A twelve-year-old sits on a driveway to the A100 in Steglitz and blocks motorists with other demonstrators. Is that madness or courage? Being as young as the young demonstrator these days doesn’t sound very tempting. For two years now, the pandemic has turned everything upside down that makes the development from child to adult an exciting phase of life.
Finding friendships and first love, daring experiments, in times of contact restrictions, all of this often boiled down to a lonely existence behind the laptop or on the smartphone. As if the virus weren’t enough, the world created by adults is apparently so messed up that many young people fear it.
Climate change as an existential threat is the projection surface for all fears in uncertain times. It cannot be ruled out that adolescents will experience catastrophes for which we adults today lack the imagination. Humans have two reactions to danger: flight or resistance. Society can be thankful that many young people concerned about the climate do not want to give up. Commitment is always a pound that a democracy can capitalize on.
But care must be taken when dealing with young people. What happens in the here and now is forever for them. They cannot always see the consequences of their actions. Climate protection activists should say no when children push their way to the front in legally sensitive and potentially risky forms of action. The group “Uprising of the Last Generation” can be accused of instrumentalization. Driven by apocalyptic expectations, climate protectionists are becoming ever more strident and ruthless. They show that while they want attention, they really don’t care what the public thinks. A movement that subordinates the individual to a goal and claims the sole interpretation of morality is taking on disturbing forms.