The impact of economic inequality and educational background in shaping how non-activist “Standby” youth in London experience environmental politics

The non‐protesting children in the 2018 Parkland school shooting protests and their freedom not to express views in child participation spaces

“…non-participation are dearth and more so those that highlight children's views. In our systematic review (key phrases: 'child + non-protest' and 'child + non-activist') in Google Scholar, Scopus and Social Science Database, we found two articles (Arya & Henn, 2021;Jennings, 2002) that overlap with ours.…”

“…Both MS and HS non‐protesters are not convinced of the protests' positive impact and value. The young Londoners in Arya and Henn's (2021) study mentioned the same reasons—protests' lack of impact and value—in their non‐participation in the various climate actions in the United Kingdom. HS non‐protesters were troubled by the protests' negative impact on them and the problems in the protest details.…”

“…The HS non‐protesters' ability to disagree and express their disagreement with the protest issues may be due to the in/formal or vicarious education they have received through the years, and therefore, emphasize age holds more power. While the 16‐ to 22‐year‐old Londoners in Arya and Henn's (2021) study also did not mention disagreement with the issues in not participating in various climate protests, Hanna's (2022) framework point to a possible injustice that have rendered the less informed and less articulate children unable to (not) protest.…”

“…In one study, Jennings (2002) looks at the lifetime political participation trajectories between those who, when high school students in 1965, were civil rights/Vietnam war non/protesters. In the study akin to ours, Arya and Henn (2021) ask the views of 33 16‐ to 22‐year‐olds who, given the many peer‐organized/participated environmental actions, did not participate in the climate protests. These politically passive young people, despite not participating in the climate protests, were ‘deeply concerned about environmental matters and the climate crisis’ (Arya & Henn, 2021, p. 16); their educational and socioeconomic context shaped their political non/participation.…”