Importance of Teenage Activism

In the past few years our country has seen a rise in teenage activism, feminist movements, and the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. Youth activists and their place in movements have been harshly attacked by critics, being told they are too young to have an opinion, so uneducated we couldn’t possibly have a say in what is happening in our world. All of the statements above are wrong and most people know it. Youth activists play an extremely important role in our country’s fight to end social injustice.

We have recognized the inequalities within our country from an early age and are now trying to fix them, we are stepping up for what we believe in. We don’t march in the streets getting poured on, arrested, yelled at and threatened for nothing. Youth activists are anything but uneducated, we are using the knowledge that has been freshly implanted in our brains by our schools, but instead of waiting twenty years after graduating to take action and use the advice and knowledge given to us by our teachers, we are using it now. Learning from the use of nonviolent direct action in the civil rights protests and the sit ins lead by SNCC. Using our foreign  language abilities to communicate with other youth activists around the world.

In conjunction with the knowledge we have gained from school, youth activists use social media to not only stay informed but to communicate with other activists groups. Social media has helped organize massive protests, walkouts, sit ins, and draw attention to injustices around the country. We have all this information at our fingertips and we are not wasting it, but using it to our advantage. Spreading news like wildfire around the world, exposing the truth and finding ways to change it. Teenage activism is here to stay and it is only going to spread, youth activists are not only joining movements, but they are inspiring younger generations of activists and providing strong and healthy role models.