Other than in the headline I have managed not to use the word “kids”. I tried not to do so because it would insult the adult behaviour shown by them during the Climate Strike. Frankly, I don’t give a flying pig if they stayed away from school to give their protest its full weight.
I conducted a focus group three years ago as part of research I was doing for an article about teaching politics in school. The group of year 11 and 12 girls and boys at our local Catholic college showed average knowledge of the workings of politics (exactly what I expected) but their knowledge of issues was excellent.
“What do we want? Climate action. When do we want it? Now.”
I watched the Minister for Social Services, Dan Tehan on ABC News 24 last Friday morning. In typical LNP “we know best” fashion he was telling young adults to attend school and let people like him decide what is best for their future.
The thought that we should teach our children how to think and not what to popped into my head as l contemplated the sheer intellectual inadequacy of MPs like Tehan.
An enlightened democratic society should applaud its system of education if that system produces young adults so thoughtful as to the future of their global home and wanting to protest about it.
Further, given that politicians on Tehan‘s side of the political divide have so coldly admitted using the subject purely for political gain it’s difficult to take them seriously.
Of course, I’m referring to Tony Abbott and others who over the past decade has treated climate change as some sort of political plaything.
These young people are to be commended for conveying their thoughts for the survival of the planet so effectively
Given how flippantly Tehran’s right-wing government has treated this world problem, my view is that they just should shut their collective traps and listen to the wisdom of the young.
The television coverage showed these young folk of various ages exercising their democratic right to peacefully and lawfully protest.
A protest they thought important enough to take time away from their education.
“What do we want? Climate action. When do we want it? Now.”
They shouted their slogans with the typical robustness of youth as they marched to the home of the Victorian state parliament.
Some were accompanied by their parents, shouting the message in unison with their offspring.
For those of us who understand the implications of climate change and those who don’t but defer their knowledge to science, which guides them, it was a wonder to see.
Adults would be gullible to think that their offspring don’t give climate change any thought, how it happens and who is responsible. They discuss it in class; watch its worldwide effects on television; and talk about it with their friends.
Those who are just starting life’s journey are more apt to worry about it than those who are coming to its end.
Some parents had a flush of moisture around their eyes so moving seemed the protest. These young adults were very much aware of the consequences of doing nothing and just who is responsible.
300,000 registered to vote when it was a requirement to participate in the marriage equality survey. Who does the prime minister think they will vote for in the coming election?
They know that the current generation has utterly failed the next and they are not afraid to say so.
The message of the last protest was the same as the last and will be again if one is held before the next election.
“What do we want? Climate action. When do we want it? Now.”
They know that truth has failed them and the science they are taught and told to respect is the very same science our leaders call “crap”.
They know that if action isn’t taken now then we will have bequeathed our offspring an impossible mess to clean up. They are anything but dumb when they witness the denials and the stupidity; when the facts are placed before them they wonder why their parents – in some cases – are so stupid.
They know that mum and dad incur a cost for the upkeep of their family’s health and they ask why then should they not be liable for the cost of a healthy planet.
In terms of the environment they wonder what price the people of tomorrow (meaning them) will pay for the stupidity of today
Tim Flannery was in the march and was quoted as saying:
The amount of despair that young people feel today with this crisis can be immobilising. So to see people out getting angry and demonstrating is bloody fantastic.
It’s a sign of disgust with politics, the fact that people can lie openly and there’s no redress; the fact that inaction is so deeply embedded and that lobbyists seem to rule the roost rather than the voices of the people.
It may be a terrible thing to say, but at least the elderly climate deniers – those who so ardently oppose change and vote according to their own pockets – are disappearing and hopefully will be replaced by young school leavers who have had a good education, respect science and what their logic tells them.
As for me, well, I’m looking for special dispensation.
PS: Next post I will reply to all those questions about what can be done to fix our democracy.
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My thought for the day
If we’re not raising new generations to be better stewards of the environment, then what’s the point?
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