AIBU to think children are now in charge

[Itsmeagainandagain]

The school kids protesting in London, how things have changed when we were children we done what we were told, now the kids are laying down the law and dictating to adults.

We already know children know they are above the law and untouchable, we had Greta Thunburg blame the older generation for all the faults of planet earth.

AIBU to think that children are being disrespectful and have no idea how the real world works? These are the same children who would be in floods of tears screaming if you changed the WiFi password to their gadgets, WiFi that us adults work to pay for!!

@GalesThisMorning

I agree *@MorrisZapp*. Most of the teens marching are just protesting loudly, not putting the same energy into solutions. I think that's forgivable though, they are children still thinking things through and working it out. At least they are building awareness, hopefully some of them will be inspired enough to build change.

Yes! I don't understand.why we are demanding children come up with solutions! They didn't fuck it.up! We did. They haven't finished their education. No wonder they're angry with the awful attitudes from 'adults' on here...

“Protest means privilege. Countless thousands of hours are wasted every year that could be used to actually make positive change.”

I very strongly disagree with this. The protesters in Myanmar protesters aren’t at all privileged. They’re being murdered daily for standing up for their rights to have an elected government. The citizens of Hong Kong sure as hell aren’t privileged, they’re having their rights and civil liberties overturned. They’re protesting for their freedom, not for a privilege. The protesters for racism aren’t privileged, they’re facing systematic racism that’s leading to their deaths. They’re protesting for their right to life free of hate, free of midwives ignoring their cries of pain leading to their deaths.

Protesting is never about privilege. It’s about standing up and saying something isn’t right.

@pointythings

Please read the IPCC AR5 and you’ll find out who is being unscientific.

That report suggests anthropogenic climate change is happening and that mitigations are needed. It also helpfully sets out the interdependencies of the mitigations and their potential impacts - it's a good piece of work.

It doesn't in any way suggest that young people don't have anything to protest about, so I'm not sure what you're getting at.

It’s in response to people who believe the apocalyptic scenarios that are not supported by the current science. Nowhere does it say that large swathes of the earth will be uninhabitable (as one PP said) or that humanity will be wiped out.

I wish people would read the damn thing.

Oh, and after a year of certain posters crying ‘ageism’ whenever any concerns about lockdown, vaccine passports or young people’s sacrifices in the name of Covid were raised, this thread is an excellent example of Mumsnet’s reverse ageism in action. It works both ways, you know.

@UrAWizHarry

And you are massively missing the point. Well done you.

What’s the point then?

I wish more young people would protest - I think it’s important for society to hear their voices. It doesn’t mean they’re ‘in charge’; if they were there’d be no need for protest. Feeling a bit more socially powerful might also make young people a little less obsessed with WiFi etc, if that’s something you think needs to change. As for Greta, persisting with her message in the face of opposition from dismissive adults makes her more admirable imo, but it’s also possible to ignore her if you aren’t bothered about what she has to say.

Pimlico Academy is run by Future Academies, a multi-academy trust which was set up by Conservative peer Lord Nash

The school was last inspected by Ofsted in December 2010 when it received an 'outstanding' grading

Children should be grateful to be given the opportunity to attend an Outstanding school. They should be in the classroom, learning, rather than protesting.

Parents allowing this are utterly irresponsible (I don't know what the laws are regarding protesting and underage children). Maybe someone can enlighten us about this.

Men are listening to what people are saying.
My co worker is male 24 and using the dating apps like it's a candy store.
He says will never marry and will leave any relationship as soon as he is bored. He has 3 children by 3 mums.
He got a PS5 the day it came out on his credit card.
He drives a gas guzzler and yet his Facebook is all about woke, climate change and protests.

Children should be grateful to be given the opportunity to attend an Outstanding school. They should be in the classroom, learning, rather than protesting.

What rigid and limited thinking.

There’s far more to education than what’s delivered in the four walls of a classroom

@marigoldflower

Pimlico Academy is run by Future Academies, a multi-academy trust which was set up by Conservative peer Lord Nash

The school was last inspected by Ofsted in December 2010 when it received an 'outstanding' grading

Children should be grateful to be given the opportunity to attend an Outstanding school. They should be in the classroom, learning, rather than protesting.

Parents allowing this are utterly irresponsible (I don't know what the laws are regarding protesting and underage children). Maybe someone can enlighten us about this.

There’s no reason to believe that because it was rated outstanding 11 years ago it still is.

And children should be “grateful”? Really? I bloody despair.

@UrAWizHarry

I quite agree with you. The Berlin Wall coming down was also the so-called catalyst that led to the ‘Velvet Revolution’; the peaceful demonstrations led to the fall of the Iron Curtain and opened up Eastern Europe and all those countries have now joined the EU.

Does anyone really think any of this would have happened if the protestors had stayed at home?

Children should be grateful to be given the opportunity to attend an Outstanding school. They should be in the classroom, learning, rather than protesting.

Honestly when I read this crap I hope the youth go on a bloody rampage.

Children should be grateful to be given the opportunity to attend an Outstanding school. They should be in the classroom, learning, rather than protesting

I went to an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ grammar school in the ‘90s. There was still a healthy dose of protest and dissent among the students - lots of sit down and silent protests - and the school not only tolerated but encouraged it, because it had a liberal ethos, appreciated that respect between staff and pupils needs to be mutual, and recognised the value of debate.

That’s the kind of school I’d like my DD to go to, not somewhere where students are expected to be ‘grateful’, put up and shut up because Ofsted says they offer a halfway decent education.

I must suddenly be getting on a bit, because I’m starting to feel regret that the Union Jack has been hijacked by the right, and left us without a national flag to all feel equally proud of.

I’ve never previously had that thought so that’s surprised me recently and with this school protest.

School uniforms and hair codes feel quite outdated now, (dress codes across the rest of society have relaxed considerably), but are the first thing that new head teachers tighten or institute when they try to improves a school, so I don’t know who is right about that one. Personally I would do away with them, but then I was lucky enough to go to a very high performing school with very strict uniform - which I hated - so maybe now I should give such factors more credit. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think it's great. Children organising and protesting for something they believe in. Personally , I have seen first hand my older nieces and nephews making the types of sacrifice mentioned by a PP. Examples include refusing gifts with packaging, telling me off for using single use plastic ( food bags) adopting a vegan diet and suggesting we walk or cycle to local places rather than drive . They are right to be worried about the mess we are leaving them and their children. Good on them for standing up for something they believe in .

Its interesting. I am glad someone posted a photo of the student manifesto because all I had was the head teachers response which I thought was well written.

What strikes me as interesting is that it really IS a manifesto of changes they want.

In life we learn to pick our battles and some on this list to me appear to be more pressing over than others (ie - hair discrimination for black students).

The flag one is slightly concerning. I am only 30 and in my life we have had anti nationalism and nationalism fighting each other. Every reaction has a chain reaction. I struggle to understand why people cant see that.

WRT the Greta comment and blaming older generations well I also think thats a bit far fetched - in a way its akin to blaming all current white people for slavery - or modern England now for colonialism (which is where I assume the flag issue comes from). Climate change is not something which is like a light switch. From what I can tell in my field (ecology), most of the detriment to our natural fauna which is an important ecological indicator occurred in the 1970s - which by extension means the switch was flicked well before 1970.

Its nice to think we can reverse climate change but we cant. I hate to be blunt but the western world cleaning up their act is like litter picking the odd crisp packet off the local green whilst you have someone fly tipping multiple lorry loads onto the land behind it. Its important - we need to do it, but we wont reverse climate change. The best we can do is protect biodiversity to enable ecosystems the best chance to evolve.

@Stickytreacle

Sorry, posted too soon! The same generation are the ones who would have to accept not using a car and walking more, not eating meat, not buying new and recycling more, conserving water and heating etc. forgoing foreign holidays, eating seasonally, locally produced food... Can't see it happening!

Its happening!

Believe me its happening.

When I was in high school 30 years ago, we went on strike because the teachers kept going on strike and fucking up our education. Several years of missing out on stuff previous years kids had taken for granted.

we have had anti nationalism and nationalism fighting each other

Why would anyone be fighting against their own country (i.e. anti-nationalism)?

When I see a kid protesting about the environment I always wonder, would you rather have the latest iPhone every year or stick with an old dumb Nokia for the next decade? That's the thing about protesters generally, they should look at fixing their own problems before demanding everyone else changes.

So it's all or nothing?

If you see someone protesting about homelessness do you wonder if they have a spare room they could give to a homeless person?

The same generation are the ones who would have to accept not using a car and walking more, not eating meat

Why do we have to accept not eating meat?

Just because a school was rated outstanding 11 years ago that doesn't mean it can't be pretty shit right now. The obsession with flags and uniforms and the teachers leaving in droves certainly suggests something is rotten.

As for the 'children should be grateful to attend an outstanding school' comment - you do know that school choice isn't really a thing, don't you? Unless you're rich enough to afford private school. You get what you're given and what's in close geographical proximity.

That school has a 40-50 year history of underachievement and educational experimentation. A brief period of being deemed “outstanding” wouldn’t turn my head as a parent. I think it’s easy to get carried away with an ofsted snapshot.

Your kids might be in charge, mine definitely aren't OP

I'm now just an aging lefty but i well remember going on demos at university in the 70s and even took part in an occupation of the university Senate building. (Can't remember what about, though.😊 It seemed important at the time....)
Of course, we thought we knew it all and wanted to change the world for the better. I clearly remember feeling strongly that we could and would change things. Just like today's students.
Sadly we didn't, or not as much as we'd have liked.

So yes, some of today's protests might be wrong headed or damaging to women. But they are still needed. I just hope the baby doesn't get chucked out with the bathwater.