On Friday the 15th of March, 2019, over 1,5 million students all over the world were protesting for the environment. They were inspired by a 16-year old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg) who has been on strike every Friday since August 20th, 2018, to persuade politicians to make more sustainable choices. Even though the protestors are working for a good cause, there are still many adults who disagree with them skipping school for political agenda.
Sign from the Turku strike. (photo credits: https://www.instagram.com/mimmipeltola/)
Some students from our school in Turku took part in the protest held downtown. According to estimates, there were around 400 students there. In Finland there were strikes in 27 cities and the biggest one was in Helsinki, with 3000 students. In total, over 8800 people participated in the climate strike in Finland.
Protest sign from the Turku strike. (photo credits: https://www.instagram.com/mimmipeltola/)
Many have criticised the movement and the protestors for being so vague in their goals. They are just asking for a change but do not clearly define what they want changed. In addition, some have pointed out that the students should make sure they follow a green lifestyle themselves, before criticizing others. Many schools have not given permission for students to participate in the strike while others encouraged them to go there as a group.
However, a letter of support was written by the Finnish scientific community. Over 1200 scientists signed the letter supporting climate striking children and youth. Among the scientists were e.g. university professors, researchers and environment specialists from Finnish universities and universities abroad. In the letter, the scientific community gives their full support to the youth and states that urgent and radical changes need to be made.
WRITERS: Heini Hautalampi, Tiitu Peltola and Mikaela Sandelin, Turun normaalikoulu
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_strike_for_climate
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10683192
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