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Summary Reflection

I am adding two things to the Youth Activism page. First, I'm fixing the paragraph about Forms, it is very confusing and disorganized. I decided to change that paragraph into an introduction about youth activism and give some background information on why it's important and that will lead into my paragraph on global youth activism. Secondly, I will be adding a section on Global Youth Activism. I feel this is very important for this article because it only mentions the United States. Youth globally have been becoming more involved in issues and it's important to educate others about these accomplishments. The structure so far I have for global youth activism is to give some background information and then split it up by country. If anyone has a better idea for structuring my article that would be great! Thanks! Can't wait to hear some feedback.

Youth Activism-

In many societies, teenagers are shut out of participation in politics by the domination of adults. However, youth are also concerned and informed citizens who can advocate for change within their communities. Youth is an elastic category, the age at which it begins and ends varies within cultural contexts, but it is often a very distinct stage in a person’s life to which particular issues or policies are highly relevant. These may include politics, health, sexuality, and social issues.

The education youth receive and obtain is important to their role as activists. Education teaches youth to be engaged and feel like a community. Young people are the future of their society; they are attracted to the hope and promise of building new futures and better lifestyles. The problems and issues occurring now will effect the youth in the future. Therefore, youth have an incentive to advocate for change in society. As the United States becomes more globalized, one may discover youths around the world being activists for important issues.

Global Youth Activism

Youth activism is present throughout the world. People under the age of 18 comprise 46% of the global population. The way youth protest and create communities with the same issues is similar all around the world. In this section one can see that youth activism is very similar around the world. Youth are getting involved more and more.

South Africa- A challenge for the younger generations in South Africa is the AIDS pandemic. 53% of South Africa’s population is under the age of twenty-five. Around 60% of adults who contract HIV become infected before they turn twenty-five, meaning youth are particularly endangered. To advocate and protest about HIV/AIDS, South African youth known as "urban warriors" have created social movements that use youth culture, media, and peer-to-peer campaigns to advocate for HIV/AIDS. A classic example of youth engagement in political activism is the Soweto riots. To the people in South Africa, June 16 is a constant reminder of the political events that occurred in 1976. In 1976 on June 16, when teachers started instructing in Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors, children took the streets for a peaceful demonstration. The police reaction was brutal and that day at least twenty-five people were killed. The violence continued and spread all across the country. 575 people died by the end of the year and 2,389 were wounded.

Indonesia- Youth activism in Indonesia takes many different forms and include a number of mass protests to overthrow governments and remove colonial powers in the past. Popular motivations of youth activism in Indonesia are: indigenous rights and national unity, pro-communism, anticommunism, pro-democracy and militant Islam. A common form of activism is massa, a cavalcade of motorcycles, trucks, music, and many young people on foot. These cavalcades are mostly males and end with a rally to address a certain political leader. In general, youth have been looking for political change during the last four decades.

Serbia- Throughout the 1990s, youth took the streets to protest against Serbian leader, Slobodan Milošević. With their creativity and political savvy the youth activist fought for ten years against this leader, eventually forcing his resignation. During the years of protests youth faced unemployment, a failing education system, and economic instability. After these horrible years, young men and women came together and listened to music and watched movies; this festival was called EXIT. This festival lasted one hundred days and led up to elections in September of 2000. Finally the youth wanted something more for them and was ready for change. This music festival created a civic education component. Today, EXIT is still going on.

Saudi Arabia- In the case study, Monologue With The Prince shows how youth citizens of Saudi Arabia want to be very involved with issues and have a voice but are told not too. Citizens who live in Saudi Arabia are exited from paying taxes and provided with free sate-funded education and health care. With these privileges come rules and duties. Citizens receive these privileges in exchange for absolute submission to the rulers. Therefore, freedom of speech and press is not a right here for a citizen. In this study, a student was chosen as one of the six students who got to attend the Expeditionary Forum for Nation Dialogue. He said, “this forum was supposed to tackle issues of tolerance, development, and—remarkably for Saudi Arabia—free expression.” The last speaker to talk was the Prince of Mecca, he gave a speech about how great it is in Saudi Arabia and all the rights citizens have. A year after the Forum, the student started his own blog to share his viewpoints and feelings. Many of his friends and family warned him not to because most people who go against these rules are put in jail. He ignores his family and friends concerns and continues to write about his issues and thoughts. This is one example on how youth use activism in their lives.