PP15: Graduation trees

This idea is, unusually, all my own. That is also why it is so naff.

Upon graduation from high school (at 16) I think every student should take part in a tree planting ceremony. The concept hopes to kill two birds with one stone. Firstly it could bring about a rapid increase in the numbers of trees in the UK (approximately 600,000 a year), which while of debatable environmental benefit are at least pleasing to the eye. Secondly it is a symbolic gesture of commitment to the environment and to the future. Children will have literally invested something in the earth and have a stake in its preservation. The student and the tree will grow and mature together.

This shameless gimmick of an idea is, I hope, actually far more substantial than it at first appears. I am increasingly of the belief that small influences and gestures can actually have quite a large psychological impact on people. Perhaps I have read to many books that stress the dramatic impact of an individual’s immediate environment. Whatever the strength of these arguments I think this policy is worth a go.

And if nothing else a shameless gimmick may be a welcome relief for many students after two years of GCSE study.