Voices is the Dorset Echo's weekly youth page - written for young people by young people.

Dear Dorset Echo readers of the older generations,

I do not wish to offend nor do I wish to start what is called a ‘flame war’ online while expressing my views, so please, do not start one either. My name is Aimee Hope and I took part in the ‘Student Strike for Climate Change’ protest as a student from All Saints C of E Secondary School.

I did not want to join the protest just to ‘get out of class’ or to 'put stress on adults’, I would never want to do either of those things because I want to do well with my grades and do my family (especially my grandparents) proud.

Dorset Echo did an article on the protest (I even made a statement that made me feel rather embarrassed once it was brought up by my father) and I was shown the comments by fellow students.

It made me feel rather ashamed for helping my generation because of the few stereotyping me for being a teenager.

I read that my generation was called ‘zombies glued to screens’. Yes, I admit I am on my phone often. I admit, yes, I possibly spend too long on there. Yes, I admit that I should probably get outside more.

However, I cannot admit that I am a ‘zombie’. I cannot admit that I want nothing to do with the planet.

To respond to such comments about my generations ‘addiction’ to phones, a phone is a way to escape.

I want to escape what is going on in the world while picking up so many different facts about so many different things. I am learning from my phone by asking people online for their views and what has happened in their lifetimes.

Yes, I do not talk outside to strangers or people I do not know, because they never seem to want to start a conversation.

I do not want to nag on the older generation but I have seen lately that they never decided to talk to us. We do act out of order sometimes, yes, but only because we are trying to find our standing in society and what we can and cannot do.

We do want to take part in our future. We do want to talk and learn. We do want to be taught, even if some of us get frustrated by not understanding. We do want to visit the world and see different things.

But we cannot. Because another generation is holding us back through climate change, insults and doubt about my generation.

Sincerely, Aimee Hope of Weymouth, Dorset.