What do you think of when you hear teenager? Do you think of girls, going out into the mall shopping? Maybe you think of boys, sitting at home, playing video games. If that is what you think of, you need to get your facts straight. Teens in this world are being more productive than you probably are right now, just sitting here reading this. There are teen activists all over with a passion for this, and they're making teen activism big. What is teen activism? What does it take to become a teen activist? Just look around. They’re all over. John F. Kennedy once said “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.” To begin with, teen activism is like a puzzle. There are all of these pieces and you need to put them in the right spot …show more content…
Going further, Malala Yousafzai, a young girl (age 20 as of today, about 15 when she spoke out) who just wanted everyone to be equal spoke out for equal women's/girl’s rights even if she knew she would have to pay. According to an interview with John Stewart, Malala was shot in the head at age 15 for becoming an icon and role model for others. She spoke out for what she believed in and almost died from a bullet to the head, on her way home from school. She got shot yet she still spoke out. She knew the danger, but she still worked hard to fight for what she believed in. She was …show more content…
All with their two hands. Scratch that. They build supporters so that they aren’t in this alone. They get others involved. For example, Malala started the Malala Fund, a charity that raises money for girls rights. She got those supporters, and now they can help out whenever they want. She isn’t the only one though. For instance, Craig Kielburger created Free The Children, now known as WECHARITY. Free the Children was once known as a charity to, well, free the children. However, WECHARITY is different. WECHARITY raises money for schools, for example school supplies or building new schools. They have that base, and now they can get that extra help. They made a difference. They start a movement. Protests, meetings, fundraisers, they get everyone
During this process a lot happened. For example, many wanted to assassinate her for disobeying them and going against their rules. The thing was Malala didn’t care because she knew in her heart that she was doing the right thing when speaking. In the article it states, “ there are hundreds of Human Rights activist and social workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of Education, peace and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them.” (Paragraph 3) She was a brave little girl for speaking up because not many had the guts to do what she did. Also, malala knew she was putting her life at risk ,but she still did what she did because now it’s not only about her, but others as
One is by using specific, convincing, rhetoric, often referred to as “active rhetoric”. For example, on their website, they say: “We need you to take action on your pro-choice beliefs. Every day, anti-choice activists work to take away our right to choose. Pro-choice Americans can never stop standing up for access to abortion, birth control, and sex education. Your action will make a difference for women and families.” This type of rhetoric doesn’t prevent collective action problems, but it does try to combat them. They also give lists of ways you can get involved, providing links to websites that help people get active in protesting abortion clinic violence, defunding, and harassment, among others. Putting the information at people’s fingertips is an incredibly effective way of discouraging collective action problems. People are inherently lazy and self-interested, so going to the trouble to source websites, and search for associated causes and organizations would likely be a huge factor in them saying “oh well, so many other people are helping, I don 't really need to.” Further, they have a donation page that is easily accessible, and prominent on their home
Speaking out for that in which one believes is brave. Knowing the repercussions could include death and choosing to speak out still is braver still. Malala Yousafzai possesses such faith in her cause that she knew she could be killed and still didn’t bat an eye before setting off to change the world. She trusted her God to protect her, but never forgot the risks. She never allowed violent thoughts to take control of her mind, instead insisting on peaceful resistance methods and the power of words to change minds. While I do not share the same God with Malala, I admire her faith in her cause and in her country, and hope to become a fraction of the positive influence that she is. Malala Yousafzai is a peaceful fighter who would do anything for her cause, the God she loves, and her country.
Adults say things have gotten so much better for teens, that there’s so much less work. The reality of it is, some things have gotten easier, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t any less stressful. When today’s parents were in school, if they missed a day and there was a lecture in class, they had to hope someone took really good notes, because that one day was all the teacher had to explain things. Now, if kids miss a day or two, all they have to do is look up what happened in class on the internet, or email their teacher asking what they missed.
Teenagers play an important role in society since they are old enough to have their own opinions but aren’t regarded by adults to have opinions worth sharing. Song highlights many important ideas like teenagers have a lot to do with worldwide issues such as gun control and LGBT rights. “Like adults, teens deserve to speak and to have the opportunity to be heard, and we deserve the respect that any other adult would expect. We shouldn’t be counted out just for our age when many of us are mature beyond our years. We shouldn’t be belittled or disregarded for having the audacity to believe we can make a difference.(“Why More Adults Need to Value Teenage Voices by Isabel Song)” Song believes that not all teenagers should be stereotyped as lazy, selfish, and arrogant because their voices should be counted in society. If adults keep on neglecting on teenagers, they won’t see the amazing things that teenagers are doing right now for the
Throughout history, social movements have continuously formed because of a person who had the courage to stand up against the injustice they witnessed in every day live. When I was a child, I remember feeling as if it takes a superhero-like person to start a social movement. However, I have found that through the use of social media today, any person with a passion for making a change can spark a social movement. Social movements are a powerful way to help people believe that their voice matters and they should stand up for what they believe in. Before the advancement of technology, it took a lot longer for social movements to become prominent in society’s media outlets because of the difficulties of not having enough time in one’s life to
achieve their goals such as actions in the internet , hacktivism, civil disobedience, occupation of administrative buildings, civil resistance.
...of such activism is reflected in the massiveness of movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Indignados, etc. By maintaining their distance from the bureaucratic underpinnings of politics and living their day-to-day in forms which they consider to be the right alternative to the current neoliberal social, ecological, economical, and political structures, and by broadcasting them and creating networks of like-minded people, young activists are increasing their political power by affecting the public opinion and challenging neoliberal practices. Though these movements still have to face the fact that even if a truly functional alternative to neoliberalism is presented, there´s no assurance that it will be adopted and that things will truly change. But the path is still being constructed, and these movements have continued to achieve a lot in terms of social justice.
Strength, power and courage was born.” Malala continued to lead activist groups and conferences after being shot. She demonstrates persistence by continuing to speak out about the importance of access to education for women. In her grew courage, bravery and
While they were fighting back for what they believe in, they suffer the consequences. For example, Malala and the girls in her town had a thirst for knowledge and education which inspired big dreams. But as the Taliban spread and terrorism took over, those dreams shattered, schools were destroyed and education became a crime. Although others were disappointed but sat back and accepted reality, Malala chose to stand and fight. She claimed that, “[she] had two options. One was two remain silent and wait to be killed. And the second was to speak up and then be killed. [She] chose the second one” (Yousafzai). By doing so, she put a target on her back, however, that only pushed her to do more. Through her determination, she spoke out to her town and to her country, but eventually her actions caught up to her and she was shot it the head and shoulder. Malala was only fighting against the
Teens want to know about the world because they are very curious. Studies have shown that if you learn how to do something when your a teen, you will do it better when you are older. Most teens are more mature than most adults think and should know what is going on with their community. Teens are currently not aware of politics but, if they are allowed to vote, then they will pay more attention and will know what’s going on!
In order to use social media to promote your advocacy, online activist need to know the effects social media has on activism. The first effect of communication is audience engagement is needed. Many of the issues that went viral like the ALS ice bucket challenge had some sort of audience appeal. The supporters were doing an action and challenging their friends to do it also. By doing that, it was raising awareness and gaining donations. On the word of an article about the ice bucket challenge stated, its playing on what you know young people do, and you are using that to create this awareness and raise money (Madison). This generation is always trying to outdo themselves, who is going to be the next big youtube sensation. The winners of this knowledge monopoly is all the groups whose activism worked and got recognition. The losers are the advocates whose issues got "liked" by slacktivist, maybe someone shared a post but it did not go viral. Secondly, putting activism on social media is a given, it is a place where the supporters are already at. In an article in Psychology Today, Pamela Rutledge, PH.D. says social media is changing public awareness by the word of mouth persuasion (Rutledge). Social media users often connect to those who have their same views, finding supporters of an issue or cause on social media should amplify the advocacy. For example, according to the article in the Sentinel, since the ice bucket challenge went viral, the ALS Association has seen more than one million new donors and received more than 80 million dollars in donations as of August 2014 (Madison). Even though the ALS ice bucket challenge was a success and proves activism on social media can work it can set up some advocates for failure. The unexpected consequences of the effects on social media activism is that people are thinking that they can do the next ice
They are helping our country, and this is how they are treated by our government. From the following points, I’ve come to the conclusion that not only is it a good idea for our government to lower the age to get more votes, and it is popular, but it would also make it more fair for the teens of this country. We have our rights and it is just kind of unfair, especially when we are feeling strong about our political opinions and can’t express
Politics doesn’t typically excite the average teen due to the fact that adults are only granted the right to vote and participate. Since is has been the responsibility for an adult to vote, the idea of voting is ultimately irrelevant to 16-17 year olds and they will most likely keep the same mindset since we are so used to the adults voting, which makes no difference in participation if teens were given the right to vote now. Ben Miller, a resident of Takoma Park, where teens were given the right to vote stated that he had no burning issues motivating him to vote. However, he is one of few teens who has “politically active parents” making him somewhat interested in politics, but not many teens discuss politics with their parents which creates no interest or desire on the topic. Due to the fact that not many teens are surrounded or sparked by the topic of politics while growing up makes voting for them somewhat useless if they aren’t interested in getting involved at their
Teenagers; everyone has been one, is one, or will be one. They are adventurous and silly; they try to be as grown up as possible, yet it never seems to work. Through out each decade, the teenager seemed to evolve into the teens we see today. How have they changed? Are they at all the same? What is so different about the teenagers of today and those of decades past?