Truancy for a better environment
More political attention for a better environment. Six young people are sitting in front of the Lower House for that purpose. Campaigning during school hours: it is punishable without permission from the school.
photo: Nienke Colijn
'Leave the earth in its worth', 'on the street for the climate'. Slogans on cardboard signs. Since the beginning of September, a group of students between the ages of fifteen and seventeen has been sitting right in front of the entrance to the Lower House in The Hague. They demand attention for the climate. Most with the knowledge of the school.
Fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg did the same in Sweden and has been a source of inspiration for these young people. “If we get the young people in several countries into action to also take action for the environment, then maybe someone will say: Oh, maybe we should listen to this”, says Ruby Valkenhoff, a student at Rudolf Steiner College in Rotterdam.
Footprint
The students themselves are already trying to take the environment into account. Sandor van Gessel, student at MBO Westland Lentiz: “I shower for a maximum of five minutes and try to cycle as much as possible. I eat completely vegetarian, because meat production has a large ecological footprint. ”
If you do not have permission from the director, you are in principle committing a criminal offence
For some students, the word truancy is more appropriate for the situation. "I think school is important", says Sandor, "but I think this is just a bit more important." He is a student who has not received permission from school. But Sandor does not expect any major problems. His parents and Pink, the youth movement of the Party for the Animals, support him. He has sent a written statement with his parents' signature to school.
But according to school attendance officer Peter van der Heijde, from RMC region Utrecht, it doesn't work like that. “If you do not have permission from the director, you are in principle criminally involved. Then parents can draw whatever they want, but that doesn't matter. ”
Nevertheless, Sandor does not expect any problems from his school. “A friend of mine writes everything down for me and as soon as I get home I start my schoolwork. That way I won't be behind when I go back to school. ”
Support
Anne-Laure Stroek of Rudolf Steiner College in Rotterdam, like schoolmate Ruby Valkenhoff, has some kind of permission. “School supports the campaign, but not completely. We are in our final year, so school wondered if it is smart. But it makes a difference that we are in good shape. ”
Due to the attention of the media, activists expect their protest to help. But what should politics do then? “Politicians should not deny that it is a problem, they are not giving it priority now. It's about public health, so it should be at the top. ”
I learn more here than at school
Not only politics must change. The students also believe that more attention should be paid to the environment at school. Staking in itself is also something to consider in schools. Sandor: “This is really a learning moment. You learn to argue and discuss. Here I learn more than at school. ”
Friday, September 21, the young people sit for the last time before the Lower House.
