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.

I’m not trying to be in Uber environmentalist territory. I would simply like to be a car that fits 5 people and has the smallest impact on the planet. The desire is there but the powers that be need a massive push to enable the maj to work and live with minimal impact.

Christ you are all so cynical. “What’s the point”

If even half these families reduce air travel significantly it will help. My kids are worried and we discuss this a lot and what we can do. We might be extreme but we are trying to fly no more often than once every two years. The kids are adamant that plastic toys can now only be second hand. My seven year old pulls me up on this

The reason we are in this mess is because of smug and selfish generations maximising their rights to stuff. This thread sounds full of these types of people

There will be wireless charging panels and lamppost chargers for as long as we own cars and don’t rely on driverless.

A foreign holiday wouldn’t cover an electric 7 seater.

I think it’s fantastic that young people get engaged. I hope this generation will change things.

smilethoyourheartisbreaking they might understand the climate emergency but do they realise the organisation’s political aims to rebel against the government are much wider reaching than just environmental issues

I think the main thing we can take away from todays protest is that many more people are aware of what a bad situation the world is in. If all Greta manages is to shock people into sitting up and listening then, thank f*ck for that. I regularly get laughed at for bringing my own containers places or for questioning the carbon footprint of a certain product. I am a member of the local community garden as well as growing our own veg, we use the local schools that are walking distance and use public transport when we do need to go in to town. I fix and make clothes, adapt clothes for my 2 ds etc. We follow the reduce reuse recycle mantra. My eldest son is a member of the school green club and has set up their own compost scheme for the community garden as well as leading them at the local strike today. My youngest has never been on a plane and is 8yrs old, my eldest has been on one once when we had to fly back to my home country for a funeral, he is 14. They are both eco conscious, we talk about what is more important, to have things or to have a healthy planet to live in, and yes of course they get tempted as do I at times, but ultimately we live as zero waste and eco consciously as we can. Yes Im lucky, but actually most of this is because I talk to them about it, and have done from a young age.

As a pp said if we all changed the small things then it would make a huge difference. The biggest problem is the people who think that they can only make a difference if they live like hippies and they arent willing to make that change so they dont make any change at all, or they stop using straws and think they are mother natures saviour through that alone. People need to be educated about it all, and if these strikes make people start to educate themselves and actually make a bloody change then bloody brilliant.

They may be the beneficiaries of other now, but in future they'll inherit the stupidity of other. Go figure.

I’m sure the people of Lagos (at risk from flooding due to climate change)who took part today really give a shit about rebellious undertones from the organisers.🙄

im pretty sure the fact they had to walk out of school was an added bonus for some kids, but I also know of many kids who would have been there if it was a weekend, but went to school or college instead, either because they wanted/needed to, or their parents didnt let them.

Do you honestly think all these people, all these children in 150 countries worldwide, dont actually give a shit and just wanted a day off. If kids want to bunk off, they will. They dont need to go to a protest to do it.

What a sad OP's post this is, as are several that followed straight after it.
If this is the attitude of the majority of adults then no wonder our children feel they need to do something.
Presumptions that this was a bunch of middle class kids bunking off school to dodge lessons only to be driven somewhere in 4x4 afterwards smack of a chip on the shoulder of those posters.

My 12 year old really wanted to go so she did, despite her own concern about the lessons she'd miss. And we, her parents, encouraged her to do it if she wanted to and I accompanied her (having taken time off work). She is very interested in the issue genuinely and herself makes sure she does what she can to help the problem as do several of her friends. Their generation is much more aware of the current affairs generally than ours was at that age. She actually suggests that our trips are those that can be done by trains rather than planes (rather than asking for Disney World or a mountain of plastic crap).
And yes we are middle class but you know what, we don't eat meat, we go to great lengths not to use plastic, very rarely drive, fly only once a year for this exact reason.
So you see not all of us a hypocrites.

And there are many many who do the same and they were today on the streets. And the social class doesn't come into it.
I'm not saying this to make myself look oh so perfect but to say that things can be done if you want to with very little inconvenience added to your life. So rather than being so dismissive think about joining in as this wagon is worth jumping on.

There will be wireless charging panels and lamppost chargers for as long as we own cars and don’t rely on driverless.

The rare earth metals involved in this is just a can kicking exercise and treating climate change as a simple black and white issue.

As one of the first replies made out, no one is really prepared to make the sacrifices needed, being vegan goes out the window when we look at eating locally etc, especially when he more vocal 'environmentalists' are sitting on their ipad and ignoring the fact china, india are more of a problem to the situation than both US, EU combined.

It is at a point of becoming a cult, that is something everyone who cares about the environment needs to understand when they think that being veggie is morally superior

I did. I clearly remember hearing about the rainforest, the ozone layer, what would happen if something wasn't done.

I was in primary school when I first heard about deforestation, not long in secondary when I learnt about CFCs.

I'm in my mid 40s fgs. Why has nothing changed in 3 decades.

Stop assuming teenagers don't understand. They're fucking furious

YANBU. DSD13 is one of the brightest people I know and she asked ME what the strikers wanted. The kids who went on strike are apparently only the subject of talk among our DCs friends because their parents are getting unauthorised absence fines 🤷🏼‍♀️

Pretty much every social uprising in the last century has seen students as a catalysts

And here people are berating children who have maybe decided that serious social issues being debated on middle class Internet forums hasn't really been working for the country lately.

Anyway, warriors.......engage your keyboards

While I have no doubt there are teens and younger children passionate about the cause I am sure 75-80% see these strikes as a extra day off school that they can spend with their friends rather then having to be in lessons etc. If you asked them to give up holidays or their technological devices or spend their weekend doing a beach clean up rather then skip a day of school and I think this protest would reduce drastically

It's ridiculous. Virtue signalling. Most of these kids will be driven to school, eat take away lunches, store bought. Have the latest (or want the latest) phone, shows, clothes, and have electronics they use frequently at home. Start doing something useful yourself and with your family. A day of school waving cardboard most definitely ain't it.

Honestly? I think it's a total waste of time. Just an excuse for a day off and some self-righteous virtue-signalling. The most it will do is provide some sort of catharsis for some of the participants. Anyone who hears about it will already be well aware of climate change, so it's silly to say it's about "raising awareness".

I can't believe that this will change anyone's mind. If anything, some of the video clips I've seen could potentially even delegitimise "the cause".

I guess it was “The Rebellion has to morph at the last moment into a general rebellion against ‘all government failures’ “ that concerned me. That children are taking part to protest about the climate, when the organisers plan for it to change at the last minute. Roger Hallam’s website and publication make interesting reading.

www.instagram.com/p/B2pj5L5Agog/?igshid=ldpou8hyh2yu

Really. She went from solitude to millions in a year.

YABU.
Good for them!

I don’t doubt any of those protesting people’s motives. I’m cynical of the bandwagon jumping for sure. But who could or would want to possibly counter and say climate change is good?

We all know it’s bad. But what’s the proposal?

There hasn't been a 'big increase' in the popularity of electric cars. They are not really taking off in great numbers. Because they are a PITA in their current form and people don't want to deal with that (Plus obviously we will have to generate the electricity to run these cars).

Not great numbers yet, no, but demand is definitely increasing. www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics-news/demand-for-electric-vehicles-surges-in-uk/219144/ we have one and I intend to replace my diesel car with another very soon. It's not. PITA at all unless you habitually drive distances greater than the range of the car. Ours has a range of 186 miles which should easily cover most people's day to day use. We've used it for day trips 2 hrs drive away and had battery to spare. There are charging points all over the place if you look. We absolutely love it.

Yes we need to generate the electricity but there are ways of doing that with renewable etc that have less of an impact.

Whilst I support the cause and applaud what they are doing - it did strike me from watching the news that all the young people being interviewed on TV appeared to be very well spoken and well educated and how middle class they all seemed to be.

I can't help wondering how many flights/holidays abroad these kids have been on in their lifetimes? I wonder do they object to that? How many of them are driven to school every morning? Do they go to school on their bikes like we did?

Actions speak louder than words and it's great they feel the need to take the day off school and protest but going forward I do hope they follow through with their convictions to save the planet.