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Kids to demonstrate for climate action in Tacoma and Seattle

Geert Vanden Wijngaert
/
AP Photo
Demonstrators hold placards during a march for the climate in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. School-day strikes are being planned for Friday around the world, including in the Puget Sound region.

Kids in Tacoma and Seattle are planning to join worldwide demonstrations during the school day Friday to call on adults to take action on climate change.

Demonstrations are expected in dozens of countries. They are inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thunbergin Sweden. Thunberg has been skipping school on Fridays since August to ask lawmakers in her country to adhere to the Paris Climate Agreement.

In Tacoma, kids and parents are planning to gather in Wright Park at noon Friday. Students will read essays urging adult leaders to take action on climate change.

"I think kids draw a bit more attention than just adults," said fifth-grader Theo Sullivan. The 11-year-old is the main student organizer for the Tacoma event.

Theo said learning about the potential environmental consequences of climate change has been scary.

"Kids usually are pretty selfish," he said. "If they care about this, then they care about all the kids and their future lives."

Theo's mom, Grace Sullivan, has been helping her son organize the event. She said she hopes to see at least a few dozen people there.

"These are conversations that are going on in homes and families around Tacoma," Sullivan said.

It can be a difficult conversation for parents, she said, who are trying to walk the line between giving their kids all the information and letting them just be kids.

"Kids are having a lot of strong reactions to finding out what the scientific community is saying about climate change," she said.

In addition to the Tacoma event, there also will be a demonstration atCal Anderson Park in Seattle starting at 10 a.m. Friday. Other events can be found here.

A Seattle native and former KNKX intern, Simone Alicea spent four years as a producer and reporter at KNKX. She earned her Bachelor's of Journalism from Northwestern University and covered breaking news for the Chicago Sun-Times. During her undergraduate career, she spent time in Cape Town, South Africa, covering metro news for the Cape Times.