[Elliot]

Some of the **** I’ve seen people say about her online from grown men about a child is so immature and disgraceful, but she remains an unbothered queen inspiring the masses

[arista]

Originally Posted by The Slim Reaper

Someone get Trump, Alf, and Arista an inhaler.

No we are OK Slim


inhalers are no good.

[Toy Soldier]

To be fair to Trump (...Jesus effing...) Greta is 16 which, yes, is a minor BUT;

I don't think "child armour" should become a thing. I think the precedent - that you can use a minor to make a political statement and they are automatically immune from backlash - is a very slippery one, because people will DEFINITELY exploit that.

I think if a teenager makes the choice to fully enter a political battleground (as Greta has done, admirably), and their guardians sign off on that decision, then that teenager should be treated as (and RESPECTED as) a participant in the debate absolutely no different to any other.

Whether or not it's actually a good idea for someone so young to open themselves up to such a battleground is another debate.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

To be fair to Trump (...Jesus effing...) Greta is 16 which, yes, is a minor BUT;

I don't think "child armour" should become a thing. I think the precedent - that you can use a minor to make a political statement and they are automatically immune from backlash - is a very slippery one, because people will DEFINITELY exploit that.

I think if a teenager makes the choice to fully enter a political battleground (as Greta has done, admirably), and their guardians sign off on that decision, then that teenager should be treated as (and RESPECTED as) a participant in the debate absolutely no different to any other.

Whether or not it's actually a good idea for someone so young to open themselves up to such a battleground is another debate.

So long as the debate is valid debate I completely agree.

"Go watch a movie and CHILL GRETA, GOD!" from the POTUS is absolutely laughable. But, tbf, he does it to everyone not just children. He's just not equipped for politics in any way shape or form.

[bitontheslide]

i've grown very bored of her now. I think she is doing a lot of showboating both figuratively and literally

[Beastie]

I like her. A lot are threatened of her and her truth. Jeremy Clarkson is a twat.

[Captain.Remy]

God bless her she's actually on a rail trip from Madrid to Stockholm, and currently on her way to Paris and is dealing with the French strikes that imply no trains on a national level for the 8th day in a row (and counting...)

Trump can't stop Greta, but the french unions will

[arista]

In Italy
This 16 year old has said Sorry
for saying "Politicians should be put against the wall"

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9247321.html

[Ammi]

...always the wise grown up and clarifying her meaning immediately......which some ‘media’ obviously took the opportunity to twist in translation...


It was quickly picked in right-wing circles which have frequently criticised the teenager, including far-right online publication Breitbart accused Greta of going “full Fidel-Castro”.

[Livia]

I feel sorry for Greta. She's 16, has suffered anorexia and depression and, as I understand it, Asperger's. She's been used by her parents and by environmental activists who should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. I also object to her perpetuating the myth that "the older generation caused this, HOW DARE THEY?! and the younger generation will solve it". There's enough trouble in the world, let's not pit the generations against each other. Again.

If it wasn't for her ambitious parents, Greta would be a quite ordinary, rather plain, 16 year old schoolgirl with all the stress that comes with it. Being the face of environmentalism makes her a puppet.

[Jessica.]

Originally Posted by Livia

I feel sorry for Greta. She's 16, has suffered anorexia and depression and, as I understand it, Asperger's. She's been used by her parents and by environmental activists who should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. I also object to her perpetuating the myth that "the older generation caused this, HOW DARE THEY?! and the younger generation will solve it". There's enough trouble in the world, let's not pit the generations against each other. Again.

If it wasn't for her ambitious parents, Greta would be a quite ordinary, rather plain, 16 year old schoolgirl with all the stress that comes with it. Being the face of environmentalism makes her a puppet.

So you're saying she doesn't have the mental capacity to have taken the steps she has of her own accord? What a ridiculous way of trying to discredit that brave young lady under the guise of being sympathetic.

[The Slim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Jessica.

So you're saying she doesn't have the mental capacity to have taken the steps she has of her own accord? What a ridiculous way of trying to discredit that brave young lady under the guise of being sympathetic.

Her parents have so much ambition, I have no idea of their names and couldn't pick them out of a line up if my life depended on it.

[UserSince2005]

puppet queen

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Jessica.

So you're saying she doesn't have the mental capacity to have taken the steps she has of her own accord? What a ridiculous way of trying to discredit that brave young lady under the guise of being sympathetic.

Don't tell me what I'm saying. If you're not clear what I'm saying - and you're obviously not - just ask. What a ridiculous way to make a point because you don't like me.

No 16 year old should have that kind of pressure put upon her considering her history of mental health problems. If that makes me a monster, well... I could care less, but not much less.

[The Slim Reaper]

From my point of view, a young person facing up against all that adversity and coming out the other side should be viewed as inspirational. I don't see any evidence that it's her parents driving this on, and a young person as the face of this movement seems really appropriate because previous generations (including mine) have failed.

[Ammi]

Melati and Isabel Wijsen were only 10 and 12, respectively, when they started on a course of activism that has drastically decreased the global usage of single-use plastic...

Kelvin Doe
One of Sierra Leone's most famous inventors got started when he began looking for ways to fix local problems with technology as an 11-year-old, just five years after the country's volatile civil war ended. By 13, he was powering neighborhood houses with batteries made out of acid, soda and metal in a tin cup. He went on to build a community radio station out of recycled parts that he powered with a generator also made out of reused material.

Marley Dias
Marley is the activist behind the #1000BlackGirlBooks twitter phenomenon. The hashtag was born out of the avid reader's frustration that she couldn't find any stories where the main characters looked like her. The book drive resulted in more than 11,000 books catalogued with black female protagonists, and counting. Marley also wrote the book Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You as a guide to positive change through activism.

Greta Thunberg
You've probably heard of this environmental activist after her passionate speech at the UN Climate Summit, but this 16-year-old student has been advocating for sustainability for years now. Greta began by protesting Swedish parliament in an effort to get them to do more to prevent climate change. She went on to organize Fridays for Future, a school climate strike movement. As of 2019, more than one million students around the world participated in a multi-city coordinated protest for stronger action against climate change.

Emma González
After surviving a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a group of a teen activists formed to fight for an end of gun violence. Emma González was one of those students, in addition to David Hogg, Alex Wind, Jaclyn Corin, Cameron Kasky, and many others. She co-founded Never Again MSD, a group for gun control, and gave a moving speech at the March for Lives Rally in which she read the names of her classmates who died in the shooting. After the work of Emma and her fellow activists, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act was passed by Florida lawmakers in March 2018.

Nicholas Lowinger
When Nicolas was a tween, he met a brother and sister experiencing homelessness. The pair took turns going to school because they shared a pair of shoes. Nicolas gave the boy a pair of basketball sneakers, and thus kicked off an organization that would come to be known as Gotta Have Sole, through which footwear has been donated to over 99,000 children in homeless shelters.

Jaylen Arnold
After being diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome, Asperger's and OCD, Jaylen was bullied by peers for being different. He found that the anxiety he suffered as result of the bullying worsened the symptoms of his disabilities. That's what led Jaylen to found the Jaylen Challenge Foundation, which has educated more than 100,000 kids on recognizing bullying behavior and understanding each others differences.



...and the list goes on of remarkable young people whose passion and dedication has or is making changes to their..(..and our...)...world....


https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/lif...ged-the-world/

[Jessica.]

Originally Posted by Livia

Don't tell me what I'm saying. If you're not clear what I'm saying - and you're obviously not - just ask. What a ridiculous way to make a point because you don't like me.



No 16 year old should have that kind of pressure put upon her considering her history of mental health problems. If that makes me a monster, well... I could care less, but not much less.

Her and so many others of her generation are terrified of not being able to have a future because of how careless a lot of people in power are. None of them should have that pressure put upon them. She is just one who managed to have her voice heard.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Jessica.

Her and so many others of her generation are terrified of not being able to have a future because of how careless a lot of people in power are. None of them should have that pressure put upon them. She is just one who managed to have her voice heard.

...perfectly said...someone could walk into any school classroom in this and many other countries and hear the same one united voice of concern from children for their planet and their future...fortunately for those children, they have Greta as their inspirational voice ...

[The Slim Reaper]

[Toy Soldier]

I do in general agree that it'd be healthier from a mental health perspective to wait until 18 or even 21 before getting SO heavily involved in very public campaigning like this. That's not to say that there isn't scope for young people to get involved, but I'm unconvinced that it'll be a positive for her in the long run to have it be the bulk of her life as a teenager, and I do also agree that large swathes of climate change campaigners are a bit too comfortable with using her as figurehead, or a literal poster-child, without much thought for her as an individual beyond that. A 16-year-old, ANY 16-year-old is vulnerable to exploitation and at the very least I think people should try to keep that in mind.

[edited to add]

Should clarify that I don't think her parents re pushing her or exploiting her, I do fully believe that whilst her basic views have come from them (as with most kids/parents) the drive to do the things she's doing is hers. It's the "movement as a whole" where I feel like plenty of people care far more about her usefulness to the cause than her wellbeing as an individual, and at 16 years old that does make me a bit uncomfortable.

[Kizzy]

There is a 10yr old doing a degree, some young people are simply not interested and basically too intelligent to be bothered with all the rubbish that is forced into kids heads these days, social media people have a name ' influencers'. Why do we think that is?

Should she be so suggestable then why only one topic?
While some are waiting for her to become a normal teenager and 'chill' Lets spare a thought to all these 'normal' teenagers killing themselves to look a certain way because their you tube idol does...

To me she has seen through many of the damaging things that make up growing up. The peer pressure, social media influence and advertising to share her educated well resourced facts in a second language.

So no I don't think that she would be an 'ordinary' 'plain' girl, regardless of her parents, this passion and conviction comes from within.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Its sad that the hard left have exploited a troubled child to use as a political football

very sad

[Twosugars]

Anything but to discuss the actual issue. There will be more Gretas when more teens twig the oldies ****ed their future.

Hard right hate her. How sad.

[Jessica.]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...perfectly said...someone could walk into any school classroom in this and many other countries and hear the same one united voice of concern from children for their planet and their future...fortunately for those children, they have Greta as their inspirational voice ...

Exactly, I had a conversation about her with my niece who is the same age. She said they had a discussion about Greta in school and everyone in her class was unanimous in agreeing with what Greta is fighting for, they feel like she's speaking for all of them. It was really sweet to hear.

[Marsh.]

I think using her personal battles against her and accusing her of being "troubled" and suggesting she's not in her right mind is actually appalling.