GLASGOW’S George Square has been home to many hundreds of demonstrations over the years, but yesterday’s was almost certainly one of, if not the youngest.
Around 150 pupils took part, and, unlike in Edinburgh where the schools are still on mid-term holiday, most of the those here had taken time off from classes.
READ MORE: Thousands of school pupils go on strike over climate change
One thing that united them all was the determination to take action where previous generations had dithered. Ten-year old Lucy Arbuckle told The National: “I want to take responsibility for this, as the adults aren’t doing do, and no-one’s helping and stopping this.
“It’s good to see that people are coming here and helping because it does need to stop, It can’t go on any longer. It’s ruining the planet.”
Asked what could action could be taken, she said: “I’ve heard some people that have some good ideas about stopping this, like making public transport free and cycling more.”
Twelve-year-old Ella Young agreed: “I think that adults aren’t doing enough about climate change and if they don’t do anything about it then we’re going to have to do something.
“We could even just let everyone know that it’s happening because some people don’t believe in it. You want everyone to know about it and I also want people to actually do stuff about it.”
Asked if she worried about getting into trouble, she replied: “The planet’s more important than my education.”
Lauchlan Cutts, nine, was blunt: “What’s the point of learning if there isn’t any future?” he asked. “Stop using oil, stop using coal, stop using fossil fuels.”
Eight-year-old Nina Spirit-Hawthorne was one of the youngest protesters, attending the rally with brother and mum and dad.
“The planet is getting polluted,” she said. “The sun is getting hotter and the snow at the bottom and the top of the world will melt and will flood cities and towns. “ She too, was unworried about being given a row by her teachers: “We need this to happen.”
Green MSP Ross Greer, 24 (pictured above), was full of praise for the young protesters. He said: “One of the four pillars of our curriculum for excellence is responsible citizenship.
“These young people are showing they they’re responsible citizens by taking this action to defend the world that we all live in.
“They know that we’ve got 10 years left to save the world and they’re doing something about it.”
Nearly all those spoken to by The National said they would be back in George Square on the next UK-wide day of action on March 15.
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