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.

So for all the naysayers, what's the answer. Sit back and wait for it to all burn whilst pretending there's nothing that could be done? Or do you really not believe that something bad is happening? Or do you think it will only happen to other people, not us?

So if you question peoples motives your a naysayer. Myself like many of you were aware of this issue 20 years ago and we sat back and did very little..

Speak for yourself, I bloody didn't.

At least I'm honest

I found the whole thing a bit cringey tbh watching interviews with all these earnest little eco-warriors using "like" innbetween every other word

I think it’s pretty remarkable. This photo is Greta T protesting outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018. In no small part due to her conciseness raising, we saw worldwide rallies of young people yesterday.

And now with the photo

@Reversiblesequinsforadults
Thank you for your response. In what way do developing countries have a means of becoming industrialised in a greener/better/more eco way than 'the West' did. Will they be the first to mostly have Tesla's, live a convenient and easy lifestyle but not use any disposable plastic, use far less water, and most importantly of all control their populations more radically? Would you be happy if the populations of the areas of the world we have mentioned were to implement a 1 child policy? OR a 2 child policy? By force?
You see now the ethical knot we are in to make the desired change.

'I found the whole thing a bit cringey tbh watching interviews with all these earnest little eco-warriors using "like" innbetween every other word'

Gosh yes, only children who speak standard RP English should be taken seriously.

@SmileEachDay, what an amazing photo - from that to yesterday.

In my town there's a large group of school children that give up their evenings and weekends to litter pick, have started campaigns to encourage others to do the same, and are definitely practicing what they preach.
Yesterday there was a March and it was the older people that were becoming more of a nuisance and actually adding to the problem by holding up traffic, being in peoples faces and just not respecting the public. The younger ones (about 12yo I reckon) were the ones who were a bit in the way but not for long and they were definitely trying to strike and encourage others without being pests. So yes whilst they don't actually have anything to strike from that makes a difference they were the ones that I listened to more and didn't just think "oh what a load of dickheads" like I did the older ones. That in itself makes a difference.

Also I agree with a poster up thread, unless we regress massively, such as reverting back to horse and cart, cutting electricity use and using other methods more, and slowing down population growth we can all give up plastic and get busses and go veggie all we want but it won't make masses of difference. I wonder if the planet isn't already too far gone to be honest. I still do my part obviously like I don't personally drive, I eat as little meat as possible, I turn everything off when it's not needed, I recycle, etc but I seriously doubt that things will change enough to save us.

Our industrial revolution in the west was based on coal fired steam. I think we've moved on from that. There are lots of technologies that don't use as much energy, water and other resources as in the past and energy doesn't have to be from fossil fuels. Many countries such as Nigeria and India have large sections of their economy based on computing and other modern technologies as well as research. It doesn't have to be producing mountains of plastic tat for us.

Some of them
Might - some will
See it as a reason to skip school.

Yabu. I understood climate change when I was eight. There was a limit to how much of an impact I could make in my own life (not eating meat wasn't recommended in the 90s) but I do remember solemnly turning all the light switches off and vowing never to buy a car (which I never have).
I was on the climate march and everyone I met on there had made changes in their own life. I'm baffled when people assume they haven't - have you never met an environmentalist? Seriously? The opposite is true - most of the ones I know spend their time taking trains all over the shop and evangelising about veganism.
And fwiw I didn't take DS (four) because he doesn't understand climate change in the slightest and his motivation would absolutely have been to miss a day of school. And I thought that would be missing the point.

I don’t have an issue with that, guilty. That’s the point, the changes we have to make are colossal. But given that most people (certainly if MN is anything to go by) are reluctant to make even the smallest change, I think it’s not going to happen, and all the marches in the U.K. won’t change that. Parents hold the purse strings for these kids. Hopefully once these kids break away from their parents things might happen, but MN shows exactly how selfish most people are. And of course, from a planetary perspective, parents are the most selfish of all, because they’ve done the most unenvironmental thing possible by having children. That, in fact, would be the best pledge anyone could make - not to have children.

Reversible correct me if I’m wrong but nuclear energy is the greenest option, isn’t it? But no one will touch it.

But the waste is pretty toxic isn’t it? No one wants it buried near them and disposing of it seems pretty difficult.

Isn't the UK planning on 3 Nuclear power stations ? nuclear is being used around the world.

Nuclear isn't Green because we don't know how to treat the waste in a sustainable way.

Remember. Ack when every second hand car seemed to have a ‘nuclear power? No thanks’ with a winking sun sticker?

Cassian Nuclear energy is too slow. By the time we'd have built new power stations, we'd already have started tripping off feedback loops. We're need to change fast, and that means things like solar panels which can be built quickly.

I don't know if we're fucked or not. Nobody does, that's part of the problem. I know that all the models which show use being okay rely on carbon capture, which is currently a very expensive and inefficient technology. The hope is that as it becomes more urgent and necessary, more money and resources will be spent on it, but obviously nobody knows whether that research will be successful. I hope it will. I think we're a very resourceful species, particularly in an emergency. But nobody can say for sure.

Incidentally, the charity Effective Altruism wrote an interesting paper arguing that funding research into technological climate change solutions may be the most useful way to spend money on combating climate change.
docs.google.com/document/d/16gFIShjr9PehEygzd2da_13x86xdilNzKZFwcr8b4tg/edit?fbclid=IwAR3ENlgQh0erq9-ATzOyZZFyvcA-3NmzpZevCPjruwiH6eT1fBErf1w4kng

The problem most certainly isn't the young people (and plenty of adults, including myself) doing something. It's people like a lot of you commenting on this thread. Completely fatalistic and determined to do nothing but sneer.

No wonder children feel the need to rise up. They can't rely on adults.

I hope that this will continue and that people who deny and decry become social pariahs. We all have a responsibility.

Its a bit off all the posters sneering at children and asking what they are giving up to prevent climate change then. The only way cllimate change will be prevented is if governments and big business start doing their bit and thats what these protests are asking.

Oh and the best way to control population growth is to educate women and provide decent healthcare. Laws to protect against rape and child marriage, family planning, property rights etc. also make a difference. Educated women in charge of their own lives basically.

Nuclear energy also has major CO2 emissions in the building process (huge huge huge quantities of concrete which releases co2 as it sets) and in the management of nuclear waste which requires it to be mixed up and stored in huge amounts of concrete.

I think something that is really being missed as well is the opportunity for reforestation. Every time was can increase the number of trees on the planet we increase the amount of CO2 we can release without imbalance. I'd be really interested to see the ratios for different trees and the amount they can removed Vs emissions of different things.