The Environment and Hypotheticals

By Janice Guider

        

What if we knew that environmental hazards such as air and water pollution, lead exposure, plastic pollution, extreme heat, and poor air quality influence the health and the academic performance of our students? What if we did nothing to mitigate diseases or neurodivergent disorders associated with ambient air pollution? What if we knew that pregnant women and children are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards affecting in utero development, as well as young, developing bodies of children and their behaviors? What outcomes could we reasonably foresee in this vulnerable population if we, the adults in the room, stood by idling in a plume of knowledge and did nothing?

The Environment and Certainty

From an early age, mitigating triggers for respiratory illness in the Birth-to-Five population and certain neurodivergent disorders associated with ambient air pollution will lead to a reduction in chronic disease that often results in higher absenteeism rates and suboptimal performance in school. Asthma, for which there is no cure, is a long-term or chronic disease that will impact a student's ability to function from early childhood through late high school. According to Martin (2022), "Poor asthma control is associated with a number of negative effects on children and families. For example, they are more likely to be absent from school, have additional educational needs, and have lower educational attainment. Caregivers also experience missed workdays and financial challenges as a result. Some children will experience severe symptoms and life-threatening attacks." 

Research shows that children who don't develop effective learning skills by the third grade are more prone to have conduct or behavioral disorders that result in school expulsion. The school-to-prison pipeline is rooted in this causality, fueled by disparities that ultimately negatively affect all communities.

Our Children’s Caregivers

As responsible caregivers, parents, educators, physicians, nurses, and environmentalists, we have the responsibility and choice to shift the paradigm of environmental hazards and the implications that lead to suboptimal health and academic outcomes. The opportunity to build a collective voice to codify protections from environmental hazards impacting our students is upon us. New York, California, and Oregon have already done this.

For nearly two years, a small and growing collaborative has been addressing the transition of our students from diesel-fueled buses to cleaner forms of energy, specifically electric. In partnership with the Environmental Law and Policy Center, WRI (World Resources Institute), Educator Collective for Environmental Justice, American Federation of Teachers, Climate Jobs Illinois, and EHAN (Equity in Health Advisors Network) presented "Linking Environmental Health and Student Success: A Cleaner Commute" on Thursday, July 31, 2025. Educators in New York, along with Dr. Andrea Pappalardo, Allergist-Immunologist, Internist, and Pediatrician at UIC School of Medicine and UI Health, presented on the seriousness of this "Link."

Cleaning up school transportation is an opportunity to prevent acute respiratory diseases and, as more studies show, some neurodivergent disorders in students, and improve academic outcomes for students.

A Hazardous Breathing Zone or Playground

As you drive past your community's elementary school and observe familiar yellow buses transporting students, do you consider this a "hazardous breathing zone?" We applaud those schools that now have idling rules as a first step. Compared to non-idling rules, the unintended consequence of requiring a diesel-fueled bus to restart its engine produces more harmful emissions. These rules do not protect our most vulnerable students transported on ADA-compliant buses equipped with a wheelchair lift, as the concentration of diesel exhaust is higher inside the bus.

Environment is a Significant Influencer

Educators who understand the factors that influence disease risk associated with ambient air pollution and the consequential burden on their students should advocate for minimizing the risks of asthma, bronchitis, and other acute respiratory illnesses in the student population by promoting greener spaces around schools. This burden disproportionately impacts the health and academic outcomes of minority students, particularly Black African American students, regardless of their zip codes.

In closing, air pollution acts as a toxin, promoting inflammatory responses that can cascade into neuroinflammation, dysregulation, and neurodegeneration. Chronic stress may impair cognitive capacity, leading to poor choices or decision-making in students. The prevalence of aggressive behaviors in students beyond early childhood may transfer across the spectrum of a student's academic experience, including the likelihood of not completing a basic education through high school. Air pollution contributes to the causality.

Advocacy is crucial to improving the health of individual students, teachers, families, and communities. As awareness of environmental hazards to students improves, so will the education of students to understand opportunities for participation in creating greener, healthier spaces in society. Such opportunities will contribute to driving optimal health and academic outcomes.

Hypothetically…

What if we do absolutely nothing, knowing the dangers of environmental hazards to our children? What is the realistic expectation? In contrast, we may contribute to giving our students a greater opportunity for optimal health and academic outcomes in a cleaner environment. Transitioning to electric school buses is just a start. And an impactful change.

Janice F Guider, MPH, CHES®

River Prairie Group/Sierra Club