Youth on Strike!
In March 2019 over 150,000 Australian school students went on strike to demand action on climate change. They risked their studies to unite their generation, while still doing their homework. This is the story of how young Aussies defied calls to stay in school and organised one of the largest youth-led movements Australia has ever seen, told by twelve diverse students who vlogged the whole thing. From Townsville to Western Sydney, Adelaide to Melbourne, these young people share their stories of who they are and captured what it took to organise a movement. Using only footage recorded by the students, this is their story, unfiltered and in their voice, this is Youth On Strike! Inspired by Greta Thunberg in Sweden, the first student strike for climate change back in 2018 was quickly organised in Australia with the help of adults. But this time for 2019, the students took it on themselves to show what young people can do. Across three episodes, twelve students share their stories on who they are and why they care. We discover the challenges of keeping a youth movement youth led, how generalizations of this generation are wrong, how students balanced school and the strike work, why young people should be able to vote, and how to get the message out there. We meet Doha in her final year of high school, she's the key organiser of the Adelaide strike who faces a challenge to keep young people leading the movement. She must balance strike work with her final year of high school. Anthony, an ex-Young Liberal party member and now making the transition into uni. He's not what you'd call your typical 'activist'. Anthony worries about the movement becoming too political or extreme and faces a choice when he begins university. 13-year-old Billie, who is a powerhouse and is motivated by her love of animals, she is organising the local strike. Living in the pro-mining city of Townsville she faces more opposition than most other strikers, and she worries nobody will turn up to their strike. Outspoken private school student Maiysha, who was MC at the 2018 strike but is now in Year 12 and wants to study medicine at university. Maiysha faces the dilemma of having an exam on the same day of the strike and faces a choice of priorities. Marco, he's your more 'traditional activist' who has grown up in the activism circles. Marco favours a more disruptive approach and when it comes to school, he's willing to sacrifice everything, even his grades. Originally from Saudi Arabia, Fatima has just graduated high school. Young women don't have a voice in Saudi Arabia, but now with her organising skills and strong passion, she leads the promotions team for Melbourne. And Tiara, who up until recently had never heard of climate change, is taking part in her first bit of social activism. Being a singer, she's been invited to perform at the Sydney March, but isn't sure how to pick a song. Plus, we feature the voices of William from the Hunter region, Harriet from regional Victoria, Claire and Piper from Cairns, and Manjot from Sydney. For these students, success is everything. They haven't put this much work, effort, tears and sweat into the movement for nothing. And they have a point to prove: they can do this without the adults. The story begins one month out and we follow a countdown to the day of the strike, getting to know the students in personal and honest video blogs where they share their experience, thoughts, feelings and opinions. You know the result of the strike, you saw the news, now uncover the behind the scenes story and meet some of the students. How did they do this, and what did it mean to them?
