Youth activism - Is it just an emotional outburst?
Youth
activism is not an emotional outburst. In fact it
arises from persistent and
continuous slumber chain that kept on bounding the youth away from free will. Time
and again whenever the youth is awakened from this slumber, they react in their
own prodigal way to break away from the shackles of this continuous oppression.
Emotional outburst! Would have definitely agreed to it but when it has faded
away with time. You may quote incidents when it was a sheer outburst but then
it can be counted on fingers and the reason for decline may also be
questionable in its own context. While, today taking this opportunity I can and
would supply serious reciprocals of it. These youth-led initiatives reveal that
young people can be very influential with their peers, younger peers, parents,
the press, the private sector, politicians and other policymakers.
The
second city in Maryland is expected to extend voting rights to 16-year-old.
The electoral pie will be bigger in Hyattsville when it comes time next spring
to vote for Mayor and City Council members as well as local ballot issues. It all started in Northwestern University which became a
cult.
Another happening in same part of the world rebuts
emotional outburst. Watsonville,
California Sanos started an initiative which later passed on as a law requiring all new fast food chains and restaurants to offer
healthy menu options in order to receive a building permit.
At age 15, Kelsey Juilana
became one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit demanding the State of Oregon reduce carbon emissions and climate warming.
Keep
counting! The list will never end as a 12 year old girl initiative made an
entire school board changed their clauses on compulsory animal dissection part
of curriculum.
Seventh graders in Dallas,
Texas documented the number of liquor
stores in their neighborhood, especially near schools. They
traveled to the state legislature to present their findings. Senator West, a
strong supporter, declared “The children motivated me. I’m going to do all I
can to help get the bill passed.” The state law was changed to allow the local
zoning board to reduce the number of alcohol outlets.
It
is not about an emotional outburst rather I would coin another term here only.
Its emotional awakening which is not a short-lived phenomenon in contrast to
emotional outburst. Whether it is Yousuf Zai Malala, Hasina Kahrbhih, world’s
longest hunger strike by Irom Sharmila, Orissa’s whistling movement by village
women to eradicate open sanitation, Bhanwari Devi gang rape-victim turned to
activist or going back in the history recalling Savitribai Phule pioneer in
women liberalization. Youth activism world around has changed direction,
ideology, thinking, politics, social and cultural structure of societies, even
changed the geographical boundaries. Its better not to restrict it to a feeble
term when in itself it is a phenomenon!
