Student activism activates student learning everywhere
Photo by Laura RIco-Zarate
Students are demanding their voices be heard, and are actively participating in political discussions.
March 13, 2019
U.S and world politics have been bleeding into everyday lives; with the government initiating extreme measures and experiments, the future becomes more and more uncertain. But as the political climate gets progressively intense, high school students are starting to formulate passionate opinions on the culture around them, the condition of their environment, and much more. As time goes on, students around the world—and on even on campus—are beginning to establish a larger role within society.
“A lot of students nowadays are starting to notice that the government is not doing its job well, which is starting to encourage students to get out there and start protesting and getting involved,” Owen Wiley (9) said.
Teenagers can no longer escape ongoing and vehement debates about the state of the country. Ever since the election of Donald Trump, an increasing amount of progressive and radical thinkers have been calling the general public to join the conversation through social media. Social media has also provided a platform for younger users to talk about their stance on various ideas. Even outside of the digital world, we have seen students actively calling for reform on issues such as gun control and, more recently, environmental health and the New Green Deal.
“I think it’s great that our generation is getting more involved in politics; it’s just that the only thing I am afraid of is that whenever students go into politics, they usually believe their side of an argument without listening to the other side. It’s really important we see all viewpoints. In the United States now, we are getting more divided upon issues,” Lisa Nguyen (11) said.
Although students are starting to affect the political stage, many people still have beliefs that younger generations will assimilate themselves into a specific party. In fact, many political organizations are starting to cater towards millennials and post-millennials. Recently, a conservative group called Turning Point USA has entrusted a group of students to help give opportunities to other students so they can engage in the professional world of politics.
“I think it’s really important to be politically engaged in the community, and students can help in a lot of various ways; however, I also think it’s equally important to be aware of what they’re protesting as well, which is why I helped co-found Turning Point USA at Mission Hills,” said Hannah Etnyre (11), Co-President of Turning Point.
In today’s society, students are becoming more prepared to engage in serious discussion. Although there is a looming fear of our generation conforming to specific parties rather than formulating their own opinions, students taking strides to become more politically active are ultimately better than students who are not involved or uninformed about the current events affecting our country. Students being active in civic conversation essentially helps students develop as informed citizens.
Owen Wiley • Mar 15, 2019 at 8:44 am
The rise in student activism is due to the recent elections for the president of the United States and for congress (since most universities are of progressive leaning), but there have been multiple examples of students going too far by stealing property and attacking people on the other political side. For example, an activist for Turning Point USA was attacked by a person visiting UC Berkley while trying to have conservatives speak their views and not hide them. Worst of all, the media is supporting behavior like this from groups like Antifa and misinterpreting the truth about these issues. The quote used in the article is nothing along the lines of what I said, but rather something else to fit the point of the article.
Isabella Pisciotta • Mar 15, 2019 at 8:15 am
I agree with the points in this article, the United States is getting further divided upon more and more issues and some students especially don’t listen to other people’s viewpoints and think theirs is superior. I personally think that we, as a country, should be open to others opinions to be able to address the issues within our nation.
Owen Wiley • Mar 15, 2019 at 8:09 am
Arvin, I see that my conversation with you has been misunderstood. What I said is that it is perfectly normal for students to protest and speak their political views, but it is not okay for them to condone physical violence against others with the opposite opinion (Antifa, Yellow Vests in Paris). What I said had nothing to do with the current state of the government. All I said is that students are agitated nowadays because of the recent presidential election and the people in congress, not that the government is doing anything wrong.