Pupil strike on Friday over climate change.

[justasking111]

DS said on Friday the pupils at his school might walk out on Friday over climate change. I did not realise at the time it was a national thing. Not impressed with this, what are the children going to do for three hours. We have had nothing official from the school. Has anyone?

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/08/global-school-strikes-over-climate-change-head-to-the-uk

This is the sort of reason our kids are striking. To get politicians to listen.

Yeah, right. They know damn well they won't listen and they weren't striking, their not in a bloody union. And your kids might have found it worthwhile to skive off school to post themselves being woke on Instagram, but some are actually sensible.

What do you think the government is doing to stop climate catastrophe?

I don't really care as long as it doesn't result in even higher costs for basics, far too many people are teetering on the edge as it is. But hey, how about a one-child/person policy, because again, the biggest threat to the climate is overpopulation.

Never see anyone 'taking a stand' about that, no, it's all whinging about people using cars and the like.

Yawn.

You realise it was a global movement and that it was decided that Friday the 15th would be the day for kids around the world to protest.

Uk students didn't plan it to get a day off school for fun, they worked with thousands of other teens across the globe to make a stand for what they believe in.

Yes they did it on a school day. But then how dare junior doctors strike on the day they work. How dare nurses strike on days they work. How dare train guards, train drivers, fire fighters etc etc.

But many on mumsnet got behind them but not children fighting for their future?

Oh, get real! The government will do anything to distract people from the more immediate disaster than it no-deal Brexit, they're not going to suddenly make a load if whingy middle class poncy kids skiving off school a major focus and locum of change.

Some £6.9bn in support wasprovided to oil, gas and coal companies under an export scheme since 2000, according toan analysis of the files by Greenpeaceand the magazine.
Most of that, some £4.8bn, was committed since 2010 when the Conservatives came to power, initially in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

That's an easy way for the government to make becoming green cheaper, direct fossil fuel subsidies to green energy practises etc.

No, one single day of action isn't going to magically transform the political agenda.

But momentum starts to build, and things start to change.

This isn't an isolated action - it needs to be seen in context with Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace, David Attenborough, 10:10 and all the other groups calling for the government to take action against climate catastrophe.

It saddens me to see how little some mumsnetters seem to think of children. But maybe these are the posters who like to be negative about everything.

I think it's great that so many young people are becoming politically engaged and feel passionate enough to try and do something positive.

Precisely, this one movement won't make change but as more and more people wake up to the fact that climate change is the biggest threat to our survival then eventually the pressure will mount and the government will have to make chnages.

I agree with posters actually saying these kids should do more. 100% they should, like the rest of us should too.
However individuality we can't decide the energy policy of the country, ban fossil fuel cars, improve electric car infrastructure etc etc. This needs government policy to change and this is what the protest is about. Getting the government to wake up and realise that no matter what we as individuals do we need them to help us achieve it.

@TaimaandRanyasBestFriend while of course I don't want to see increased prices for stuff, are you really ok with the fact that if everyone carries on as they are, our children's futures are basically screwed?

Temperature will rise, crops will fail, people will starve. It's pretty much that straightforward.

Frankly if my lifestyle has to change to make the future less bleak for my children, then bring it on.

Also it's a myth that a greener economy will make prices go up.

Renewables are cheaper to generate than fossil-fuel energy now, electric cars are cheaper over the longer term because their running costs are so low, and energy efficiency measures save money for everyone.

Good on them for getting their voices heard. I am looking into taking my children along in March.

I feel the statement from TM was out of touch and patronising.

@Tiscold agree again. It's not about people changing their lifestyles themselves (though of course that is important) - it's about getting the government to wake up to it to force the issue and invest in properly sustainable technologies.
And work towards a zero carbon economy.

For those saying the strike is a waste of time- please do volunteer other ways that we could get the government might listen. The politicians all had something to say about it yesterday which is a small step forward.

Yep, as individuals we do need to make change, reusable bags, walk if possible and use public transport over cars, sustainable clothing, eat less meat overall etc.
I understand individuals all however are different, have different budgets, are disabled etc.

However without government legislation none of this will make a massive difference, the government need to end fossil fuel subsidies and divert them to renewable energy even though Onshore wind power and solar – without subsidies – are now the cheapest source of new bulk power in every major economy in the world apart from Japan, a new report says.

They need to legislate that houses have proper insulation to keep the heat in. Decrease the number of fossil fuel cars on the road. Invest in public transport that works and is suitable to use. Etc

And that is why these protests are happening and will continue to happen.
It's not because people want to attack the poor, or attack individuals choices. It's because they want to attack the world leaders for blindly leading us into extinction and world catastrophe.

I have a suspicion that this sort of ‘action’ by children in fact does more harm than good.

The effect is to present a serious issue through feel-good kiddy chanting and doting middle class parents’ approval.

That limits the reach and scope of the message. Many people will see it as just a day off school for Henry and Emily. Which undermines the cause.

And politicians can pay lip service to it to ingratiate themselves and pretend that that’s a step in the right direction: for them it’s a useful deflection.

@frazzled. Absolutely agree, all these government ministers making comments were made to talk about it and think about it.

They may not make change from this one protest but they've been shown that people out there do care and want change. And if more movements keep happening, more people keep supporting them, then kore news coverage, more government response and eventually the pressure will become too much and we finally get some actual policy and change that is needed

Hmm, i see your point @kissing, as evidenced by some in this thread. However i think any action is good action jn my opinion.

It has raised awareness of the issue of climate change, as it was all over the news and many newspapers.

Oh God, are you all so old and jaded that you cannot remember the passion you feel about everything when you are young?
I can, and I only wish that cynicism did not intrude so early in life, then we might achieve more.
I am guilty of thinking there is no point, that all politicians are the same, that it matters not one jot who is in power.
But I do remember the passion with which I campaigned when young. When I truly believe I could change the world.

Good on them, and long may their enthusiasm last 😊

'Thank God they can't vote'

Well they will be able to vote in three years time. Duh. That's why I find all those similarly patronising digs by Tory politicians so shortsighted, if predictable. Don't they want to appeal to anyone under the age of 55?

You need to use the whole of a user name when using the @ thing. If you abbreviate it, it alerts someone with that abbreviated name.

Haven’t RTFT but am dismayed by the posts I have seen dismissing this as bunking off for a few hours, as a waste of time etc. Find the piece Krishnan Guru-Murthy did for C4 news where he spoke to 5 young people about this issue. They are engaged, thoughtful, trying their best to make their voices heard. It’s them that will be left to deal with the ramifications of politicians doing fuck all about climate change, they absolutely should be protesting.

I would rather they had the vote than me!

They are the future, I am treading water - I know that nothing majorly huge will happen in my lifetime, that will affect me directly.

What happens now will affect them and their offspring.

Thank God they will be voting soon.

Ah apologies about getting the @ wrong, silly me.

These young teens will be able to vote very seen and have long memories. And i can guarantee that mocking them will not help any political parties votes.

It’s always nice Western middle-class people living in the (relative) lap of luxury - who are “waking up to the climate catastrophe” and burbling on about how wind and wave power will save the planet. We’ve been at this for 30 years now and it doesn’t work, and anyway the truth is that we wouldn’t last two weeks on “sustainable” wave/solar/wind derived energy.

People living in poverty in third world countries on the other hand are desperate to get their hands on fossil fuels, as much as is humanly possible. They absolutely don’t want their houses, schools and hospitals lit and heated by crappy solar panels that fizzle out when the sun goes in. These people need cheap, efficient, powerful energy of the type that only fossil fuels can provide - the energy that we all take totally for granted in our fantastically easy lives. Children die because they don’t have access to this energy. A society’s child mortality rates decrease when CO2 output goes up.

This is a topic if indescribable complexity, and the fact that kids are going on strike to demand that someone else “does something about climate change” just says to me that we need much, much better (and much more nuanced) education about this entire topic.

I am really not sure that many of those young people who went on the march or who might have been interested in reports of it will actually vote on the basis of environmental issues or even maintain their views for very long.

When you’re old enough to have to pay for the policies, a different opinion emerges quickly enough. That’s why this debate takes place at a high level within industry and government. Coercive top down measures are necessary. They won’t be put in place by well meaning voters.

That’s why this debate takes place at a high level within industry and government.

You just don't get it, do you Kissing? The objective of the student protests is to influence the debate in government. They feel that politicians are failing their generation. And they are right.