--- title: Protests, petitions and young activists — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Protests, petitions and young activists», a lesson of the politics course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: There are many peaceful ways to ask for change: a protest, where people gather in public with signs, songs and speeches; a petiti --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Politics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/) / Protests, petitions and young activists # Protests, petitions and young activists Lesson 38 of the politics course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/0/) — There are many peaceful ways to ask for change: a protest, where people gather in public with signs, songs and speeches; a petition, a list of names asking for the same thing; and a polite letter to your MP. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/1/) — Picture the playground: if lots of kids sign a paper asking for a new bench and take it to the head, she is more likely to listen than if one kid moans alone; that is how a petition works, only bigger. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/2/) — Young people have started big things: Greta Thunberg's school strike for climate, Malala Yousafzai speaking up for girls' education, students organising the March for Our Lives; many admire them and many disagree with what they ask for. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/3/) — Across the road there may be a counter-protest with the opposite view, and both sides are allowed to protest peacefully; neither is "the baddies" just for disagreeing. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/4/) — Smashing windows or hurting people is against the law even when the cause is good, and children go to marches only with a trusted adult and a safety plan. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/6/) — A petition is a written request signed by many people, and on some governments' petition websites a big petition can get a reply or a debate in parliament. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/7/) — An MP represents everyone in their area, including children who cannot vote yet, and writing politely is a real way to be heard. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/8/) — As widely reported, Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate in 2018 at 15, and millions of young people later joined climate strikes. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/9/) — As widely reported, Malala Yousafzai spoke up for girls' education in Pakistan, was attacked by the Taliban in 2012, survived, and won the Nobel Peace Prize at 17. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/10/) — As widely reported, after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida in 2018, students organised the March for Our Lives to ask for stricter gun laws, and other Americans disagreed with what they asked for. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/11/) — Some say young activists are told what to say by adults; others say young people think for themselves; both can be partly true. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/12/) — Children at a march should stay with a trusted adult, agree a meeting point, keep a phone charged and leave if it gets too crowded. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/13/) — In big protests most people may be peaceful while a few break things, and damage and violence are against the law even when the cause is good. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/14/) — A counter-protest is a protest by people who disagree with another protest, and police often keep the two groups apart. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/15/) — On climate, some say action must be fast because waiting makes it worse; others say changes that come too fast can cost jobs and make fuel too expensive. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/16/) — Words in this lesson: "slay" means do something brilliantly; "back in my day" is how older people start a story about when they were young; "yinz" in Pittsburgh means you all; "craic" in Ireland means fun or news, and "eejit" means fool. - ← previous: [School councils and class reps](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/37-school-councils-and-class-reps/) - next →: [Arguing politely and never calling names](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/) - ↑ back to [Politics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/)