Right: Students who protested at "inaction" on climate change by the Australian Government were an unusual mix of primary and secondary school children.
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Arguments in favour of school students taking strike action over climate change
1. As a group that will be highly affected by climate change, school students are important stakeholders
School students are unable to vote until they turn 18. However, supporters of their taking strike action note that they have legitimate concerns regarding how their country is governed and should be able to take action to influence politicians.
Students who have protested for action on climate change and adults who support them argue that the consequences of inaction will be felt most strongly by the young. It is they whose prospects of living on an inhabitable planet are being most harmed by inadequate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, supporters of school student strikes claim that these young people are entitled to stage protests to protect their future.
On November 28, 2018, a 12-year-old Canberra school student, protesting outside Parliament House, was quoted in The Guardian as saying, 'The politicians aren't helping and we need to take action to save our climate. You need to help us because this is our future.'
In an article published on SBS, on November 29, 2018, Melbourne student, Jagveer Singh, was quoted as saying, 'It's our future. We are the ones that will be facing the consequences of the decisions that are made today, and that is why we need to have a say.'
In an opinion piece written by school students Milou Albrecht, Harriet O'Shea Carre and Jean Hinchcliffe and published in The Guardian on November 29, 2018, the young commentators wrote, 'We feel frustrated and let down when we think about the climate crisis and our future. There is so much our politicians could be doing that they aren't. It seems they are in denial. Our government is supposed to protect us, not destroy our chances of a safe future.'
On November 30, in an article published by Channel 9, 14-year-old Harriet O'Shea Carre was further quoted as saying, 'It's our futures and we want to continue living on this planet and we want to have children who can continue living on this planet.'
Melinda Sanders, in a letter to the editor published in The Age, on December 1, 2018, reiterated the view that it is young people who will bear the heaviest burden as a result of climate inaction and so their opinions have to be heard. Ms Sanders stated, 'Young people like these are our future leaders, thinkers, artists, historians, scientists, etc. They will be the ones to bear the brunt of climate change, and we can but hope they are also the ones who will force government action to arrest this.'
In a letter to the editor published in The Sydney Morning Herald on December 1, 2018, Michael Eckert stated, 'When my daughter announced that she was striking, I asked her whether she was concerned that the PM objected. She responded, "Oh no. He is old. Why should he care? He'll be dead when crocodiles start swimming up George Street. But I'll be alive and trying to dodge those jaws."'
In an article published in The Guardian on November 7, 2018, a 14-year-old Fort Street high school student, Jean Hinchliffe, was quoted as saying, 'We've got involved because at this stage we can't vote, we're not politicians and we want to make a difference. We can't stand around waiting. I think it's because climate change is scary seeing that it's our future. This is a fact and not to be debated.'
2. Students have the capacity to influence political decisions
Supporters of school students taking strike action note that young people have the power to influence political decisions. Prior to reaching eighteen, they are unable to vote; however, that does not mean they are without an interest in political life or the capacity to influence the political process.
In an article published on November 8, 2018, by the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, Dr Jessie Mitchell noted, 'Heaps of young people are keen to make a positive difference in their communities. When the Victorian Government announced that they would develop a new youth policy in 2015, over 2,000 young people volunteered their ideas about issues like education, employment and mental health. Meanwhile, 53.8% of young Victorians do volunteer work, a quarter take part in environmental activities, and 42.6% get involved in student leadership. Some young people sit on youth advisory bodies to help shape the work of state government, local councils, charities and health services. And more than twenty of the bills passed by Victoria's YMCA Youth Parliament have gone on to become law!'
Dr Mitchell also suggests that as young people are potential voters, politicians need to pay attention to their opinions. Once they reach voting age, young people form an influential voting bloc. Dr Mitchell argues, 'Young voters have a lot of power. They are new to elections...And their priorities are often different to those of older voters...a study at the University of Western Sydney found that young voters aged 18-25 may have been the most powerful age group in influencing the four Australian elections between 2001 and 2010. A big reason for this was their higher than average support for the Greens, which changed the balance of power in parliament.'
Commentators have suggested that school student strike action has the capacity to influence political decisions. In the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on February 14, 2018, thousands of school students across the United States walked off school campuses to demand reform of the country's gun laws. Their protest actions have been claimed to have had some political effect.
In an article published in The Conversation on March 15, 2018, George Rennie, a lecturer in American Politics and Lobbying Strategies at the University of Melbourne, stated, 'Recent news footage showed Senator Marco Rubio and the National Rifle Association's Dana Loesh publicly sparring with students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, to a chorus of boos and jeers. Millions witnessed their discomfort.
This has already led to some action by states. Florida is looking to pass age restrictions and waiting periods for gun purchases, and Oregon has imposed gun prohibitions on domestic abusers and those with restraining orders.'
With regard to political responses to the Australian school students' action, on November 26, 2018, the Senate passed a motion in support of the student climate strikers. Sydney Strike Organiser, 14-year-old Jean Hinchliffe, from Fort Street High, responded to news of the Senate's support by stating, 'We thank the Senators who have chosen to stand with young people in Parliament today, and we call on more politicians from all sides of politics to do the same. '
Young people are clearly aware of the power they hold as potential voters. Clara McArthur, 17, a striking student from Canberra College, has stated, 'Me and my friends here are turning 18 soon, we are able to vote in the next election and if ...[Mr Morrison] won't listen to us that is ridiculous.'
3. School students have the same freedom of expression as other citizens
Defenders of school children's right to protest note that this right, one shared by all human beings, is guaranteed by a number of international Conventions to which Australia is a signatory.
Australia is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (December 16, 1966). Article 19 of the Covenant states, 'Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference' and further ' Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.'
Article 21 states, ' The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.'
These rights could be regarded as applying only to adults and therefore not guaranteeing children the right to protest and express their opinions. However, Australia has signed other Conventions which explicitly acknowledge that children share these same rights.
The Child Rights International Network notes 'Civil and political rights for all are enshrined in a raft of international laws, but the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is special because it sets out a number of articles which specifically protect civil and political rights for children.'
Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that all States 'shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.'
Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child further states, 'The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.'
Relatedly, Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that States must 'recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.' The Article goes on to state 'No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of these rights other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.'
Taken together, these three Articles seek to guarantee that nations which have signed this Convention protect the rights of children within their borders, including the right to protest via the use of their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly.
In December 1996, Robert Ludbrook, wrote an advisory paper for the Australian Federal Parliament titled ' Citizen child: Australian law and children's rights'. Drawing on Articles 12, 13 and 15 Ludbrook states, 'Children can no longer be treated as passive objects about whom parents and teachers can make decisions. They are independent people with increasing powers of self-determination as they grow in maturity and understanding. With very young children the protectionist role of adults predominates, but as children move towards adulthood they are empowered to make more and more important decisions for themselves. Adults can advise and suggest, but children move to a situation where they are increasingly able to make their own choices and determine their own actions.'
4. School students are well-informed about the issue
Defenders of school students' right to strike over political inaction on climate change argue that these young people have valid and informed opinions.
An Age editorial published on November 30, 2018, stated, 'The young people have science and history on their side. Only fringe ideologues continue to reject the reality of existentially dangerous anthropogenic global warming. Civil disobedience has been instrumental in progressive change throughout the ages. The students did not take the action lightly. It follows ongoing government failure that has needlessly crimped investment in renewable energy and has been criticised by industry, investors and consumers.'
The Age editorial cited a young protester, 15-year-old Veronica Hester, justifying the informed action she and other students were taking. Hester stated regarding Prime Minister Morrison, 'If he and our politicians listened to the climate science we have been taught, and took action like those of us in school, we wouldn't have to resort to strike action.'
One parent who attended a protest with his eight-year-old child and his friends stated, 'They've actually been looking at climate change at school and they have a pretty incredible understanding of the science. I think what's striking in Matt Canavan's [the Resources Minister's] comments is how demeaning he is about young people and what they actually know, and how he underestimates their understanding.
I heard students today at the rally talking about the IPCC report, talking about the 700 odd days until emissions can peak before we exceed 1.5 degrees. These are kids that actually understand the science in a way that I think most of parliamentarians don't.'
Numerous letter writers to The Age supported the strike action taken by students and praised them for their informed position on climate change. In a letter published in The Age on December 1, 2018, Joy Hayman stated, 'Our students are being taught about the seriousness of failing to take action on climate change and the devastating consequences that are already being experienced around the planet. They have every right to express their concern for the world in which they are growing up, while our politicians foolishly continue to bury their heads in the sand.'
Some of the young spokespeople for the student protesters have noted that they have been informed about the issue of climate change not only from their studies at school, but also as a result of their own life experiences. Three young strikers, Milou Albrecht, Harriet O'Shea Carre and Jean Hinchcliffe, wrote a comment which was published in The Guardian on Novembers 29, 2018. They stated, 'Two of us - Milou and Harriet - live in rural Victoria. Throughout our lives, we've witnessed the impacts that drought, bushfires and extreme weather have on a community. We have been forced to evacuate when a bushfire came through our town. It was scary. But it is something that will happen more and more as climate change gets worse...
We feel hurt when we hear people say that we can't think for ourselves because we're still children. This is just an excuse not to listen to us. We are perfectly capable of thinking for ourselves. We deserve to be heard and understood.'
It has further been noted that tertiary students are also well-informed about the dangers and causes of climate change. Dr Tony Capon, one of the authors of the latest National Greenhouse Gas Inventory showing Australia's emissions continuing to rise has stated, 'When we launched this new report the most engaged people at the university were the medical students. They're very well informed young people and in fact, in some ways our politicians are as not as well informed about these issues as they should be.'
5. School students are not jeopardising their education through striking
Supporters of students taking strike action to demand politicians reduce greenhouse gas emissions note that these young people are not damaging their prospects of a good education by so doing.
Some commentators have noted that the action these students have taken is actually an important part of their education as engaged citizens of Australia and the world. An ACT Education Directorate spokesperson said the Territory's Directorate valued student voices in education and would not stop or penalise any student attending a rally, as long as they were supervised by carers in 'their actions as global citizens'.
Dr Tony Capon, one of the authors of the latest National Greenhouse Gas Inventory showing Australia's emissions continuing to rise has similarly stressed the importance of the students' protest action as part of their political education. Dr Capon stated, '[I]n a liberal democracy, an open country, we want young people to be engaged in the process.'
Clara McArthur, 17, of Canberra College, has noted that every teacher and guardian she had spoken with had been incredibly supportive of the strike. She stated, 'I've only heard praise.'
Australian Youth Climate Coalition spokesperson, Laura Sykes, has stated that Mr Morrison, in condemning young people for absenting themselves from school, had shown 'irrational outrage' to students who care about their education.
Some commentators have seen these strikes as a proof of the young students' educated commitment, rather than as a threat to their education. In The Guardian, on November 30, 2018, environment commentator Naaman Zhou wrote, 'This week thousands of students in every state walked out of school to protest inaction over climate change and the sense that their future is being frittered away.
They had the signs, the statistics, the anger - and the solutions too. I looked around and felt I had seen the future, clever and full of passion.'
There are also students who felt that by taking strike action they were furthering the environmental education of other young people who may not have been sufficiently aware of the dangers posed by climate change. PLAN International and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition have stated, 'Many of those [young people] who knew about the effects of climate change said that educating young people about climate change is vital, as they feel that being armed with the facts makes it more likely that young people will think it is a priority issue and want to take action.'