How is standing by the roadside in Davis Bay chanting slogans going to change the climate? Students have surprising answers
(By News Desk)
“We want our kids to have the same planet” was the most-heard answer students gave as they explained why they attended the student strike against climate change in Davis Bay March 15.
More than a hundred students from Elphinstone and Chatelech secondary schools — and a few from Roberts Creek elementary — stood along the roadside, enthusiastically waving signs and chanting slogans. Traffic moved slowly and almost every car honked, answered by cheers from the crowd.
“Our future,” they chanted. “Climate change is not a lie.”
“What do we want? Change! When do we want it? Now!”
Halfway through the demonstration, all 192 students from Davis Bay elementary showed up, accompanied by teachers and many parents. Looking very serious, the kids marched along the sea walk with signs protesting climate change.
“We care deeply about the issue of climate change,” principal Ursula Hardwick told The Coast Clarion. “We are raising global citizens, we teach social responsibility, and when we talked about climate change on International Women’s Day, we decided to come to this demonstration. This is very important.”
The call for the strike and demonstration came from fridaysforfuture.org and students said they heard about it on social media. Alliance 4 Democracy, Extinction Rebellion Sunshine Coast and the Solar Association supported the initiative.
A group of five students said they heard about the demonstration from their moms, and one of them drove them to Davis Bay in an electric vehicle.
“I heard about it yesterday, and when I looked up Greta Thunberg, I decided to come,” said Thais Hunt-Spicer, 18.
Thunberg, 16, started a school strike for climate in August, 2018, outside the Swedish parliament building. Her example has been followed globally, with hundreds of thousands of students participating. This week, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
“Our generation needs change,” Gayasri Bosold,16, told The Coast Clarion. “We need to take action.”
“This is our future, we may lose things like skiing and polar bears,” said Julian Woodin, 14, holding up a sign that read “Don’t be a fossil fool”.
“The ice is melting, polar bears are dying, sea levels are rising, civilizations are dying, there is a lot of space debris, it’s time to save the planet. My mom talks about it all the time,” said 14-year-old Ella Garrick.
“I really care about the environment, we talk about it in class all the time, so I really wanted to come” said Esme Williams, 12, who attends Roberts Creek elementary.
“We are here to demand action from the government so that in the future, we can live the life we want to live,’ said Nicholas Davis, 18.
Holding up a sign saying “Fuck Straws,” Mica Reid, 16, explained that single-use drinking straws are a serious source of pollution. ”There’s no point, they end up in the ocean, they’re a complete waste. They decompose until you die.”
Reid hopes to become a mechanical engineer. “I had a chemistry quiz today and I did all my work to make sure I don’t get behind going to this strike. A lot of people in my grade are striking, even the ones that are not here. What’s the point of getting educated for a future we are not going to have?”
“I don’t want my kids to have to worry about climate change,” said a teaching assistant who declined to give her name.
“Hey hey, ho ho, climate change’s gotta go,” the students chanted. But how is standing by the roadside in Davis Bay going to change the climate?
“You start small, and then the movement gets bigger,” said Pearl Lumley, 14. “We need to raise awareness, and I want to be involved.”
“We need to let the government know how serious this is,” said Samantha Solis de Ovando, 16. “What else can we do? We don’t have enough authority to change things another way.”
“This is a way to let the prime minister know that this is a problem we need to fix,” said Bella Miller-Hogg, 12.
These amazing children are tomorrow’s leaders. This planet and the future belongs to them. I am inspired and humbled by them. They are my heroes. They CAN, ARE and WILL be the change that we so desperately need! So proud of them ?
yes yes yes…and the action gives me hope