Jesse Watters criticized the New York City Department of Education's decision to allow more than a million students to skip school Friday and protest climate change, saying "they don't have anything to protest."

"I mean if we only have 10 years left on planet earth one why are the kids in school anyway. We're all going to die. Why don't they just go hang out with their parents," Watters told his co-hosts on "The Five" Monday.

New York City’s Department of Education announced this past Thursday that its more than 1 million public school students could skip class to participate in this upcoming Friday's global youth climate strike -- provided they have parental consent.

Watters said the event will have little impact.

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"The point of skipping school is to draw attention to the climate issue. So all these foreign leaders, when they're here for the U.N. General Assembly, can see that it's a big issue," Watters said.

"So they think that President Xi of China really cares what a bunch of High School freshmen from the Lower East Side think about anything. He doesn't even listen to his own citizens in his own country."

The "Watters' World" host added: "So at this point, there's no Vietnam War. There are no civil rights issues. So they don't have anything to protest. They're protesting the weather."

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Co-host Dana Perino said the skipping school won't benefit the students.

"As a taxpayer, I want children in school to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. I want them to have every opportunity," Perino said. "Not going to school to protest climate change is not going to get them there."