In my last year of high school, I was involved in Scottish Youth Climate Strikes – a peaceful climate crisis awareness group that operated through public engagement and school strikes. It was a time in my life where I met many like minded people, learned valuable skills and was even interviewed by Sky News. Note however that I say was – shortly after starting university in 2020 I had to stop. This was due to several factors but the straw that broke the camel’s back was the issues forming within the community itself.
Part of what makes the climate strike movement so powerful
is the youth – these inspiring young people determined to stand up for the
planet when their elders won’t. And despite their age, the attempts of solving
the problem are anything but immature. Marches involving millions worldwide,
eloquent call-outs of world leaders acting like children themselves, and a dignified
persistence as they stand in front of renowned buildings with homemade signs
every Friday for months. However a key fact is forgotten here: in this broken
situation, children are forced to fix a mess they did not make when they should
be able to give their undivided attention to school and social life. Enter:
burnout.
Plenty of you are familiar with burnout as academics. That
feeling of being unable to process things because you have so much on your
plate. It’s not fun. Imagine having to organise a huge scale event. Tens of
thousands of people will be there – you need to make sure what you have planned
is legal, safe and accessible. People need to be told the details so they can come.
There needs to be speakers, branding, cooperation with other groups. I’ve just
described what went into planning 20th September 2019 Strike in
Edinburgh. Other smaller events still require events and constant Zoom meetings
on how we could improve our methods, have more impact, anything – it all meant
everyone was exhausted attempting to keep up without adult support. This
crippling burnout often leads to people stepping away from climate activism.
And while being involved in the climate movement can be empowering for young
people with “climate anxiety”, the lack of any real results from government can
force people away for their own mental health.
Another major problem is the impossibly high standards
everyone expects you to meet if you’re involved in climate activism. A friend
of mine, still involved with climate strikes called it “the pressure to be
perfect in everything you say and do and that is not possible”. And it’s true. The
point of the strikes was to drive systemic change in government and major
companies. Without it no one can live a sustainable lifestyle, especially not
the average person (Greta Thunberg is incredible, but a gentle reminder that she
has an actor and an opera singer for parents, giving her more in the way of
resources than most climate activists). So criticising people trying their best
to make positive change because “you aren’t vegan” or “you flew on holiday to Spain
last summer” isn’t fair. There are many ways to help the planet. Being petty
and calling someone a hypocrite until they can’t put up with it anymore is not
one.
To understand my last key point, let’s remember that young
people are exactly that – young. They push boundaries, become very into
communism and sometimes fall out with their friends. When I was involved in the
climate strikes our group slowly split into two factions – one that was
militant and felt we needed to become more like Extinction Rebellion, the other
that called for balance by providing an alternative protest that had lower risk
of protesters getting in trouble. I was in the latter camp – while radical
protest is important, its not possible for everyone. These rifts – along with
people pushing other political views onto what we were doing – led to arguments
and harsh words. The stress and bad atmosphere, which didn’t have a neutral
mediator, was ultimately what led to many dropping out.
Youth-led climate movements are a true force of nature. But
to sustain them and keep their members from cracking under the heat, they
shouldn’t have to go it alone. They shouldn’t have to listen to politicians
make hollow promises that will go up in flames as soon as a lucrative offer
appears. I don’t regret giving that year to a cause that my future depends on.
But I can’t become a martyr because those in power won’t grow up.
Written by Lucy Purbrick
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