On Friday 15th February, thousands of students throughout London skipped school to gather in Parliament Square, demanding governmental climate action. By 11am, the square was full of passionate teens, inspired by Greta Thunburg, a 15-year-old from Sweden, who encouraged strikes all over Europe.

The strike consisted of chants, alongside signs and posters which portrayed strong, powerful messages and opinions of those involved. These included statements such as, “March now or swim later,” “Our future, our choice” and “System change not climate change.”

After an hour of protesting on the grass of parliament square, participants diffused onto the street, demanding for cars to turn off their engines. Many sat down in the middle of the roads and a minority of extremely rebellious teens went to extreme measures, and climbed on top of traffic lights, lamp posts and even double decker busses, proudly and passionately showcasing their signs and posters until the police brutally interjected.  

The march then progressed over Westminster bridge where many people once again sat down for a long time in protest of climate change. The march eventually faded out at 3.30, by Downing Street where many students controversially and loudly insulted Theresa May.

A student protestor, Lucy Craughwell-Franks, who felt passionately about the cause, stated, “the government thinks they can get away with wrecking our future without saying anything about it. We no longer want to stay quiet because too much is at stake. If it means that missing a day of school is needed to get the government’s attention, then so be it, because this issue is much bigger than missing a day of lessons. An ecological crisis needs to be declared, because before we know it will be too late.”

This was just one of many strikes across Europe, however many people question how much difference this will actually make, arguing that education is much more important. In response to this, students declared that receiving education is pointless if our future is uncertain.

Social media has further exacerbated the cause, and made it even more popular, with many protestors sharing their pictures and videos from the day with the hashtag #YouthStrike4Climate.

By Millie Jordan