tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post8690317166533365689..comments2024-03-08T14:23:31.503-05:00Comments on A Puff of Absurdity: On Fridays for Future Marie Snyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-9975848389490523642019-04-26T20:56:42.343-04:002019-04-26T20:56:42.343-04:00Yes, refusing to participate in protests doesn'...Yes, refusing to participate in protests doesn't mean that people aren't about environmental activism, but there aren't signs of other forms of activism either beyond clicking 'like' on posts. This isn't entirely a brand new movement. It's been around since November, and more than 100 countries are significantly involved. <br /><br />As for students missing one afternoon each month, I doubt that will have a profound impact on their education - certainly not enough to require a private tutor to catch up. And, as I suggested, some will miss that much just to hang out with friends. But it will reinforce that climate change is an issue that matters more than education - that matters more than absolutely everything right now. <br /><br />Finally, as for every movement encouraging a strike, that's a slippery slope fallacy. It's not the case that students are overrun with calls to strike. It's just the first Friday afternoon of each month, to march outside our MP's office to let her know that many people will vote against her if she doesn't act for the sake of the climate, because it's just that important. Marie Snyderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-43024617774765763272019-04-26T11:56:18.644-04:002019-04-26T11:56:18.644-04:00"I have students who will skip class to go to..."I have students who will skip class to go to Tim Horton's but they didn't want to skip class for this. For some, school is too important to miss a single class, particularly for grade 12s applying for university. For others, they fear getting in trouble for breaking the rules to take a moral stand. And I imagine some are unsure of what a protest looks like and what they'd be expected to do there." <br /><br />I suppose that part of it is that the movement is brand new, with little track record and little organization, and revolves completely around the personality and charisma of one individual-- Greta Thuneberg. <br /><br />In other words, just because someone does not go along with this particular activity, which involves repeated truancy, does not mean that they reject envionmental activism. In fact, I would question someone immediately jumping on the bandwagon of this, with its potential disruption to the educational activities of themselves and others (yes, other students are impacted when their fellow classmates decide to cut class repeatedly). <br /><br />I don't know much about Greta Thunberg's world, but many students do not have the privilege of being able to repeatedly skip school like this. Maybe Greta Thunberg, with her celebrity parents, is able to afford a private tutor to make up for these classes that she misses, or is otherwise exempt from the consequences of missing school; but this is not how it is for the 99%. <br /><br /><br />And seriously, what if every new "movement" that popped up encouraged students to "strike"? Kids would never go to school anymore. This is not a good thing. No teacher should be encouraging it.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com