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The next generation has so much power to change the world. Through protests and activism, they have shown the rest of the world that their thoughts matter. On Friday, thousands of students participated in a protest to let their voices be heard. And these photos of students protesting climate inaction all over the world are proof that they're going to change the world.
Students all over the world walked out of their classrooms on Friday afternoon, not because they were excited for the weekend, but because they had something to say about climate inaction. These students were hoping to spark a dialogue from their representatives about climate change — demanding action and change from the current inaction, according to CNN.
After the protests first started by teenagers abroad in Europe and the United Kingdom, the idea quickly spread to the United States, according to Vox. Teenagers in the United States started the Youth Climate Strike, allowing people to organize their own strikes in their own cities.
The message behind the Youth Climate Strike is simple — the climate is in a crisis and politicians need to do something about it.
"We are striking because if the social order is disrupted by our refusal to attend school, then the system is forced to face climate crisis and enact change," the organizers wrote in their mission statement. "With our futures at stake, we call for radical legislative action to combat climate change and its countless detrimental effects on the American people."
You can feel the passion from these students to make a difference, and you can see it in their faces when looking at photos from the protests all over the world.
The United Kingdom
Ahead of the protests on Friday, teen activists penned a letter for the United Kingdom based newspaper, The Guardian, stating their reasons for walking out of their schools. The students wrote:
Young people make up half of the global population. Our generation grew up with the climate crisis and we will have to deal with it for the rest of our lives. Despite that fact, most of us are not included in the local and global decision making process. We are the voiceless future of humanity. We will no longer accept this injustice.
"We demand justice for all past, current, and future victims of the climate crisis, so we are rising up," the students added in the letter.
Anna Taylor, a student and organizer behind the UK Student Climate Network explained to the Evening Standard why her peers were walking out on Friday — because they've had enough.
"Young people in the UK have shown that we're angry at the lack of government leadership on climate change."
Germany
The protests over the world were started by one 16-year-old, Greta Thunberg, who decided to walk out of school and protest outside of Swedish parliament and raise awareness for climate change.
And the power of one can turn into one thousand, which can be seen from the sheer amount of students who turned out for the protests all over the world.
South Korea
Students in more than 112 countries participated in the strikes, according to Vox, including students in Seoul, South Korea.
the United States
In the United States, high school students held rallies in their own hometowns, with a main march held outside of the United States Capitol building, according to NPR. At the march in D.C., students reportedly observed 11 minutes of silence in honor for each year which the world has left to get climate change under control.
One of the organizers from the Youth Climate Strike, 13-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor, told CBS News that fighting climate inaction was something that everyone should be passionate about.
"This is the largest issue my generation will have to face," she said. "Humans are causing climate change and humans are the ones who need to fix it."
The sheer amount of students who showed up and walked out should show everyone around the world that a change needs to be made. The voices of our future are the ones who are going to lead this discussion if politicians can't. And that's exactly what they proved on Friday.
