Please Enjoy These Kids Brutally Owning Politicians Who Tell Them Not To Protest Climate Change
"Your statement belongs in a museum."
Earlier this week, the NSW education minister got on his high horse and told kids to stay in school instead of hitting the streets for the School Strike on climate change. Overnight, his comments reached Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who promptly demolished him on Twitter.
“Ok. We hear you. And we don’t care. Your statement belongs in a museum,” Thunberg tweeted last night. The tweet has been retweeted more than 6000 times, and it’s been liked by 23,000 people.
Ok. We hear you.
And we don’t care.
Your statement belongs in a museum.#FridaysForFuture #ClimateStrike #schoolstrike4climate https://t.co/6iJFkgyX9D— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 19, 2019
If you’re wondering why a Swedish teenager is weighing in on NSW government policy in the first place, there’s a simple answer: climate change affects us all. Greta Thunberg is the Swedish sixteen-year-old who founded the global School Strike for Climate, which took Australia by storm back in November. Thousands of Australian students skipped school to attend that first protest against the government’s inaction on climate change, and they’re planning an even bigger strike on March 15.
The Australian Government, naturally, is not happy about this, but Thunberg’s not the only kid shutting them down. When Scott Morrison told kids to stay in school back in November, they said they were disappointed in him and protested anyway. And when Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack stood up this week to urge kids not to attend the March 15 strike, they were ready with comebacks once again.
“The Deputy Prime Minister asks who will be looking after kids whilst we are protesting, forgetting to question who will be looking after our generation’s futures,” was 15-year-old Sydney student Jean Hinchliffe’s response.
“If you truly do care so much about us children, you should be taking drastic action to rectify the climate crisis,” she added. “We can see that our politicians refuse to listen to the educated, so why should we be sitting in history class when we could be on the streets making history itself?”
She makes a very good point. Meanwhile, here’s the Deputy PM’s bumbling statement. If you can’t bear to watch the video, it’s basically just the phrase “children should be in school, that’s where they should be!” repeated with increasing anger.
Deputy PM Tells Students to Stay in School from School Strike on Vimeo.
If you’re more persuaded by the kids, you can find out more about how to support the March 15 strike here. And if you are one of those kids, congratulations, and keep up the good work. You might just save this planet yet.
Feature images via Greta Thunberg, School Strike 4 Climate