The youth have been on the rise as of late, both locally and internationally.
From the undying cries for democracy in Egypt to protests from the Statehouse steps over Gov. Nikki Haley’s slashing of the arts fund, it seems the youth have once again begun to take situations into their own hands.
Perhaps it is in light of these recent events that we are reminded of something we have lost touch with in the past few decades: the potential of our influence.
In fact, there haven’t been any significant youth uprisings since the Vietnam War, when adolescents of the era took it upon themselves to grasp the nation’s state of affairs and attempted to steer it in the direction they wanted. In the 1960s, the youth didn’t just react — they initiated.
One of the greatest things about this country is that we have rights. We have rights to vote, we have rights to complain, we have rights to pitch our most powerful opinions out into the open to express what we are most deeply passionate about. What if we took those rights and coupled them with action, as the youth of Egypt most recently did?
What if we stood on the steps of the Statehouse to protest the cutting of our public education funds, or lined up on Greene Street to actively fight tuition increases? Perhaps, we too would be able to directly influence the solutions to lean in our favor.
We, as citizens of America, have something that many others do not have: a voice and the freedom to act upon it. So to all of you out there with a passion and desire to make a difference, find your voice, because you have an obligation to use it.
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