For one week in September, millions of students across the world participated in the now annual Global Climate Strike. According to web page 350, an international coalition dedicated to promoting renewable energy, over 7.6 million people took to the streets to demand action. Led by sixteen-year-old activist Greta Thunburg, these strikes are meant to raise awareness to the threat of climate change. The question is, are these strikes helpful? Are they enough, or could students be doing more to change the world?

These strikes, while somewhat successful, do not do enough to combat this global problem of climate change. For one day a year, teenagers skip class to make a point, but that point soon gets lost in the news cycle as the world moves on. The battle against climate change needs to extend beyond protesting. Senior Morgane Schriner, who did not attend the strike, is not convinced that climate strikes make a difference. “Nothing’s really happened yet,” she said, “nothing that can drastically change the world”. She says that instead of striking, she takes personal steps in her life to reduce plastic waste, such as using a metal water bottle. Greta Thunburg personally has made drastic changes to her lifestyle in order to reduce carbon emissions and needless waste. In August, she chose to sail to America “to avoid the greenhouse gas emissions that come with flying on a commercial jet” (NPR). This idea, of consistently choosing to avoid contributing to climate change, needs to be promoted as more important than school strikes. School strikes are good for awareness: just not good enough to create real change.