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Narjas Zatat
Aug 16, 2019
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Getty and Twitter
An author has defended Greta Thunberg’s dedication to climate change activism and missing school.
Notes on a Nervous Planet author Matt Haig called the idea of the 16-year-old activist skipping school being a bad example, “ludicrous.”
Taking to Twitter, he said: “The idea that Great Thunberg is a bad example because she skips school is ludicrous.”
When I skipped school I went to the video store and smoked cigarettes out of my bedroom window.
When Great skips school she sails to New York to talk to the UN on the need to save life on Earth.
When put that way, many people agreed.
@matthaig1 She is an extraordinary person educating us all. 💜— Working Change - Heather Wignall 💙 (@Working Change - Heather Wignall 💙) 1565811592
@matthaig1 I'm deeply disturbed by all the Greta Thunberg dunking online... if she ends up a bit crap at trigonomet… https://t.co/9hg5cM4uOC— Leilah Skelton (taking a break) (@Leilah Skelton (taking a break)) 1565808555
@matthaig1 The arguement of 'she should be in school' equates to the arguements that 'she should be in the kitchen'… https://t.co/y244l2759T— Dr Lucy Mercer-Mapstone (@Dr Lucy Mercer-Mapstone) 1565854536
Others pointed out the hypocrisy of criticism leveled against Greta
@matthaig1 They’re nuts. Child actors and musicians “skip school” and no one complains. (They have tutors, and so m… https://t.co/yBq1Phkb9G— Ọya (formerly Duke of Edinburgh Fan) 🇺🇳 (@Ọya (formerly Duke of Edinburgh Fan) 🇺🇳) 1565807709
This assistant headteacher threw their weight behind the young climate change activist
@matthaig1 If Greta had come to me when I was an assistant headteacher with this as an explanation for her absence,… https://t.co/RlTHQ1VJtC— imaginecreativeme (@imaginecreativeme) 1565808485
Another person made this salient point:
@matthaig1 There’s no point in her going to school if climate change means no future for mankind.— Mark 🐝 (@Mark 🐝) 1565807451
"What the world really needs is more Greta Thunbergs"
@matthaig1 We have a ridiculous idea that our kids should be compliant robots, living and breathing for more and be… https://t.co/TGLGhh3Htn— Rachel Auty (@Rachel Auty) 1565850713
The tweet received much love, with over 5k retweets and 33k likes.
The 16-year-old has been the target of online harassment from climate change deniers. The founder of the Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU recently made a joke about the climate change activist being involved in a 'freak yachting accident.'
The teenager, who is one of the most prominent people in the world for raising awareness about climate change, embarked on a zero-carbon two-week voyage across the Atlantic on board a solar-powered yacht on Wednesday.
Images of Greta onboard the vessel made their way online, with the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas wishing Thunberg good luck on her trip.
Arron Banks however, made her the centre of a distasteful joke, retweeting Lucas and commenting: "Freak yachting accidents do happen in August."
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