Page 5 - Mobile Magic

5
How could she fight all by herself against powerful developers and politicians? They were set to ruin this town and make it just like any other suburban sprawl. She was still vaguely listening to the teacher drone on about passive resistance. Suddenly she blurted out a question.
‘Ms Honey, what would Mahatma Gandhi do if he wanted to stop the council building a suburb at Green Mountain?’
The question came from right out of the blue and caused the whole class to burst into hysterical laughter. The teacher hushed them and answered quite seriously.
‘The methods of modern protest haven’t changed that much. Gandhi’s methods still work well. Perhaps the greatest change is in the technology of protest. People write letters - make phone calls - send e-mails to politicians. Does anyone in the class have an answer to Saffron’s challenging question?’
A hand shot up and waved frantically. ‘You could threaten the developer and the councillors to stop the suburb - or else !’ yelled a boy called Gregory.
‘That would be illegal. Threats are not passive resistance,’ the teacher reminded him.