To wonder if school children understand the concept of a (climate) strike

[lemonsandlimes123]

Watching the news coverage of the climate strike today I can't help but think a couple of major points are not being addressed.

Firstly it is not exactly difficult to motivate thousands of children to effectively take a day off school! I have seen journalists pondering why it has been so well supported and I can't help thinking the answer is somewhat obvious, most kids like a day off school.

Secondly i understand the concept of a strike as a political action to be one of removing your labour to effect those who may profit from your labour. The accompanying loss of wages also means that there is cost to the striker that shows a certain commitment to the cause. The idea of school children striking when in fact in a school they are the beneficiaries of the labours of others strikes me as somewhat backwards. By not attending school they are only reducing their own education which seems rather self defeating IMO.

So whilst I think it's great that people are engaged I do feel the whole walking out of school business probably has more impact on the numbers participating than the actual cause.

affect not effect!

YANBU

Whilst climate change is important pretty much no one is prepared to make the sacrifices to ‘stop’ it if it even can be stopped. The only thing these kids understand is the guff they’ve been bombarded with but 99% will be just as much a virtue signaller as the adults. Let’s test them with a free all expensives paid trip to Disneyland or a safari and see if they take it or decide they morally can’t take the flight.

Reality is everyone will have to massively reduce their behaviour and go back in time almost in terms of living far more simply than now and akin to a 100 years ago or similar. Then there’s population growth. Only way to solve CO2 is technological change but then that doesn’t solve everything else like feeding people, cutting down trees, digging up other finite resources etc. Ok I’m a pessimist. The planet is fucked it and we’ve fucked it. Climate change is only one part of it

YANBU. They - and most of the adults jumping on the bandwagon - want "something" to be done (they don't know what) as long as it doesn't affect them or lower their quality of life in any way at all. It's meaningless.

It looked to me like a bunch of middle class parents and their DC virtue signally. I'll bet none have taken any major steps to reduce their own footprint.

I'm fairly sure they do. It's not as though climate change is a new thing we've only just discovered. The IPCC was set up in 1988. I remember Victoria Wood mentioning in sketches on her TV show in the 80s. If I could get it when I was a pre-teen and understand it was a serious issue, I'm not sure why school children wouldn't get it now when it's imminent?

YANBU. It’s a bit silly really, I would have loved a day off school to ‘protest’ back in my day though.

It looked to me like a bunch of middle class parents and their DC virtue signally. I'll bet none have taken any major steps to reduce their own footprint.

Agree wholeheartedly.

Yeah I'm bloody sick of my dc preaching to me about plastic straws while simultaneously nagging me for whatever plastic crap Smyths toy superstore are spewing out.

If my DC was school age I would have let them strike.

And we definitely have taken some major steps to reduce our footprint:
Both work from home/walking distance
Reduced consumption of meat, eat vegetarian half the time
Got rid of one car
Fly less than once a year rather than at least 3 times like we used to
Only have one child

These are just the big hitters. There's lots of small steps like using reusable nappies and sanpro.

So I will protest all I like thank you very much

They'll tip back up to school on Monday in 4x4s,as usual, many having jetted round the planet but a few weeks ago.

I'm all for encouraging young people to be politically engaged but...err...who wouldn't fancy a day off school?!

YANBU - if they all rocked up on a Saturday I’d be more impressed and would buy into their passion. School is not the same as work - you’re there for your own good, most would happily miss a day when given the chance and it doesn’t affect anyone else if you don’t turn up

Yanbu.

My girls took the bus into Bristol today and it was an inset day. They feel impassioned about this issue and absolutely don’t use it as an excuse to bunk off. Actually they felt better about today because they aren’t missing academic sessions. When it happens in academic sessions, they take responsibility and sign out knowing that there may be consequences (although there haven’t been this far). I am very proud of them both.

I think there are some slightly odd things around some of the messaging focused around children. When she’ll people are suffering from anxiety due to climate change I think the messaging has been too hard hitting for their emotional maturity. I’ve seen some questionable things on my Facebook feed re impassioned 5 year olds that just don’t really read true (ie it’s the parents 100%). Teenagers are a different matter and a degree of activism is healthy but I’ve v cynical about some of the activity from younger children and I don’t think it’s that helpful.

I really wanted the journalists to ask the children what things they have personally given up to make their own contribution to climate change/ Holidays? Car journeys? Consumer products? Food from abroad? Short-term clothes?

If they could give a good answer to that (as opposed to simply blaming "older generations" then I'd feel more kindly disposed towards their protest.

Why would anyone speak disparagingly about children wanting a better future for themselves and generations to follow?? It baffles me, it really does.

CuteOrangeElephant.... I’ll be the one right behind you (probably getting all the chants wrong). X

Well you’re in a minority Elephant but if it’s fair to raise standards for everyone and not keep the developing world down, there’s no way 7 billion people limiting themselves to one flight and reducing meat consumption would work.

And some people will have to fly more than once which means some can’t. Visiting family for instance - maybe banning immigration and emigration would solve that but wouldn’t be popular with the lefties.

And most of the worlds population don’t eat much meat now. If they all raised their consumption to even your reduced level that would be huge increase in real terms.

So what some are basically saying I’ll cut a few things and hope the rest of the world doesn’t live my own lifestyle because if everyone truly lived the same lifestyle we’d have to reduce what we did by way more than what you’re living

I'm not sure why school children wouldn't get it now when it's imminent?
Most will be aware of it. Some will feel strongly about it. How many will actually get up and do something productive about it? These "strikes" achieve nothing. I'd be marginally more impressed if they went on a Saturday. I'd be much more impressed if they made personal and family sacrifices.

The list of sacrifices they could try is endless. They could walk or cycle to school rather than being dropped off. How about insisting that air travel is minimised and that their family use train or ferry, say for four years out of five? If they refused any products containing palm oil I'd be very impressed.

Sadly though, I suspect that the majority will be content to shout a bit, and more than pleased to skive off school but few will be prepared to let it affect their own lifestyle.

Caucho -

I know I am not perfect but it's a start! Doing nothing because it's still not enough is certainly not going to help anyone.

I think it has got a bit OTT. Only the 6th formers in my DS's school went on strike and stood outside City hall with banners. My DS and his friends were mightily impressed with them, but some of the banners were so OTT they just make people think 'yeah right' I think. I agree 'something' has to be done, but governments can only do so much. Poverty kills many more people globally than climate change, yet the only way we will reduce carbon emissions in any significant way is to stop countries like India and China developing and dragging themselves and their people out of poverty. So basically by saying 'we're alright, but you cant progress, we'll just send you all our plastic crap to burn'. We need to stop producing so much waste ourselves so it doesn't have to be sent halfway across the world to pollute other countries and the oceans, but how many of those kids will refuse plastic toys or a flight? How many will go on a gap year, flying around all over the place? How many will go to university and take drugs, knowing how much damage that does to the environment and communities? My kids have gone vegetarian due to the environment, but when I point out to them that they have only half eaten their packed lunch and bought stuff from the tuck shop instead so Ive had to throw their soggy sandwich in the bin, or tell them to take their crappy plastic toy that they got in McDonalds back to the counter, they hesitate.

Some of the comments on here!!!!

I went to the strike today with my dc. We've done lots to reduce our own carbon footprints. As plastic free as we can manage, massively reduced our waste. Gone nearly veggie and reduced dairy consumption. Don't fly. Buy second hand. Buy local.

Never Doubt That a Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens Can Change the World; Indeed, It’s the Only Thing That Ever Has.

Ddraiggoch My DC actually do refuse to eat palm oil products, so no nutella in our house! However, their cousin went on a talk to Chester zoo where they said that actually, not eating palm oil is also destroying habitats, because it is being replaced with other sorts of oil, which also destroys habitats. We should be eating sustainable palm oil, because the existing trees are there. But some people say that sustainable palm oil is a misnomer. Its all so contradictory and confusing that even trying to do the right thing can be wrong.

YANBU

Some 150 school children were taken to the protest as an actual school trip, which I think is a totally inappropriate use of school time and staff resources. A joy for the children though

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-49772299

I had the joy of having my transport being interupted and having to walk up horse guards parade and Charing Cross Road to resume my journey.

Some of the signs I noticed were quite sexually explicit (A suggestion of riding dicks instead of vehicles, lot's of comparisons with Boris Johnsons initials to blow jobs and plenty of swearing). Not something I'd like a literate 5 year old or primary school aged child to see.

As usual there were the things that were nice to hear and bold statements with zero substance and no actual hows. People wearing the latest trendy trainers and clothing and pushing what I know are very expensive buggies simultaneously holding slogans decrying capitalism, polluting businesses and even modernism all whilst holding up mobiles (production of which is environmentally unfriendly) to video and take pictures.

If you really believe it then why not just what is necessary ie stop buying modern clothing and make your own, don't drive at all etc, etc. But they receive more kudos for protesting than doing.

I would be interested to know how many of the school children on this so called 'educational' day off were from private vs academies or LA schools. I'm betting almost none were from private.

The problem isnt people not doing anything, and if all those kids and their parents were doing things, that would be great. But if they think that they are doing enough by making a banner and taking a day off school instead of making major lifestyle sacrifices themselves, thats an issue. Its like celebs with their carbon offsetting thinking it gives them a right to preach about the environment while using private jets. Its not enough to grow some trees, you need to not go on private jets. Its not enough to stand around on a sunny Friday with a banner if day to day you are getting your mum to drop you to school by car and drinking out of plastic bottles.