THE DISMISSAL OF

YOUTH VOICES

HANNAH VILLAREAL // CONTENT EDITOR

Greta Thunberg, the most noticeable face and voice of the Youth Climate Movement, has been a powerful force during these past months, directly calling out government officials, and even doing so straight to their face. It was quite interesting to see Greta’s passionate UN speech. To see her directly confront world leaders, calling out their “empty words”, greed, and dismissal of global issues-and yet, they applauded and shouted in support. I expected complete silence from the audience-I expected world leaders to be truly listening to what she was saying. She stated at the beginning of her speech, “You all come to us young people for hope - How dare you!”. That statement cannot be more direct, and our world leaders clapping afterwards - it reflects their blindness and inability to take accountability. Some may say this was world leaders showing respect to Greta - it is not. Imagine crying out for help and they simple smile and clap because you are putting on a good show for them; the irony in this situation is stunning.

Aside from the subtle overlooking of her words, Greta has received tremendous amounts of backlash and criticism from climate change deniers. Andrew Bolt, a public commentator on Sky News Australia, has repeatedly and openly criticised the validity of Greta’s words specifically for her diagnosis. Recently, he labeled Greta as “deeply disturded” and “strange” because of her diagnosis; Greta is on the autism spectrum with Asperger’s syndrome. Although her diagnosis is characterized to affect her ability to interact and communicate in social situations, it also allows her to hyper-focus on certain subjects; that is usually why people often see those with this diagnosis as academically advanced, they’re able to focus on a subject and not get distracted. Another example of the utter idiocy of her criticizers, Fox News host, Laura Ingranham, compared Greta Thunberg’s words and activism to the children in the movie Children of Corn - on live tv. When are her criticizers going to actually consider or even criticize the science, instead of Greta’s actions? Even the United States president decided to mock Greta after her UN speech, tweeting out “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”. Although, this isn’t the first time our president has mocked someone with a diffability, his ignorance is not surprising. The criticism Greta receives is trivial, however, this has happened before. This is not the first time the youth have had their voices shrouded by ignorance and hate.

In 2012, Malala Yousafzai, a 15 year old education advocate, was shot in the head by a lone Taliban gunman - while boarding a bus bound home; fortunately, she survived after being transferred from Pakistan to Birmingham, England. Prior to this attack, the Taliban had issued an official death threat against her for her advocacy of education for young girls. Despite the danger of having such a large public audience, and the Talibans’ threat, she continued to speak out for hers, and every womans, right to an education. After the attempted assasination, she began attending school in Birmingham and continued her advocacy for education. Once the story of the attack broke the news, there was an overwhelming amount of support for her - people were inspired by her strength and courage. Soon after, she delivered a speech at the United Nations in 2013 on her 16th birthday.

“The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women... Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”

Malala was a voice for women all over the world who could not speak. She was their outlet. She inspired women, and

“Do not forget why you are attending these conferences, who you are doing this for.”

youth in general, to consider education as a precious and valuable tool. She is now 22 years old and still a voice for young girls and women.

In 1992, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, an environmental and cultural activist, speaker and author, delivered a speech at the UN Earth Summit in Rio-she was 12 years old. Severn began her activism at age 9, similar to Greta Thunberg, with creating the Environmental Children’s Organization. The organization was dedicated to teaching children the importance of environmental issues. Severn’s UN speech has been globally recognized as one of the most powerful and inspirational speeches; some have even referred to Severn as “The Girl Who Silenced The World”.

“Do not forget why you are attending these conferences, who you are doing this for. We are your own children. You are deciding what kind of a world we are growing up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying ‘Everything is going to be alright, it’s not the end of the world, and we are doing the best we can’. But I don’t think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My dad always says, ‘You are what you do, not what you say’. Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown-ups say you love us. But I challenge you, please, make your actions reflect your words. Thank you.” She was, and still continues to be a voice for youth all over the world.

There are hundreds of young people I am not able to mention in detail because this would turn into a book, so instead, I will name some young activists and youth movements from history and present time. Sojourner Truth, Jane Austen, the students of Stoneman Douglas, the Greensboro Sit-ins, the One Mind Youth Movement, Madison Kimrey, Autumn Peltier, Mari Copeny, Xiye Bastida, Joan of Arc, and Rachel Correy.

All of these young activists I have mentioned, they have all faced the same ignorance and hate thrown at them as Greta Thunberg. The youth of the world has always faced blind hatred and been overlooked by the rest of society when they speak out against issues. We are not old enough, not mature enough, not knowledgeable enough to have a voice. Those who try to discredit our words and actions say vile and hateful comments, point out flaws, and even simple brush us off: the excuses for our dismissal are old; they will not shut us down.

Not only are we immune to them, we understand why we receive such hate. Everything youth movements represent-specifically the Youth Climate Movement-threatens our “haters”.

We threaten their world view, their way of life, and their only way of thinking. They view us as a direct threat–a challenge–to their own intelligence. We are. We are a threat. We are challenging this systematic suicide because the world needs to wake up. This fantasy of “eternal economic growth” and “nothing bad could happen to me’’, it is only perpetuating the destruction of future generations. These people who chose to deny the inevitable, especially those in power, are ignoring crucial issues like climate change for ‘self preservation’. They do not care about future generations, nor do they care about the world’s future. Why? It won’t matter to them, they won’t be here to experience the devastation.

This youth movement is not self-centered. It is the truth. We are fighting for every generation: current and future. The youth need to be heard.

Change is coming; listen to our voices.