Mixed messages
The Conundrum of Pesticides on School Lawns
And why is the almighty lawn still a thing anyway?
In the category of things that baffle me is this little white and green sign that periodically pops up outside an elementary school near which I often walk. I always know when I am about to see the sign because the air is laden with distressing chemicals, forcing me to change course.
If my nostrils sense something untoward, and a sign confirms there is indeed some danger, why do we permit these repeated pesticide applications over large expanses of lawn where our children walk and play and study and wait for buses?
Such pesticides are linked to everything from carcinogenicity and birth defects to neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, cardiovascular effects and more. Children are at even greater risk from such toxic elements than adults. Nor are these applications doing our soils any favors.
It is not just a matter of keeping kids off the lawn, since these toxic chemicals drift through the air and can aggregate and linger on indoor surfaces.
With all the concern about environment, even taught in schools, what precisely are we teaching our children when we allow such a noxious practice literally right under and into our noses? It rather boggles my mind to see adults training children to wear masks while simultaneously lacing their environment with toxic chemicals. There is an unfortunate lesson here.
I know there are many issues with which parents and schools are coping, but this one is pretty simple: Stop applying pesticides in places kids frequent.
A blind allegiance to the almighty lawn somehow still persists in our culture, but let’s allow weeds, go organic, or, better yet, go permaculture. The children could be actively and educationally engaged in such an effort at their schools and homes to positive effect.
While we’re at it, is it not high time to change our ethic on this matter across the board? I do not appreciate my municipality’s or my neighbors’ chemical applications wafting through my windows, nor do I understand anyone valuing lawns over health. This is an outdated and dangerous practice, and it needs to go — if not for ourselves, for our kids and their future.
###
