Climate change school ‘strikers’ deserve to be punished

The thousands of children across the UK on ‘strike’ from school today to protest climate change are admirable. They’re part of a movement, Fridays for Future, which wants more aggressive measures to reduce emissions. It seems clear to me that climate change is real, man-made and requires action. If these kids can do their bit to make this point, good luck to them. Okay, some might just fancy bunking off from double maths or be dabbling in fashionable politics for its shareability on social media. Either way, what these children can’t expect is special treatment. There are calls from adults — almost exclusively those who agree with the aims of the walkout — for schools to show leniency to the strikers. Scottish Green MSP and occasional Churchill historian Ross Greer has written to headteachers north of the border saying the pupils are being ‘responsible citizens’ and ‘should know that they will not be punished for defending their own future’.