Throughout my sixteen or more years in school, I’ve been forced to take certain classes to aid me in my future. This mandatory system occurs from early grade school through college, yet the people who develop the standards have neglected to require a very important class—a class regarding the preservation of the ecology.

While I believe English, math, science, history, government, etc. are important, a class teaching people to protect the environment upon which we depend for our survival seems equally or even more essential.

I’m not speaking merely of preserving the beauty of our world, but actually protecting the condition we must have to survive. What could be more important to our future than this?

It appears that humans do not realize the extreme importance of maintaining certain environmental conditions, for if they realized the urgency, they would be more concerned and maybe even take action.

If people fully understood the serious impact the destruction of rain forests, the hole developing in the ozone, and the contamination of underground water supplies has on each and every one of us, perhaps they would be more inclined to become involved in environmental issues. If people do not do something soon, we’ll have destroyed the environmental conditions needed for the survival of the human race.

An environmental issues class would promote the necessary awareness. To be most beneficial, this knowledge must be introduced not at the college level, but during science classes at the earliest grades. Children will grow up understanding the necessity of protecting our most valuable resource—the earth itself.

However, it is also important to begin increasing awareness at the college level to educate the people who will make decisions which will affect the ecology a few years from now.

Christine S. Wasicke

Junior

Marketing