My disagreement with David Seymour on truancy has been short-lived this week - because I could not agree more with him today.
Those kids out bunking school today so they can strike for the climate should be marked down as truant: Explained but unjustified absence.
I think I'm less tolerant of it today than I was when these shenanigans first started up because at least the ones who were striking back in 2019 when their messiah Greta Thunberg was leading them seemed to be genuinely motivated by the delusion that the opinion of children counted.
Now though, the reality must have set in. They can’t apply enough political pressure to actually affect change. You can have as many children out striking on the streets as you like - if they can’t vote, it doesn’t matter.
Plus, we have a truancy crisis.
We've been talking about this for months now. Regular attendance at school has fallen from 70% in 2015 to 40% at last count in 2022. The truancy crisis is more of a pressing threat to their future than the climate crisis. They are frankly at greater risk of being unable to do maths than they are at risk of a wave eroding mummy and daddy’s beach house.
What are their parents thinking allowing them to do this? What a shocking attitude towards their education at a time when everyone in this country knows they need every minute in the classroom they can get.
Anyway, my favourite part of their strike is that they have now expanded their kaupapa.
No longer is this just a strike about the climate - it is now also about toi tu te tiriti, it is about freeing Palestine, ending the fast-track approvals bill, keeping the ban on oil and gas, and lowering the voting age to 16.
It's about everything, basically. Everything except the most important thing they could be doing as children... learning.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show.
11 comments:
I agree with you Heather, however this climate alarmism won’t stop until the MSM, that you are part of, allows open debate. What are you afraid of?
Not only should the children be treated as truant but any teachers involved should lose one half a day's pay. I commented this morning on Kiwiblog GD as below.
The bloody teachers who took part in the climate strike should lose one half day’s pay. I heard some poor child on TV saying that she would die from climate change before she got to old age. This crap is a form of child abuse and no doubt contributes to youth suicide.
Seems these students have been brainwashed into believing that NZ can do something about it. It's a global problem and pressure needs the put on the global community.
I was unfortunate enough to watch TVNZ news last night and seeing hysterical fully indoctrinated teenagers parading in the street accompanied by some teachers was disturbing. One kid in particular said Climate Change was going to kill her!
The sooner we get ideologies , fads and radical leftist politics out of our schools the better. I am sure if real education as we understand it, was occurring in schools truancy rates and academic standards would improve immensely.
Let's have an adult protest calling for ideology-free education where real honest science and balanced history along with effective methods including discipline , particularly in the basics, are reestablished in teaching.
The spoilt banner wavers should be at school, in class, learning some FACTS about just how little CO2 New Zealand produces:-
Using the IPCC data:-
Human CO2 emissions are only 3% of total global emissions.
Natures contribution to the 400ppm is 97%. (or 388ppm).
Mankind’s contribution is just 3% or 12ppm. The other 97% is natural.
New Zealand’s CO2 emissions only 0.17% of human emissions.
So New Zealand’s CO2 emissions are 3% x 0.17% of the total global CO2 emissions each year.
3% x 0.17% = 0.0051% !!
This is 1 in 20,000. Effectively ZERO.
So the other 99.9949% is generated by all other sources, NOT NZ !!!
This is NOT a “climate emergency”
NOT a “matter of life and death”
Of course, once these kids realise that we in NZ have all-but zero impact on the world's climate, and most of them (who are overweight) don't use shanks' pony to get to school like they should, and all love to play on the earth resource consuming gadgets, they'll then turn to the next crisis that's been indoctrinated into them - deciding what pro-nouns to use. Spare us please!
So you see Heather, you and your MSM buddies are the problem for keeping this lie alive.
Do teachers remind the children of the general hypocrisy? How many are driven to school, parents regularly update cars, take holidays by plane, discard clothing and other commodities because out of fashion and not worn out, have fancy kitchen and other home renovations primarily for fashion, run the air con/heater instead of donning clothing etc etc. Would develop critical /rational thinking. They could then apply that to the pro maori propoganda also repeatedly fed them.
The classroom attendance register is a legal document. If a child is not physically present in class they can hardly be marked present. Their absence may be explained with a note, however, as a teacher I am responsible for the welfare of the students in my class. If they are not physically in my company I am unable to vouch for their behaviour or their safety. Extremely simple.
In response to anonymous 6.28pm, you are however responsible for what you teach them in the classroom.
To Anonymous 9:43. You are very right. It must be balanced and based on science. I am one of the few non left wing teachers. In mathematics I prefer a straightforward approach that is honest and devoid of sensationalism. Structured reasoning / logic is the focus.
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