Climate Change Protests: A Moral Responsibility
Lyla Andrick and Jake Halpern
On Sept 20th, over 4 million people walked out of schools to protest climate change and demand action be taken. This movement, led by Greta Thunberg, started about a year ago and has grown into a worldwide revolution.
Many say that the students striking are just trying to get out of school, have an excuse to miss a test or class, but in reality, it’s to ensure our survival as a species.
“Why can’t you strike after school to take time out of your own day to protest for something that is important to you?”
This is a valid and important question, and I am here to answer with my perspective. The point of the Climate Walkouts are to cause a disturbance. It is meant to rattle the system.
Greta Thunberg, the starter of this movement, uses civil disobedience as her inspiration. She is in no way telling people to just skip school, she is telling them to call for action. To make noise. To practice our rights to protest.
It doesn’t matter whether we continue to be educated if politicians won’t even listen to Phd scientists telling them hard facts . If we can’t ensure our own future, then what is the point of learning about thousands of years of history?
“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” Greta yells this during her speech at the UN Climate Action Summit.
The facts have never been clearer. According to many scientists and the United Nations we only have about 11 years until the effects of climate change are irreversible. The next 18 months are crucial to dealing with the crisis according BBC.If we don’t seriously cut our carbon emissions we will face catastrophic effects.
We strike now not to get out of tests but to save our planet from this crisis. We strike during school to cause a disturbance, to make people think and act. We strike to ensure our future.
