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Youth Activism: Activating Your Voice | Hannah Testa | 

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Youth Activism: Activating Your Voice | Hannah Testa | 

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Youth Activism: Activating Your Voice | Hannah Testa | TEDxAlpharettaWomen

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Greta generation--youth activism around the world

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Greta generation--youth activism around the world

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The Greta generation - youth activism around the world

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These 20 young activists will inspire you to join the fight

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Want to be a youth activist? Here are some tips | CBC Kids News

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Activism is people joining together to fight for change.

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How Simple Actions Can Be A Form of Teen Activism - by Wideo.co

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"If no one else is going to do it, then we're going to make the change that we want to see in the world," she said.

In the last few years, young people have been demanding to be heard about the issues that matter most to them. After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, students planned and delivered what some called the largest student protest since the Vietnam War. Crowd estimates ranged from 200,000 to 800,000 at the Washington, D.C., March for Our Lives, and hundreds of thousands more participated in the 800 sister protests held all over the country and the world. Some of the most impactful speeches at the March for Our Lives were from student survivors.

"When people try to suppress your vote, and there are people who stand against you because you're too young, we say: 'No more!' " shouted Parkland survivor David Hogg that day. His message, specifically about changing gun laws, encapsulates the urgency a lot of young people are feeling about a number of issues that affect their lives and their futures.

Students are staging school walkouts to protest immigration policies, striking in solidarity with Greta Thunberg, supporting their teachers during their own school strikes for better contracts, and staging Black Lives Matter protests.

"These are young people who have been affected by these issues, these are youth who are concerned about their safety, their future," said Jesica Fernandez, a Santa Clara University professor who studies youth movements. "They present a compelling story because of the lived realities that they are experiencing and live in. That can make it more real and palpable to adults."

There are many moments in history when young people have made their voices heard about the issues that matter to them -- the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and the East L.A. Blowouts, for example. But technology allows young people living through this moment to be heard by a much larger audience, Fernandez said.

Ana and her peers are increasingly using their tech savvy to mobilize protests and inspire older generations in ways that weren't possible before social media -- generations that include people like Ana's mom, Alice Ostrovsky.

Alice Ostrovsky is cynical about how quickly change will happen, but she tries to keep that skepticism to herself because she knows her daughter wants to change the world.

"We live in extremely demoralizing times," she said. "And I think that's why the youth activism that's happened in the last couple of years is getting the attention that it is, and is resonating with so many people. Because we are frustrated, tired and depressed. But if serious amounts globally of young people motivate in a connected way, maybe there's a little bit of a chance."

Learning to Make Change At School

Even though Ana is young, she's not naive about how difficult and frustrating it can be to create lasting change and see one's activism pay off, especially as a young person who can't yet vote. She can thank a magnet program at her public school for that.

Ana's activism motto is "Act locally, think globally," something she learned in her classes for the Marin School for Environmental Leadership. It's a program that taps into the natural adolescent desire to make change and couples it with a curriculum designed to get kids out of the classroom, interacting with the real world.

In her freshman year, Ana realized that there were grassroots sustainability efforts happening at many schools in San Rafael, but no top-down goals or leadership to unify those efforts. Nothing bothers her more than when individuals try to "recreate the wheel," so she worked to start a sustainability committee at the district level that includes students, teachers, parents and district representatives. Their goal is to achieve the Green Ribbon School Standards, a distinction for schools and districts that show excellence in resource efficiency, health and wellness, and environmental and sustainability education.

"It's been very bureaucratic, and so it's moved very slowly forward," Ana said. "But in the last year, we have finally made strides."

For the first few years, Ana said the pattern was for students to do research on each sustainability sector where the district needed to make progress, present it to the committee, get a patronizing "pat on the back" from the adults, and then nothing would happen. Ana was frustrated by that.

"It's really demeaning, especially when adult men are looking at me and saying, 'Why are we doing this again? What is this for?' And I'm just like, 'Everything! Have you been listening the past three years?' "

At the end of four years of advocacy work, Ana is getting used to cumbersome bureaucratic systems. She and her classmates also evaluated the city of San Rafael on its sustainability goals and presented to the City Council. That presentation led to Ana and her classmates writing and proposing a city resolution that recognizes the importance of youth voices in future sustainability planning. She has also studied historical movements and tactics that guide her leadership.

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"I've learned about framing and tactics, and that fear tactics are not the answer," Ana said. "And it's because of the real-world work that we do. I am able to talk to community members, and I'm able to talk to people who don't necessarily agree with me."

Ana still gets overwhelmed by the scale of problems like climate change, but when she starts to feel that way, she finds a concrete task that feels like it makes a small difference -- like planting a tree or working in the garden.

"The little changes that you make in your community that you can see and you can touch and feel -- that makes a huge impact, because your community will then be what other communities look to," Ana said. "You can be a leader and make a ripple effect."
A Community of Activists Helps Sustain the Work
Activism is not easy to sustain, something Ana knows as well as anyone. She says that for herself and her fellow students, participation in protests and other efforts ebbs and flows based on what else is going on in their lives. People are busy; she gets that.

When she starts to feel discouraged, Ana finds comfort in a group of other teen environmental activists who meet regularly to share ideas, raise money together, and offer solidarity. At one such meeting I attended at the San Rafael Public Library, Ana and a group of teens were making bookmarks out of paper bags that they planned to give away at a local educational farm.

When the conversation turned to the challenge of balancing school obligations with their commitment to activism, this group had a lot to say. Lori Gerstenfeld, then a senior at Redwood High School, was frustrated that her teachers weren't more understanding about missing a little school for big protests.

"[Teachers are] very single-minded," she said. "'Here's what we're doing every day. If you miss it, there's no excuses, you still have to make it up' -- which I understand. But, I wish they had more flexibility."

That makes it hard to miss even a day of school, Lori said, because the work starts piling up. And while she understands that getting a good education is important, it can also feel hypocritical. On the one hand, teachers say the point of school is to gain knowledge and skills to impact the world. But when kids want to do just that -- impact the world -- they're told to stay in class.

Another student activist, Jillian Hickey, said she's learned a lot of important skills from activism. She listed some of them.

"Being organized, which is what school wants you to be. Goal-setting, leadership development and becoming more confident in yourself. Public speaking. All of this is stuff we're learning on the go, which I think school is trying to teach us, but it's just so much slower at it."

These students aren't saying that school is unimportant. It's just rigid. And the message is always about pursuing their passions later. But by some estimates, the world will be feeling dramatic, irreversible changes due to climate change by 2030. Teens are starting to feel like there's not that much "later" left.

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Where Did All These Teen Activists Come From? | KQED

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"If no one else is going to do it, then we're going to make the change that we want to see in the world," she said. In the last few years, young people have been demanding to be heard about the issues that matter most to them.

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Website on Steps Youth Can Engage in for Youth Activism

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Website on Steps Youth Can Engage in for Youth Activism

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Our country has a long history of youth-led movements that brought about significant social change. Young people have advocated for child labor laws, voting rights, civil rights, school desegregation, immigration reform and LGBTQ rights. Through their actions, the world has changed. Because young people often have the desire, energy and idealism to do something about the injustice they see in the world, they are powerful agents for change.

Our work in education helps students examine implicit and overt forms of bias and discrimination and as a result, educators often feel a responsibility to provide students with the structure, opportunity and tools to do something about the injustice they see in the world. Transforming students' feelings of anger, sadness and hopelessness into concrete actions that can make the world more equitable is a vital teaching opportunity. Voting is one way to get your voice heard but there are a myriad of ways young people can make difference.

Below are ideas for bringing social activism into the classroom and outside of the school walls. These are lifelong skills and attitudes that teach students about citizenship and that there is something you can do when faced with injustice. The strategies can be acted upon individually, organized together as a group and young people can join with a larger effort that is taking place locally or nationally. The tactics also bring opportunities for students to read, write, research, think critically and talk with each other.

1. Educate others

As students learn about an issue they care about, their natural instinct is to share their new knowledge and insight with others. Encourage this by providing live and online opportunities for them to teach others, including their classmates, younger students and adults in their lives. This can include school assemblies, community forums, teach-ins, peer-to-peer programs and social media forums. Include opportunities to share the information in interesting ways (written, art, theatre, etc.) and they should also give other students the chance to explore their own thoughts and feelings about the topics. Youth who want to know more may be more likely to learn from another young person.

2. Advocate for legislation

Change comes about in a variety of ways and one of these is through legislative change. For example, the primary advocates for the DREAM Act have been young people known as the DREAMers, who have a personal investment in the issue. With your students, provide opportunities for them to learn about the history and impact of legislative change like the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Help them analyze proposed legislation in relation to their goals and assess the extent to which it will have an impact. They can study research that examines the extent to which legislation impacted injustice. Have students push for legislation by working with other groups with similar goals, building coalitions and writing letters to their legislators to advocate for specific local, state and federal laws.

3. Run for office

Student government provides a chance for students to have a positive impact in their school and learn about how government works on a small scale. It gives youth the experience to reflect on and consolidate their own positions on important school issues, learn how to communicate those positions, build relationships with others and become a good listener in understanding constituent (i.e. other students) needs. It is also good practice for the future in getting involved in politics. Elected positions are not the only way to get involved; students can also become involved in groups like the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), peer training or other task forces that are working to improve their school.

4. Protest

Marching in the streets enables students to express themselves and publicly convey what's happening while meeting and connecting with other people who feel passionate about the same issues. Demonstrations and protests can be uplifting and empowering and can help students feel like they are part of a larger movement. In preparing to attend a protest, have students consider what their goals are in attending the event and think through what message they want to convey. They can create posters, prepare songs or chants and practice symbolism that conveys their thoughts and feelings. They should consider whether they want to do individually or organize a group of students from their school to go together, make transportation arrangements and ensure that safety concerns are addressed.

5. Create a public awareness campaign that includes social media

There are many ways to develop or participate in a public awareness campaign Educating people about an issue in order to inspire change can take place in school, in the community and online. Creating signs and posters using art and photography can be very effective as can videos and live speeches; these are all useful skills that young people can learn. In recent years, the use of social media to raise public awareness has been largely driven by young people and is a useful vehicle for raising issues and effecting change. The use of blogs, social media sites like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, videos, memes and online petitions are just a few examples of how words travel fast online and can incite quick and effective action.

6. Do a survey about the issue and share the results

Understanding what people think and why is helpful in bringing about social change. Students can learn more about public opinions on issues by participating in surveys themselves and also reading about them. They can also create their own surveys. Using paper surveys or online surveys, students can gain insight into how other students in their school or the larger community feel about an issue. This is useful in organizing others and addressing their concerns and needs; at the same time it builds math, critical thinking and interpersonal skills.

7. Raise money

Raising money is a concrete way for students to contribute to community or national efforts to address injustice. From organizing a bake sale around a local issue to fundraising on a larger scale for a national concern like racial disparities in the criminal justice system, raising money helps students feel like they are part of something bigger and backs the cause. Fundraisers can include selling items, auctions, entertainment, sponsoring events and more.

8. Write a letter to a company

Students can reach out to companies or organizations that they feel have done something unfair or biased. This is something do-able that can make a difference. For example, if students want to change the ways toy companies use gender role stereotypes to package and sell their toys or games, have them write letters to toy or video game companies and explain why they think their practices are biased. In crafting a well-written letter with evidence and a clear statement of what needs to change, students learn useful skills in persuasion and at the same time, it has a made a difference.

9. Engage in community service

In addition to organizing and advocating on a large scale, students should be encouraged to engage in community service on issues they care about. For example, if they are concerned about the stereotypes and violence directed at homeless people, in addition to advocating for legislation or attending a demonstration, students can also donate their time to help out in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Serving the people who are directly impacted gives young people firsthand knowledge of the situation, deepens their understanding and builds empathy.

10. Get the press involved

Help students understand that bringing publicity to their issue amplifies the message, gets more people concerned and potentially has a greater impact. They can write a press release, do an interview, write an op-ed in their local paper or invite a reporter to see what they are doing and write something about it. This sharpens their own message and serves to bring that message to a larger group of people.

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Our country has a long history of youth-led movements that brought about significant social change. Young people have advocated for child labor laws, voting rights, civil rights, school desegregation, immigration reform and LGBTQ rights. Through their actions, the world has changed.

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An activist is anyone who sees the need for change and devotes their time to doing something about it. And, as successful teen activists prove, structural, social, or economic barriers don't have to stop you from pursuing your passion and creating positive change. If you are interested in making a difference for a cause you care about, you can do so by educating yourself about the issue, finding ways to get involved in-person and online, and possibly even pursuing a career in a field related to your cause.

Add New Question

Is registering people to vote a form of activism?

Bridget Connolly has volunteered on political campaigns at the local and federal level for over 10 years, most notably for the 2008 Obama campaign in Nevada and Josh Harder's Congressional race in 2018. She has gone door-to-door to help register voters and get out the vote in both California and Nevada.

Yes! Registering people to vote helps remove barriers for people who have been marginalized by educational systems, culture, and misinformation about the importance of their vote. I've had so many experiences where every vote counts. If 500 people are registering people to vote in a specific county, and we each get 1 person, and somebody wins by 400 votes, that's a really big deal. I think it's a civic duty for people who understand how politics work and understand that voting is at the bedrock of all of that. The people who don't vote are essentially disenfranchised; they aren't playing a part in what's happening with their tax dollars and who is representing them at the local, state, and federal level. All levels. It takes a lot of work to stay informed, but that's how our system is set up. You're voting people into power, so it's a civic duty.

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This article was co-authored by Bridget Connolly and by wikiHow staff writer, Christopher M. Osborne, PhD. Bridget Connolly has volunteered on political campaigns at the local and federal level for over 10 years, most notably for the 2008 Obama campaign in Nevada and Josh Harder's Congressional race in 2018. She has gone door-to-door to help register voters and get out the vote in both California and Nevada. This article has been viewed 888,355 times.

Updated: November 19, 2023

If you feel passionately about an issue and want to become an activist, start by contacting local or online organizations with a similar mission. Ask them if you can volunteer your time or donate your money to contribute to the cause. Alternatively, you can also promote your cause on social media, share news articles, and circulate online petitions to raise awareness. Be sure to stay well-informed by keeping current with any news related to your cause! For tips on finding organizations that support your cause, read on!

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 888,355 times.

"I was doing a schoolwork about teen activism, and all of these thoughts and ideas helped me with what I could write about! I loved how you explained it, and it's a really well-written article. Congrats, you should be proud!" ..." more

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An activist is anyone who sees the need for change and devotes their time to doing something about it. And, as successful teen activists prove, structural, social, or economic barriers don't have to stop you from pursuing your passion and...

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Greta and Malala get the headlines, but for every young leader pictured on a magazine cover, thousands more are working tirelessly for causes like climate justice, racial and gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and economic change.

That's the message from Jessica Taft, a leading scholar on youth activism who says today's young leaders are building on the legacy of their predecessors who helped desegregate the South, reformed education in Chile, and won rights for working youth in Bolivia.

"Around the world, we are seeing children and youth engage as social, political, and economic actors, demonstrating their capacity to help make social change," said Taft, an associate professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at UC Santa Cruz. "Adults make a lot of assumptions about children and what they're capable of, and those assumptions are often quite false."

Taft, the author of Rebel Girls and the new book The Kids Are in Charge: Activism and Power in Peru's Movement of Working Children, spoke days before the Sept. 20 global, youth-led climate strike. She has spent more than a decade studying children's rights and intergenerational activism.

"Youth, given the opportunity to work alongside adults who are willing to manage their own power, can lead activist communities and organizations," she said. "To not include them is anti-democratic. They deserve to be listened to, to be seen as collaborators and treated as equals."

Recent decades have seen children and youth invited to participate in civic and political activities through schools and municipal children's councils, said Taft. But participating in adult-driven institutions is distinct from what has been unfolding in Peru for 40 years. As Taft details in The Kids Are in Charge, Peru is home to a "horizontal," child-led movement of about 10,000 young people ages 8-16.

The Movement of Working Children is focused on recognizing children as social, political, and economic contributors who deserve respect, dignity, and inclusion. "The goal is to build children's leadership and participation in social movements," said Taft, clarifying that it's not only about children's work. "This organization provides on-the-ground support for kids to develop their capacity to address issues in their communities."

Children and youth have organized around the need for safe play spaces, like public parks, and for recognition of children's contributions to family enterprises, such as farms, market stalls, and helping with child care and cooking, said Taft. "The reality is children do meaningful work, much of it in safe and dignified conditions, and the image of the child worker needs to be more expansive," she said.

Other issues include reproductive health rights, climate and environmental issues, and building a gender-inclusive curriculum for schools. The youngest participants are about 8 years old, while regional leaders typically emerge at about 12 years old; national leaders are usually about 14, said Taft.

"I've seen 12-year-olds facilitate meetings better than 35-year-olds," she said. "We need to decouple experience and age. Sometimes the youngest kids get listened to the most."

By contrast, children in the United States don't see themselves as having rights, said Taft, who attributes that in part to what she calls "social amnesia" that has wiped away the memory of the youth who led the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins, the 1968 East L.A. walkouts, and the undocumented youth movement that led to the creation of DACA.

"Developmental psychologists tell us that how people develop depends on the social, cultural, and political contexts of where they're developing," she said. "The exclusion of children from political engagement isn't inevitable. It's a product of cultural assumptions about childhood and adulthood."

The United States remains the only eligible country that has failed to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which marks its 30th anniversary in November, noted Taft. "The Convention has given children in other countries the ability to make demands on their schools and their governments," said Taft. "Here, we talk about children as objects of protection rather than people with rights."

However, youth in the United States are organizing around causes they believe in, including high-profile efforts like the Sept. 20 international climate strike, the campaign for gun control being led by survivors of the Parkland high school shooting, and a campaign to lower the voting age to 16 in San Francisco. These youth leaders are pushing back on the arbitrary quality of age-based criteria for political involvement, said Taft.

"There is a stubborn resistance to treating young people's political activism as normal, but the truth is that it's neither extraordinary nor exceptional," she said. "Children and youth are not on the sidelines. They are protagonists in the fight for their rights and their well being."

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Youth activism is on the rise around the globe, and adults should pay attention, says author

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Greta and Malala get the headlines, but Jessica Taft says that for every young leader pictured on a magazine cover, thousands more are working tirelessly for causes like climate justice, racial and gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and economic change.