the children leave the classroom and take up position.
they have something to say.
are you listening mr prime minister?
they were diverse in age colour ethnicity religion private and public educated.
their placards were heartfelt – colourful meaningful funny poignant.
they rallied outside government offices, on the steps of parliament, in their town centres and parks. they numbered in the thousands.
the inspiration behind this action was Greta Thunberg a 15year old Swedish lass who in September began to protest outside parliament in Stockholm which she continues to do every Friday.
this week Greta went to Poland to the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Greta said “I will not beg the world’s leaders for change. I will tell them that change is coming whether they like it or not.”
recently two 14 year old girls from Castlemaine in Victoria gathered a similarly feeling concerned bunch and protested outside a senators office in Bendigo .
since then the idea went viral and actions took place.
at Kingstons school Amalia Grace Thompson 11 years old wrote a speech about two recent bushfires that deeply affected our community destroying homes and habitat. She decided to organise a schools strike 4 climate rally in the park in bega.
Amalia said“Politicians should take action because they are destroying our world.”
Another student at the rally expressed it this way :
“So I’m always looking out for the latest things happening and how I can help. I want to do anything I can to help.”
and another young voice said:
“Not only are we destroying the planet, we are bringing on our own doom. We are capable of saving our own planet, but sometimes it feels like we can’t be bothered.”
and that was the future talking last week .
the children of australia stood up out of love, a deep yearning to see their world made right, a deep need to call adults to take responsibility , a deep awareness that we have one home this planet and just plain common sense arising from a keen ability to see the writing in the clouds in the oceans in the extinctions in the forests in the patterns around them.
the children call us to answer, to stand up and be counted and what can we do folks?
well if you are the resources minister you will say something like this:
“the best thing you’ll learn about going to a protest is how to join the dole queue. thats what your future will look like, up in a line asking for a handout, not actually taking charge of your life and getting a real job.”
followed by :
“I want kids to be at school to learn about how you build a mine, how you do geology, how you drill for oil and gas, which is one of the most remarkable scientific exploits of anywhere in the world that we do,” he said. “These are the type of things excite young children.”
and if you are the prime minister you will say this:
“We don’t support our schools being turned into parliaments. What we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools.”
and
“We don’t support the idea of kids not going to school to participate in things that can be dealt with outside of school.”
and if you were one of the children you would reply:
“If you were doing your job properly, we wouldn’t be here.”
or
“We have to sacrifice our education, which is something we really value, so we’re showing them that at the moment this is even more important than our education”
the politicians of this country dissed the children, did not listen and judged them harshly for their feelings become actions. They demonstrated lack of respect with closed hearts and minds.
Could it be that lack of respect is a fundamental causative factor in all the ills besetting us – from rising suicide rates to ecological collapse to domestic violence to contaminated waterways – that respect is the missing ingredient.
when we respect our Selves open our hearts and feel our love to each other to the rivers to the mountains to the soil the earth then we enter into a loving grateful creative relationship with all that is.
the children stand up .
will you ?
the faerie embassy 
I think it’s important for us all to stand strong for what we believe in. Change won’t happen overnight, students protesting once won’t change the world, but little by little change will come if there is a consistent representation of what is needed. I hope that we see more people/students standing for what our world needs, the more who speak up, the more our politicians are likely to listen. These are the voters of the future – I hope they use their votes wisely.
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the depth and feeling ignited in our young ones and their capacity to share this with us is a measure of how awareness is changing growing and building- to hear their voices ilights a great spark of hope in my heart for their future..
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Thank you Faerie Embassy for highlighting the heartless, mindless, business as usual mindset that flows out of parliament house. They care nothing for the children/people of Australia or the world.They are obsessed with themselves and shoring up the status quo which means making sure their rich backers and vested interests come first, second and third leaving zero room for the real problems of our time namely the ever growing list of endangered species, deforestation, climate change etc. They are so filled with self interest the understanding that most of the electorate has moved on is beyond their comprehension. We the people are putting solar panels on our roofs We the people want and end to the logging of OUR forests. They are not listening to us or the next generation. They treat us with contempt so is it any wonder the feeling is mutual.
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perhaps it is that the voice of the children will bring the adults into their hearts and gain them some perspective … afterall one of the unifying themes for humanity is surely the love we feel for our children.
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Government officials begin their career by wanting to change the world–until they get into office. Then they tell everyone to be satisfied with the status quo…Don’t rock the boat, etc. I am so thankful for the brave people, such as these children, who are unafraid of the cost. There is a sacrifice that comes from standing up and demanding to be heard. That sacrifice deserves to be honored rather than trampled upon. Thank you for sharing this.
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indeed heather the cost can be very high and brave are those that stand up – I have to say I was astonished at the political response – that they did not want to engage with the children hear them or talk with them – it really said a lot to me of how arrogant they can become in office forgetting that they are there to serve.. way time for a change in the way we treat each other..
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I heard about this Sandra … good on the youngsters. Not good on the kids being dissed. Respect is key – beginning with our selves. In fact I’m going to copy and paste the last part of your post if that’s ok .. onto Janet Givens’ post ‘and so it goes’ which I responded to about a half hour or so ago. My response to her part 3 on Racism was along the lines of racism being a form of scapegoating and ourselves being unwilling or unable to see our own darkness ..
Thank you for your post.
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thank you susan and most happy to .Today my grandson showed me his latest ‘stop adani’ poster ( big coal mine destruction planned for queensland with repercussions to the great barrier reef) . at 8 he has an understanding of things going pear shaped for the creatures on the planet. oh may we learn to love
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