Students Walk Out to Hold Climate Protests

 

Thousands of Belgian students stayed away from school the past two Thursdays to join protests in Brussels.

The protesters have been demanding action to fight climate change.

The first demonstration¹ took place on January 10. Organizers have announced plans to keep holding demonstrations² every Thursday. Many students have promised to skip classes and join the protesters.

About 3,000 Belgian students attended the first protest, called Youth for Climate, the Brussels Times reported. More than 10,000 students joined the second demonstration, held on January 17. The number included young people from both the country’s Flemish-speaking north and French-speaking south.

That day, protesters faced cold and wet weather conditions in Brussels. They carried signs with messages like “School strike 4 Climate” and “Skipping school? No. We fight for our future.” The demonstrations were peaceful, with no incidents reported.

More than 75,000 people took to the streets of Brussels last month in Belgium’s largest-ever climate march. But the latest protests were held especially for school-aged students who chose to miss class.

The student protesters have demanded stronger government environment policies relating to climate change.

Before the first protest, school officials warned students that missing school – even to attend a demonstration – violated school and government policies.

But before the second protest, many schools decided³ to give students permission to take part, the Brussels Times reported. The newspaper said students would be asked to prove their presence by showing a picture of themselves at the protest.

Patrick Lancksweerdt is the director of one school. He told De Standaard newspaper that “education has to turn youngsters into mature citizens. By their actions, they proved that they are.”

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has expressed support for the student marches. The EEB is a collection of environmental activist⁴ groups across Europe. It has urged European leaders to support action to reduce dependence⁵ on coal, oil and natural gas.

The EEB says the idea for “school strike” movements centered on the Earth’s environment came from Swedish student activist Greta Thunberg. She received attention for skipping school one day a week so that she could demonstrate in front of Sweden’s parliament building.

The movement started in Sweden seems to be growing. On January 18, thousands of students in Germany and Switzerland chose to skip class to press for more action against climate change.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

skip – v. not do something you would usually do

mature – adj. fully developed physically and emotionally

1 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。