Many claim that environmental responsibility is an issue that suffers from a lack of awareness.

A story published in the National Post on Jan. 31 highlights a Laval, Que. school for adopting what many view as heavy-handed environmental measures.

The school hosted a kindergarten draw to win a stuffed animal—and excluded any children who came to school with “environmentally unfriendly” lunch material.

The contest reduced the six-year old son of Marc-Andre Lanciault and Isbael Theoret to tears. When Lanciault investigated, his son’s teacher reprimanded him for sending his child with Ziploc bags.

Lanciault was quoted as saying “At the end of the day my son doesn’t know why he shouldn’t use a Ziploc bag … we’re being brainwashed from everywhere.”

The family subsequently wrote about their experience on a blog which attracted attention and comments—some positive, some negative.

This sort of policy is likely an off-shoot of existing “litterless” lunch programs, which encourage students to bring lunches that don’t generate garbage, or make them take home lunch garbage to encourage more eco-friendly meals.

While the plan clearly had good intentions, it seems a little excessive to punish a child for a decision that is likely out of their hands—six-year olds don’t make their own lunches.

If a school administration is seriously concerned about the environment, it would probably be more appropriate for them to reach out to parents directly, instead of demonizing children. Heavy-handed measures might be appropriate for older children, better equipped to handle the issues involved.

Nor is the environmental issue as clear-cut as simply reducing garbage, according to one expert quoted in the Post article. In some cases, “common sense” attitudes about reusable materials don’t take into account disproportionate amounts of energy wasted cleaning and reusing them.

It isn’t that reducing waste is a bad idea—simply that it’s dangerous to force a perspective onto children without understanding the facts behind it.

If educators want children to learn the importance of eco-friendly behaviour, they should teach them in the same way they would teach any other set of ideas, with instructions, explanations and positive feedback—not punishment.