“Be a good girl and shut up”

Paula Puerto, 11º

We’ve all heard of Greta Thunberg, and the worldwide movement she has created. The 16-year-old girl keeps impressing each of us, with her dedication and passion to change the world. It’s no secret that, throughout her journey, Greta has made lots of enemies, that have done nothing more than criticize her and try to tear her down. Still, she comes back even stronger each time.

As she has gained more and more of the public’s attention, some people, and even big politicians, have tried to diminish her. Some go from simple mocks, to serious harming comments.

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson spoke out and responded to one of her speeches,

"We gave you mobile phones and laptops and the internet. We created the social media you use every day and we run the banks that pay for it all," he added. "So how dare you stand there and lecture us, you spoilt brat."

Concluding his speech he said, "So be a good girl, shut up and let them get on with it."

Sadly, he is not the only one who has attacked her over social media.

After her speech in the USA, many came for her including, Dinesh D´Souza, an American conservative political commentator, who compared her look to a Nazi propaganda poster. A Fox News guest called her a “mentally ill Swedish child, ” being “exploited” by her parents. He and many others have made accusations saying Greta has no voice; that she is just her parents’ puppet.

The most controversial of all, POTUS Donald Trump, started making jokes ridiculizing her and her speeches on Twitter. He referred to her ironically as a “happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future”.

One of the worst ones was made by Arron Banks, as he “joked” about her drowning in her yacht while crossing the Atlantic Ocean in August.

When will it stop? How are we allowing 50-year-old men to harass a 16-year-old girl through the internet? She has done nothing more than try to help. Greta is giving real facts, that people are just too afraid to hear.

Yet, no matter what adults say, she keeps using all this hate and turning it into power. Instead of answering with more harm, she has decided to make simple statements standing up for herself, such as:

“I honestly don’t understand why adults would choose to spend their time mocking and threatening teenagers and children for promoting science, when they could do something good instead.”

She is a true role model for every generation.