It's amazing to me this is actually a debate. The US Constitution forbids people under 25 from being in Congress because children are not expected to have reasonable political opinions. They're children! They've never paid tax, worked or truly made their own decisions or experienced the consequences.
In this case, do you think these children are being presented with any alternate views at all? Are any of them being presented with the arguments of climate change skeptics in a neutral forum? Of course not. Most adults are never presented with these arguments, let alone children. No, they're being told that for inexplicable reasons the world is filled with evil people who want everyone to die and they ... children ... must fight them or the world will end! That'd have been like telling 8 year olds in the 1950s they had to fight communism. There's no way bringing children of that age into things can ever be a good idea.
Have you considered the possibility that these kids are actually just passionate about it? And what are these "alternate views" regarding climate change you mention? There is the truth and there is misinformation perpetuated by the oil/natural gas/plastic/etc companies and those getting paid by them.
Think about it. When you're a kid, you're not yet jaded by the harsh realities of the world. That corporations drive everything and we are basically just along for the ride.
The kids are looking at our dying planet and wondering "why is nobody doing anything?!?" I often feel the same way. The difference is, I have to go to work and focus on providing for my family. I also know that no amount of protesting or public speaking will change the path we are on in any significant way. Children still believe they can make a difference and I admire that passion. They are not worried about how old they are because they are watching the "adults" sit around and argue over even the smallest of corrective measures (carbon tax).
Have you considered the possibility that these kids are actually just passionate about it?
Yes, but so what? 8 year olds are passionate about eating endless amounts of ice cream. Doesn't mean that passion should be acted on.
There is the truth and there is misinformation perpetuated by the oil/natural gas/plastic/etc companies
Plastic companies? That's a new one! I don't think I've heard Big Plastic be described as staffed by liars before.
You sound like you've never really listened to climate change skeptics. Some of them make valid points, worrying points about media exaggeration of genuine science, actual scientific malpractice and the frequency of failed predictions in the past. You should try it. It may prove mind expanding.
But do you really want to immerse yourself in ambiguity? Or do you want to see the world as a titanic struggle between good and evil? Children very much want the latter. Disney movies always depict a purely good hero/purely evil villain dichotomy because these are stories designed for children who can't/won't handle anything complex, and additionally in order to teach them a moral code.
When I see the rhetoric around climate science, it often reminds me of Disney movies. There's Good People like the speaker and then a dark, shadowy conspiracy of Evil People whose inexplicably malign and self-destructive motives are never explained ... and who certainly aren't allowed to explain themselves!
After all, are you the devil you decry?
The difference is, I have to go to work and focus on providing for my family.
Indeed. Or put a bit more harshly, "why is nobody doing anything" has a simple answer: because people like you have chosen to enjoy the benefits the world has to offer in its current form, benefits like having a family and a job that's based further than walking distance.
Children have never had to provide for anyone. How can they understand this decision, the tradeoffs that go into it? Why should any adults care what they think about the big issues of the day when they've spent their entire lives in carefully controlled environments, one in which to disagree with the opinions of "experts" (teachers) yields swift and immediate punishment? They can't even start to think for themselves until they're outside that environment, which for a few could take a couple more decades.
In this case, do you think these children are being presented with any alternate views at all? Are any of them being presented with the arguments of climate change skeptics in a neutral forum? Of course not. Most adults are never presented with these arguments, let alone children. No, they're being told that for inexplicable reasons the world is filled with evil people who want everyone to die and they ... children ... must fight them or the world will end! That'd have been like telling 8 year olds in the 1950s they had to fight communism. There's no way bringing children of that age into things can ever be a good idea.