Four Acorns join the School Strike for Climate

11/03/2019 Annette

And that is why the acorns are joining in with the global school strike for climate on Friday 15th March.

Because they care.
Because I care.
Because their future hangs in the balance.

Three weeks ago, we already took part in a school strike for climate. Well, technically, it wasn’t a strike as such, as it was during midterm. Nevertheless, the three boys got on a DART train into Dublin with me to join the #FridaysForFuture protest in front of the Dáil Éireann (Ireland’s Parliament).

Mermaid was away at a birthday party, but she was with us in spirit – she had made our poster the day before. Said poster, with its lovely colours and simple message, attracted many an approving comment from passers by and protesters alike.

The #FridaysForFuture protest has been gathering outside the Dail every Friday from 1–2pm since mid December. It was started by Dr Lorna Gold, mum and author of Climate Generation (affiliate link), and has been growing week on week.

This was our first time taking part. This being midterm, I wondered whether there would be anybody there. I needn’t have worried – the turnout was bigger than ever. I wasn’t the only mum who’d taken advantage of the school break to stand with my kids.

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POSTER So proud of my acorns today, after they wholeheartedly took part in our first #FridaysForFuture protest, outside Dail Eireann, Dublin. I needn’t have worried about the turnout (it is midterm after all). A few dozen people and just as many children answered @gretathunberg’s call too, with their posters and their chants, to demand real climate action from the Irish government. It was uplifting to see a few familiar faces and to be part of this rising tide of school strikes for the climate. See my stories for more pics. . . #adventuresRUs #schoolstrike4climate #gretathunberg #ClimateAction #wecandothis #coolplanetchampion #climatechange #climateactionnow #ipbig #pbloggers #noplanetb #noplacelikeearth #ireland #theemperorhasnoclothes #climatejustice #climategeneration #climatestrike #youthforclimate #riseforclimate #savetheworld

A post shared by Four Acorns/4 graines de chêne (@four_acorns) on Feb 22, 2019 at 10:36am PST

Coming out of the train station in Dublin, I came across two other mums from Greystones who had made the trip into town for the protest. Relief and excitement washed over me, as I ushered my three acorns towards Kildare Street – we wouldn’t be alone there!

Indeed, a few dozen people and just as many children had turned up, including two of my fellow Cool Planet Champions. Pebbles delighted in the attention our homemade poster attracted, Jedi wholeheartedly joined in with a the chanting, both in English and Irish, and Squirrel, true to his name, climbed up the metal fence. Meanwhile, many passing cars, taxis and buses answered one protester’s call to action and beeped for climate.

Before the one-hour protest was over, it was decided to organise a local rally in Greystones, for those children too young to strike by and for themselves.

A rising tide of school strikes for climate

Friday 15th March is the big day. The day of the global school strike for climate. With only 1 day to go, the Fridays For Future website lists over 1600 events in 105 countries.

1659 places in 105 countries. And counting.
Tomorrow we schoolstrike for our future. And we will continue to do so for as long as it takes.
Adults are more than welcome to join us.
Unite behind the science. https://t.co/EFTn7eCfm6

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) 14 March 2019

Around the world, the school strikes for climate are overwhelmingly led by teenage girls – Greta Thunberg of course, but also Anna Taylor in the UK, Anuna De Wever in Belgium, Harriet O’Shea Carre and Milou Albrecht in Australia, and Saoi O’Connor in Ireland.

Saoi, 16, who has been striking outside Cork City Hall every Friday since mid December, was one of a group of secondary school students (@pullthebrakes on Twitter) to present six demands for climate action to politicians in the Dáil.

Many secondary schools around Ireland actively support the movement – North Wicklow Educate Together, for instance, is taking part in the school strike for climate in Dublin with at least 80 students.

Time to wake up and grow up

The acorns are still in primary school, yet I was determined to join in somehow with the school strike for climate. They might be too young still to decide to go on strike but, if need be, I would stand for them on Friday 15th.

This is how the idea of a local protest in Greystones quickly took shape. With the help of another concerned mum, I organised a local school strike for climate and put Greystones on the #FridaysForFuture map.

The response has been unbelievable.

Calling on everyone, young and old, to stand on 15th March with the global #SchoolStrike4Climate, inspired by 16 year old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
We’ll gather at the Burnaby Park in Greystones from 1.30pm on Friday 15 March 2019, before walking down to Council Offices from 2.15pm.
Bring your kids, or stand for them. As parents, grand-parents and concerned adults, let’s do something to protect our children’s future. Let’s support the #YouthStrike4Climate alongside thousands of young people in Ireland and around the world. Let’s make our voices heard and demand real climate action now.
#IStandForMyKids

The school strike for climate is not just for young people. Quite the opposite, in fact. They need everyone’s support, young and old, and especially their parents’.

Lorna Gold sums it up beautifully in her open letter Dear Parents on Planet Earth:

The following Friday Jim and I decided we would answer [Greta Thunberg’s] call. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to go on climate strike. We didn’t think for a minute we were “too old”. As parents who care we wanted to be the answer to that call. For me, with young boys, I felt it only right that I should stand on their behalf. After all, it is my own lifestyle, my inaction and my generation that has caused this mess. Sure, my boys will join when they can, but why should they stand in the cold, miss school and shoulder such a heavy burden? When they can’t, I will.”

Dr Lorna Gold, mum and author of Climate Generation, in front of the Dáil.

It is high time adults woke up and grew up.

It would be far easier to keep our heads buried in the sand in the hope the climate emergency will just go away. But our children’s future is at stake. And so we owe it to them to rise into climate action. With them. For them.