From the Classroom to the Streets
by Kelvin Alexander Green
On Friday, March 15th, the world literally shook underfoot as students from almost every corner of every continent marched out of school and into the streets in protest of climate change inaction.
Inspired by the teen activist Greta Thunberg, who protested for several weeks outside the Swedish Parliament drawing attention to the issue of climate, teenagers are assembling to force a worldwide discussion on environmental policy. According to a Special Report by the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), unless the world is able to come together to reduce carbon emissions by 45%, humanity will begin, in little more than a decade, to experience irreversible ramifications of global warming, including: more intense and severe droughts, higher sea levels, and higher temperatures which have the potential to devast agriculture and habitat. Given political impotence on this issue, teenagers have decided to take matters into their own hands. In the United States, students in over 100 cities deliberately skipped school on March 15th in support of immediate action to combat climate change. This movement, which bears a variety of names including Fridays for Future and Youth Strike 4 Climate, represents the desire among young people globally to solve the climate crisis.
Of course, such an activist stance on this issue has not gone without criticism. In November, the Prime Minister of Australia commented, “What we want is more learning in schools and less activism.” In New York City, 16 students were arrested on March 15th for obstructing traffic. Honestly – when are the streets of NYC not obstructed?
Nevertheless, empty seats in classrooms were commonplace on March 15th as banners replaced books in the hands of students across the globe. Here are a couple of the most memorable protest slogans:
“If You Don’t Act Like Adults We Will”
“There is No PLANet B!”
“Learn to Change or Learn to Swim!”
“Like the Sea — We Rise!”
Even Weston High School had a place in the protests. The Green Team and Recycling Club collaboratively organized an information panel on climate awareness. Stacked with promotional stickers, pens, pamphlets and posters, the display was made available throughout the day on March 15th and, in total, disseminated information to roughly half the student body.
From the classroom to the streets, student voices can be heard. The time is ripe for youth to become the leaders, not of tomorrow, but of today.
