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Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

A review of children’s TV shows and popular family movies finds only a handful of references to climate—across hundreds of hours of content.

Breaking the Silence reviews mainstream educational and nature-themed TV shows and popular family movies for inclusion of climate change content.

Key Findings

  • There is demand. Nearly 70% of parents believed children’s media should include age- appropriate information about climate. 74% agreed that children’s media should include climate solutions.

  • Currently, children’s media is largely silent on climate change.
    • Only 9 episodes of 664 episodes reviewed (1.4% of total episodes) contained climate change content.

    • Of 20 of the most popular family films of 2021, none (0) of the plots contained themes or content related to climate change.

  • The handful of references that do exist–- in Octonauts Above and Beyond, Molly of Denali, Arthur, and Nick News--used recommended, age-appropriate techniques for introducing climate causes, impacts, and solutions.

  • Children’s media has a massive untapped opportunity to meet parent demand, help children navigate the world, and build a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable tomorrow.

Read Breaking the Silence

Read the Press Release