Take part in Fridays for future action in Bancroft

September 17, 2019

Sept. 17, 2019

To the Editor,

Children the world over are anxious about their futures. They have heard scientists calling our situation a climate emergency and they know they are going to inherit a world deeply affected by the decisions made today. You have probably heard of 15-year-old Greta Thunberg in Sweden who became frustrated with leaders who haven’t taken the situation seriously enough. Greta started to skip school on Fridays and sat in front of her city hall with a sign that said simply “School Strike for Climate.” A year later, millions of students the world over have joined her. You can check out this amazing movement online: #FridaysForFuture.
Here in Bancroft, a 9-year-old at Hermon Public School was watching Greta’s speeches on YouTube. The week after spring break, Brynn Kilpatrick decided to strike on Fridays for climate. She has kept at it, standing on the corner of Station and Hastings streets, holding her handmade signs, every Friday since, except for a few on summer holiday and one Track Meet (we understand, Brynn). Thank you, young friend.
It has changed me in ways I didn’t expect to stand there with Brynn week after week. It has made me happy. To listen to her stories from school and her big ideas. To have the company of other like-minded folks who turned up. Most of all: to feel as if there is something a person can do to challenge forces that seem too big to change. I have been so encouraged to come home from the strike on Fridays, check the news to see students striking everywhere in the world and know I was with them. The world is paying attention. Attitudes are shifting. This is the foundation for the changes we hope for to come.
The students leading FridaysForFuture have asked adults to join them this Friday, Sept. 20, three days before the United Nations Climate Summit, and again the following Friday, Sept. 27: the first Global Climate Strike. I will be with Brynn and the gang out in front of our Municipal building (the Old Railway Station) at 11:30 a.m. Will you join us? Bring a lawn chair, a sign, some snacks. I think you will be surprised how good it feels to do something.

Dianne Eastman,
Hastings Highlands