I’ve always been a passionate believer in the need for gun safety measures. Whenever I see headlines about states repealing common sense restrictions on firearms purchases? The death metal concerts in my mind are intense.
Before this year, however, I had no experience campaigning for gun sense candidates, talking to legislators, or registering people to vote. Still, a nagging part of me knew that I should be doing more than just attending a few marches and seething at discouraging news.
My lack of advocacy experience turned upside down when my friend and I started a Students Demand Action chapter at Whitman at the beginning of this year. Since then, our group has rapidly grown and has written letters to members of Congress, handed out commemorative orange ribbons on the anniversary of the Parkland shooting, and lobbied at the state legislature with other Montgomery County school groups. But while I’m proud of myself and my chapter for everything we’ve done, I can’t let go of a sense of guilt that I neglected to join the movement earlier on.
Of course, I’m not the only one who’s ever struggled to get involved with activism. In a 2019 survey of more than 2,000 Gen Zers, 75 percent of respondents said political engagement was “very important” to them. Only 24 percent, though, reported identifying as activists.
Perhaps this is because the teens recognized that “activist” isn’t simply a title for claiming. The harsh truth is that while actions like sharing political events on Instagram stories, signing petitions, and attending demonstrations are wonderful, most of us don’t do anything that directly causes change. True youth activism in this era, as demonstrated by Greta and Malala and David and Emma and so many more, shatters perceptions: perceptions that teens can’t organize historic protests, that we can’t sway a voter’s choice of candidate, that we can’t speak with legislators as equals. And though perceptions aren’t easily breakable, that’s no reason we shouldn’t try.
In the survey, respondents said that the top two ways they’ve advocated have been by signing a petition and/or by taking part in a social media movement. Passive efforts like these are worthwhile and shouldn’t be discounted. However, there’s no reason that we can’t simultaneously engage in more daring forms of advocacy that involve talking to people with different views, going to unfamiliar places, and maybe even (gasp!) missing school.
It’s realizations like these that can help us get involved with advocacy. One reason it took me until this year to become a gun safety advocate was that I assumed that since my name wasn’t Greta Thunberg, I couldn’t get anything done. Similarly, 26 percent of the survey respondents said they felt that if they participated in advocacy, they wouldn’t make a difference.
It’s understandable that one might feel that a single signature on a petition or attendance at a protest might not make any sort of difference. However, tangible advocacy at any level can have all the impact in the world.
The tireless lobbying of the Parkland activists in the wake of their school’s mass shooting led to 67 gun safety bills being passed in 2018. A large-scale grassroots movement in Virginia last year put the state government in Democratic hands for the first time in a generation. The spectacular successes of these efforts, which were driven in large part by young people, prove that we can no longer dismiss these forms of advocacy as “not important for teenagers” or “just too much work.”
Change isn’t created simply by attending rallies, or even by fundraising (though this work is still great!). It’s created by knocking on doors of apathetic voters, by brushing off attacks from Trump supporters on the phone, and by standing up to classmates who sneer in NSL that one vote doesn’t matter. Change is hard and exhausting and messy and real. Change, above all, touches hearts.
It should also be noted that, as Whitman students, we have a unique proximity to a world of advocacy opportunities. Not only is our school practically next door to Capitol Hill, but we have more than 100 clubs, many of which engage in advocacy efforts. The club Manos Unidas spends all year raising funds for its yearly summer trips to Ecuador and Peru, during which student volunteers work to better the lives of impoverished children; Ayudar Para Cambiar raised $1,200 for the Adelante Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to improve the standard of life in Central America, in February. Joining one or more advocacy clubs, or starting your own, is a fantastic way to get involved with a cause you’re passionate about.
It can be all too easy to assume that, as teens, we can’t make a difference. But as Parkland activist Cameron Kasky said, “the revolution… is a powerful and peaceful one because it is of, by, and for the young people of this country.” We won’t be young forever. Let's introduce ourselves to advocacy and ignite that revolution.