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Don’t Be a Jerk


 One photograph, 111 comments.


Join us for the YCI Alumni Network Climate Justice Concert Featuring Joshua Long!!  

Tuesday, October 10th - 6pm to 7:30pm 

at the Howard County Conservancy - The Amphitheater

This FREE event is open to all middle and high school students!

One hundred and eleven comments, most of them negative. Why? Because the Facebook group where it was shared scoffs at climate change and mocks the concept of climate justice. 

YCI stands for Youth Climate Institute, an initiative of the Howard County Conservancy. I wrote a little bit about it earlier this year. You can learn more at their website.

The Youth Climate Institute (YCI) educates and certifies the next generation of leaders in climate science, environmental justice and real world solutions.

In this three year extracurricular program, Howard County students earn certification as Youth Climate Institute Ambassadors or Ambassadors with Honors.  In addition to fundamental lessons on climate science, impacts and solutions, students will learn how to be a science communicator.  Through action projects, they will become ambassadors in their communities and gain experience and confidence in civic action. 

Presumably the concert tickets and associated raffles will support the program and the event is meant to be a kind of outreach to teens who might be interested in the Youth Climate Institute. Pretty simple, right?

Not to the folks who decided to rip it to shreds and mock anyone involved. I don’t know why we wonder at the online behavior of young people when it is clear that their most influential models are their parents: fully-grown adults who take pot shots at kids who want to care for the only planet we’ve got, and the highly educated and trained adults who are supporting those young people in their endeavors.

You would think they had something better to do with their time. Make the world a better place, for instance. I just can’t get over one hundred and eleven comments over what - - back in the day - - would’ve been billed as a coffee house with a folk singer.

If you have middle and/or high school children or grandchildren (or students, if you’re a teacher) they might be interested in this event. Registration information can be found here. 

Life is full of choices and opportunities for learning. You will either choose them or you won’t. That’s up to you. For heaven's sake, just don’t be a jerk about it.


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