There is often a stereotype thrown around about young people - they are apathetic.
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Young people's role in community is often tinged with negativity: Millenials are too entitled, they care too much about avocado on toast to earn their way to a house deposit.
One that has often been thrown around is that high school students are squandering their education to laze about and play video games - all while becoming more likely to commit violence in the process.
However, hundreds of young people blasted that stereotype to the stratosphere in Launceston on Friday, when the School Strike for Climate was held at Civic Square.
The square was packed to the brim of passionate young people, and like-minded adults, who say enough is enough.
Climate change has become a hot-button issue, but it is the world's young people who have grabbed hold of it and made it their own to fight for.
Lead by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who founded the school climate strike movement and has been actively vocal about the impacts of climate change, the strikes have drawn criticism from levels of government and other members of the community. But there is one thing missing about all this criticism and it's something that has been under everyone's noses.
Climate change as an issue has brought young people together and it has created an avenue for them to demonstrate their democratic right to to protest.
Ensuring young people engaged in global issues means a stronger economy for the future, because it ensures they are educated enough to formulate an argument on the topic. Climate change is undoubtedly going to affect our young people the most, so it is not surprising they want to have their voices heard on an issue that is so close to them.
Fostering that passion is going to set our young people on the right path to find solutions to these problems in the future.
Just because they are young people does not mean they forfeit their right to protest.
We should focus on the positive action these teenagers are taking rather than focus on the negatives.