conservation, the circular economy, and global goals. The results suggest that the messages in the corpus address environmental issues in an accessible and children-friendly language and in motivating imperatives. The materials heavily focus on individual actions like recycling, cutting down on plastics, conserving water, altering travel patterns, and nurturing positive attitudes through science and innovations, as well as green consumerism. Concurrently, the pieces cast nature mostly in human-centered terms, with limited attention to the structural or political causes of environmental damage. This gives rise to an environmental discourse that is both stimulating and instructive, but also overly simplistic and devoid of politics. Based on the findings of the research, the resources to motivate children to behave in an environmentally friendly manner. However, they tend to frame environmental responsibility as a personal moral and consumer issue rather than a systemic one. The report also reveals the immense potential of environmental media and the need for increased critical ecological education.