One of the biggest names in the news for the past two weeks has been a 16-year-old Swedish girl. Greta Thunberg rose to international fame when in August 2018 she spent days she was supposed to be in school sitting outside the Swedish parliament building with a sign which read, “School strike for climate.”
Her movement pushed forward from there and has had a profound effect around the world, starting the #FridaysForFuture movement, which calls for students to strike every Friday until action is taken to begin combating the effects of climate change. On Sept. 23, Thunberg made a powerful speech at the United Nations Climate Summit.
“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,” Thunberg said.
On Sept. 20, an international climate strike took place. All over the world, children and adults left their normal Friday routines behind and shouted for their governments to hear them and to listen.
Thunberg is not the first child to advocate for changes to regulations of pollutants. Mari Copeny, better known by her handle @LittleMissFlint, has been advocating for her community since she was only 8. Now, at 12, she has continued to call for action from her peers and those she is supposed to look up to.
“No, our fight to save the planet didn’t start today with the #ClimateStrike and it doesn’t end today either,” tweeted the @LittleMissFlint account administered by her mother following the international climate strike. “Many of us have been putting in the work for years to save our planet. Don’t just amplify our voices today, but every day and support our solutions to save us.”
Even in Rock Hill, teenagers are speaking out and standing up for what they know to be true. Sarah-Isabel Poindexter-Ibarra is a senior at Rock Hill High School and has organized two climate strikes in the city during the UN climate summit.
“There are so many ways in which our communities can change to be more conducive for [helping] the crisis and to alleviate all the people who are most affected,” Poindexter-Ibarra said at the second strike on Sept. 27. “Climate justice is not just about the horrible consequences that climate change will bring, it’s also about realizing that the people who will be most affected are those living in poverty and those who can do the least about it.”
These children are caught in the middle of childhood and the fear of not being able to grow into their adulthood. It is unethical that we continue on this way.
In fear of the power that teenagers can hold, prominent figures in politics and the media have attempted to discredit Thunberg after her speech to the UN.
Laura Ingraham, a host on Fox News, compared Thunberg and other child activists to cult members in the movie “Children of the Corn.”
President Donald Trump sarcastically tweeted that Thunberg “seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”
Others have suggested that Thunberg herself is just a tool for propagandists and that she should not hold any power. While it is likely that Thunberg has a team supporting her, it is the same with every other person in the public sphere.
Thunberg, Copney and Poindexter-Ibarra all represent a new generation. A generation that demands to be taken seriously despite criticisms—a generation that stands up for what they believe in. We must listen to the voices of the children because they will not be silenced. Despite critics who fear the power that they hold, these children will change the world, hopefully before it’s too late.
Graphic: Elizabeth Talbert/ The Johnsonian
