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Thousands of students in Stockholm took part in the school strike for climate change. They skipped their classes on Friday to march through the city and demand for politicians to take action against climate change. Many of the students created banners with slogans such as, “Why would we study for our future if we won’t have one?”  alluding to the fact that our generation will be the first to face the consequences and impacts of climate change.  Other banners read, “The sea is rising and so are we,” referring to our generation rising up against the lack of action by politicians.

The movement “Fridays For Future” was started by Greta Thunberg, who initially took the began school striking every day by sitting in front of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm demanding action against climate change. Now she only strikes on Fridays and has inspired children all over the world to do the same. Greta won the “Woman of the Year” award and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize award.

The protest started at 8:00 and continued until 15:00. At 10:45 there were various speakers, including Writers for Future, Teachers for Future, and Psychologists for Future. They all acknowledged the pressing issue of climate change and the action that needs to be taken. At 12:15 Greta Thunberg herself gave a speech, followed by a moment of silence. Some of her fellow school-strikers gave speeches as well, and at the end of the day there was a  “city clean up”.

Many students at SIS took part in this protest. They missed their classes on Friday to join thousands of other students to demand a better future for our generation. Whether or not this global strike has an impact is yet to be determined, but hopefully, politicians now understand our concern for our future. Action is needed to protect our generation, the generations to come, and the future of planet Earth.