#SchoolStrike4Climate
By: Jori Reiken
Tags: Climate Action, Social Change, School Strike, Climate Change

#SchoolStrike4Climate

September 20–27, 2019 the world saw a giant activist movement, the global climate strike. 1.4 million students skipped school and took to the streets to make global change and awareness for the earth (Glenza, 2019). This event could not have happened without the use of a whole variety of mediums to get the important message, that we need to take care of our planet, to the entire world. Different mediums were used prior, during, and even after the strike was over, such as social media and hand held signs used during the strike.

Social media was the way that young people communicated to get this strike up and running in over 125 countries (Glenza, 2019). Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and every other social media platform was buzzing about climate action and organizing this week of stikes. Pages such as @climatestikecanada and Greta Thumbergs instagram in combination with using hashtags such as #SchoolStrike4Climate or #GlobalClimateStrike made the movement grow and access the world. This technology allowed for students around the world to plan and gather to decide when to strike and getting people on board to participate, and grow from cities to countries to the world. Social media also gave a platform for students who could not attend the events to follow the strike in real time, it made the event inclusive for all students. On top of that, social media allows for students to keep the movement going after the strike ended, it gave the students a platform to fight for what they want, instead of going back to the status quo after the strike came to an end.

Signs, some funny, some so true it was hard to believe them. Strike week came to the world and the world was reminded how harmful humans have become to the planet without even realising it. Funny signs included movie references such as “Losing Nemo” and puns for example “Only fossils like fossil fuels”. Then there were more serious signs that made people take a second to think about their climate footprint a little deeper such as “I took a DNA test, turns out i’m 100% scared for my future”. Signs like this made head turn. It gave context about how the world will not necessarily be the same for the children of today. These signs were made by students to make a point, in ways that simplified the issue so that anyone would understand. They made it clear that the world can be destroyed and the leaders of tomorrow want to be able to have a planet to live on. The signs were effective in a way where they sent messages and made more people understand the issue, at the same time, some signs weren’t taken seriously because they were humorous in nature, this cost the event and made people think back to stereotypes that propose that students and young people are too young to bring action, or that they are too young to know about problems. This was problematic to the movement because it started to downgrade the legitimacy of young people, but it still did not stop students from making the change that they wanted to see in the world when the adults did not take the necessary action.

These two important mediums show the importance and the effort people put in to bring their message to the world. The Climate Strike of September 2019 was an example that showed the importance of incorporating new technologies such as social media with old technologies like simple printed hand held posters to bring up an issue and spread the word across the world. The combination of the two technologies showed the Climate Strikes message as clearly as can be. Students across the world are an example on how to use technology to get a message to the entire world.