More than 60 students quit classes on Friday to join an international movement against climate change.
Teenagers at Gosforth Academy Sixth Form, Newcastle, refused to go to school on Friday, instead joining tens thousands of young people across the planet taking part in a 'climate strike' to demand action to save the planet.
The students, aged 16 to 18, protested outside their school with placards and banners, before rallying at Monument, in Newcastle city centre.
Abel Harvie-Clark, 17, was among those who organised the protest. He said that, for his classmates, the threat of climate change was more important that a day's lessons - or the risk of getting in trouble for playing truant.
"A lot of people see this as a lot more important than any school sanctions," he said.
"It's good to see that as students, we have our own conscience, our own priorities, and we know how important this is. This is about a global movement, being in solidarity with people our age worldwide.
"These are the most important years of human civilisation - our last chance to halt climate change - and it's very clear to young people that what the government are doing doesn't reflect the urgency needed to tackle the problem."
Abel said that while the back and forth of party politics, or the bickering between Brexiteers and remain supporters, failed to engage teenagers, the potentially world-changing consequences of climate change felt far more important to many, who felt older people and politicians were overlooking an issue which could dramatically affect their futures.
"This is our chance to say, we do care, and we do recognise how serious this is, that the inaction of the government is putting us in a position we didn't consent to," he said.
"We're really proud to be part of a youth movement that stretches across the globe."
Leaders at Gosforth Academy say the youngsters won't be punished for taking a stand, and that some of the school's charity money raised over the year will be donated to environmental causes.
'We're fighting to stay alive': One student on why he's striking
We do not strike because we want to, this is abundantly clear.
We strike this Friday because we are left with no choice. We have to strike.
Climate scientist have optimistically given global governments 11 years to reduce carbon emissions to net zero.
Over the past 9 years the UK government has been actively working against this goal.
The Tories have slashed renewable subsidies and offered no repercussions for massive oil companies who commit murder on a daily basis in the countries they plunder.
We know that 71% of climate change is caused by just 100 corporations. We stand in solidarity with the estimated 12.7 million people who lost their homes and land in China, Cuba, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines alone.
We are fighting for our future and for the lives of billions, if we want to see change we must enact immediate change in our corner of the world.
This is our last chance and I sincerely hope that you can all join us in solidarity to save our species (on September 27 there will be a global general strike).
Finally, we know that this works. Direct action, to put it in revolutionary terms, gets the goods.
The only reason we have universal suffrage, basic workers’ rights, equal marriage, AIDs research, freedom from slavery, and decriminalised homosexuality is because of direct action.
Those in power are not and never will be benevolent enough to give us our rights willingly. We have to fight for them.
This time, we’re fighting to stay alive.
We demand:
1. The Government declare a climate emergency and prioritise the protection of life on Earth, taking active steps to achieve climate justice.
2. The national curriculum is reformed to address the ecological crisis as an educational priority.
3. The Government communicate the severity of the ecological crisis and the necessity to act now to the general public.
4. The Government recognise that young people have the biggest stake in our future, by incorporating youth views into policy making and bringing the voting age down to 16.
With the best wishes for our shared future,
Tom Hall, 18
Gosforth Academy student, on behalf of fellow Gosforth students who went on strike in March
Globally, young people descended onto the streets of Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa and the US on Friday.
The strike won the support of global charities including Amnesty International, who said a failure to act on climate change could be "one of the greatest intergenerational human rights violations in history".
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Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty’s secretary general, said: "It’s unfortunate that children have to sacrifice days of learning in school to demand that adults do the right thing.
"However, they know the consequences of the current shameful inaction both for themselves and future generations. This should be a moment for stark self-reflection by our political class."
