The Power of Youth

The Power of Youth

  On Monday, September 23rd the United Nations world leaders met for the 2019 climate change summit. At the event, a powerful speech was made by a passionate 16-year-old Swedish student.  

         Greta Thunberg is a Youth environmental Activist in Sweden, who has been leading climate change school strikes called ‘’Fridays for Future’’. Her strikes now involve over 100,000 students from all over the world.  According to ‘Business Insider’, Thunberg soon became the leader of the ‘’largest climate demonstration in history’’. Another factor that may be surprising to some is that Greta has a form of Autism named Asperger.   

        A Sophomore named Belicia Bostic says Greta is ‘’confident’’ and ‘’the stuff she was talking about was mad important – I don’t understand why the kids care more than the adults do’’.   She also states that Greta is a good example for kids everywhere because ‘’she has a voice’’.  Ms. Willis-Barrett says that ‘’we’re at a stage of emergency we do need our young people to use their voice because they’re speaking the truth.’’.   

         Ms. Willis encourages her students to use their voice and says ‘’It’s your future and your future depends on it we tend to live in a society where we constantly talk about the past -the past -the past- and in order for us to prepare for the future …. And the only way we’re going to do that is if people get in leadership roles and utilize your voice’’.  

        It is important that young people everywhere can see her, so they know that it is necessary to fight for change.