This week I’ve been intrigued by the reaction from all around the world to teenagers expressing their opinions.

Greta Thunberg’s performance at the UN, and the Climate Strike on Friday certainly has rattled some cages, and I can’t help but think that for those involved in some way it’s already mission accomplished.

As Whitney Houston sang …“I believe the children are our future” … but for them to play a part in the future the first thing they need to do is get involved.

Many who skipped school to strike on Friday are about to join the work force or head into tertiary education - and a lot of them will be voting in our next election.

As parents we want our kids to be inquisitive, engaged with the world around them, able to express empathy and lack apathy. We encourage them to ask questions and form their own opinions. We tell them the world is their oyster – do something you love, follow your dreams … and a heap of other clichés.

And then when they do standup for something; we’re quick to knock them down by criticising their delivery, sense of entitlement and age.

Some kids may have been at the march because it was a day off school – although on the last day of term, I doubt much productive work really happens anyway - but there were plenty who have read the science, believe climate change is the world’s most pressing issue, and are coming to the dinner table with plenty to talk about.

Right or wrong – don’t we want engaged kids?

Some of us thought Greta Thunberg’s speech was just hot air, and her tears over the top.

But what did we expect - she’s a kid with eyes of the world on her, and she spoke as you’d expect a passionate angry teenager would.

If we don’t like what she’s saying, so be it – but it’s no justification for the cruel, personal comments that have followed.

Courtesy and respect goes both ways – if you want a bright, engaged teenager in the house and you want them to stay, then at some point you’ve got to start listening.

This week, youth development lecturer Pat Bullen, from the University of Auckland, was in the media talking about her ongoing research, which challenges the negative stereotyping of generations – from millennials to Generation Z.

Adolescences are often thought of as lazy, rude and self-entitled - and they’ve been called all sorts this week.

Bullen suggests we look at how young people are reacting to issues such as climate change and the Christchurch terror attack - they care, reflect and want to make the world a better place.

Bullen hopes her research will encourage adults to give young people a better chance to contribute - to create an environment they can participate in, and share their knowledge and experience. She believes they are an untapped resource.

I find her findings hopeful – too often we write off kids, because, well they are kids. I’m not saying they’ve got it all sorted, but let’s give them a seat at the table, and not generalise a generation.