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Read an editorial by Drew Atkins, about teenagers and activism.
Originally published by Threads Magazine, a high school club in San Diego.
"The Teen Age"
Our generation is defined by the adults around us. To them we are the terrifying predecessors to the millenials, who were the disappointing followers of the gen xers. We are the youth of “the Teen Age”, The generation of stylized instagram feeds and brunch dates, the generation of left on reads and crying in school parking lots: the generation in the driver’s seat for the world’s future.
The generation pulsing with volatile energy and trancedant creativity, but also quivering behind phone screens. Too old to be ignorant, too young to be taken seriously. So as an adolescent growing up in such a transformative time, how can we find our voice?
The answer seems equal parts oversaid and underdone: to create change you need to speak. But what’s missing in translation is what hinders the validity of our generations leaders.
Speaking can be a supportive post or a passive walkout, but we can and should get more involved than that. Already as teenagers we compromise our opinions into watered down ones in the interest of preserving social standings, so if you want your voice to be heard it’s time to get creative. Your support cannot be cut off at the end of your snapchat story, and it cannot be left behind after moments of silence. To find a voice worth being heard you need to actually change.
I fear that just like social media accounts, the problems we face in our society only gain followers, and never leaders. No wonder our arguments for change are dismissed as juvenile, because as a whole we have yet to display any real conviction behind the issues we back.
Take for example my school’s walkout in response to the Parkland shooting. An enormous majority of the student body left their second period to make a statement about the problem of school shootings across America. And while that’s a small term success, the discussion seemed to come to a halt after the walkout. I can’t help but feel that it’s shallow for hundreds of us students to walk out for gun control, then continue to ignore the issue afterward. Discussion shouldn’t end after walkouts, it should increase.
We can’t rely on technology either. Our demands for reformation are ignored when expressed through our phones. If we want to do anything at all we need to reevaluate our strategies. We can no longer dump our woes into the landfill of internet complaints, to be taken seriously we need to step outside the comfort of what we’re used to. Change is calling us on the phone, and as easy as it is to let it go to voicemail, it’s time to pick up and talk.
The only thing suffering from our illusions of activism is the issues we fight for. If it is adults and injustice that we disagree with then why should we fall quiet? If you disagree, express it. Do not fall idle to inhibition, if we want to be taken seriously for the things we support than we must use our voice to prove to adults that even as young people, our opinions have earned the right to be considered.
Find an outlet to express your opinion in its fullest extent. Turn to friends and family and speak your mind without reservation, challenge yourself to do more. Use every atom of your unfaltering teenage creativity to make something new, to present a new solution. Use your brilliance to activate the fighting spirit in those around you. Heck, share your thoughts in a fashion club magazine, it’s been working for me!
If we aren’t taken seriously by our internet audiences then we need to act how adults would least expect us to: with discussion. Technology is our greatest tool, but as a young person, our greatest weapon is our ability to adapt. The times are changing yes, and that would create a bigger online audience, but sometimes you need to bring it to the home court of those who doubt us with an educated discussion if you really want to change minds and be taken seriously.
The takeaway is not to stop your current activism, it’s to bring it to new heights. We are the Teen Age, allies to our planet, challengers of the rules of gender and sexuality, activists unwilling to accept the fervent injustices of inequality, we demand a brighter future for those other than ourselves. We are electric because we are the youth, and we are ready to be heard.
Our generation is defined by the adults around us. To them we are the terrifying predecessors to the millenials, who were the disappointing followers of the gen xers. We are the youth of “the Teen Age”, The generation of stylized instagram feeds and brunch dates, the generation of left on reads and crying in school parking lots: the generation in the driver’s seat for the world’s future.
The generation pulsing with volatile energy and trancedant creativity, but also quivering behind phone screens. Too old to be ignorant, too young to be taken seriously. So as an adolescent growing up in such a transformative time, how can we find our voice?
The answer seems equal parts oversaid and underdone: to create change you need to speak. But what’s missing in translation is what hinders the validity of our generations leaders.
Speaking can be a supportive post or a passive walkout, but we can and should get more involved than that. Already as teenagers we compromise our opinions into watered down ones in the interest of preserving social standings, so if you want your voice to be heard it’s time to get creative. Your support cannot be cut off at the end of your snapchat story, and it cannot be left behind after moments of silence. To find a voice worth being heard you need to actually change.
I fear that just like social media accounts, the problems we face in our society only gain followers, and never leaders. No wonder our arguments for change are dismissed as juvenile, because as a whole we have yet to display any real conviction behind the issues we back.
Take for example my school’s walkout in response to the Parkland shooting. An enormous majority of the student body left their second period to make a statement about the problem of school shootings across America. And while that’s a small term success, the discussion seemed to come to a halt after the walkout. I can’t help but feel that it’s shallow for hundreds of us students to walk out for gun control, then continue to ignore the issue afterward. Discussion shouldn’t end after walkouts, it should increase.
We can’t rely on technology either. Our demands for reformation are ignored when expressed through our phones. If we want to do anything at all we need to reevaluate our strategies. We can no longer dump our woes into the landfill of internet complaints, to be taken seriously we need to step outside the comfort of what we’re used to. Change is calling us on the phone, and as easy as it is to let it go to voicemail, it’s time to pick up and talk.
The only thing suffering from our illusions of activism is the issues we fight for. If it is adults and injustice that we disagree with then why should we fall quiet? If you disagree, express it. Do not fall idle to inhibition, if we want to be taken seriously for the things we support than we must use our voice to prove to adults that even as young people, our opinions have earned the right to be considered.
Find an outlet to express your opinion in its fullest extent. Turn to friends and family and speak your mind without reservation, challenge yourself to do more. Use every atom of your unfaltering teenage creativity to make something new, to present a new solution. Use your brilliance to activate the fighting spirit in those around you. Heck, share your thoughts in a fashion club magazine, it’s been working for me!
If we aren’t taken seriously by our internet audiences then we need to act how adults would least expect us to: with discussion. Technology is our greatest tool, but as a young person, our greatest weapon is our ability to adapt. The times are changing yes, and that would create a bigger online audience, but sometimes you need to bring it to the home court of those who doubt us with an educated discussion if you really want to change minds and be taken seriously.
The takeaway is not to stop your current activism, it’s to bring it to new heights. We are the Teen Age, allies to our planet, challengers of the rules of gender and sexuality, activists unwilling to accept the fervent injustices of inequality, we demand a brighter future for those other than ourselves. We are electric because we are the youth, and we are ready to be heard.