Embedded Files
Elizabeth Sheeley
Ever since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the issue of teenage voice has become more prevalent than ever. The students from Stoneman Douglas took it upon themselves to keep the issue of gun control in the news. These students are planning an entire movement against gun violence by themselves because the adults in their lives could not (Atler 2018).
In doing this, they have been subjected to frequent attacks, mainly on social media, and largely by adults. According to Molly Olmstead (2018), assistant social media editor at Slate, David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez, two of the most prominent voices from Parkland, have been called “Adolf Hitler” and a “skinhead lesbian.” Some have even gone so far as to call these students “crisis actors”. One thing has become stunningly clear: certain adults do not want to listen to these teenagers’ voices.
Even with all the criticism and discouragement, the brave students from Stoneman Douglas persevere and keep putting their message out there. And how can they do that? Because they know that their voices matter, no matter what the adults in their lives say.
But it’s not just the teens from Parkland that get told that their voices don’t matter. I’ve been told on multiple occasions that my voice isn’t important, and I know for a fact that other friends of mine have been told the same thing.
Knowing this, I was curious. Just how many of my classmates have been told that their voices don’t matter, and do my classmates value their own voices?
First, for a teenager’s voice to matter, they need to be taken seriously when discussing important issues. Out of 138 responses from Bermudian Springs High School, about 54% of students said adults do not take them seriously when discussing important issues. When adults do not take you seriously, it can be discouraging. When I was younger, I was obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Orlando Bloom. I talked about it a lot, like a lot. So, my family teased me a lot. I was silly and all the stuff I loved talking about was stupid. But, when I tried to talk about actual issues, and believe me, I tried, I got shut down. It was hard to value my voice when the people whose opinions mattered the most to me didn’t think my voice mattered. I eventually got past it by caring less about my family’s opinions, but not every teen can do that. Some teens value their family’s opinions very strongly, and can feel constantly discouraged every time their family tells them that their voice doesn’t matter, even inadvertently.
Do Adults Take You Seriously When Discussing Important Issues?
Since constantly being told your voice doesn’t matter can be very discouraging, I wanted to see how often Bermudian Springs Students are told that their voices don’t matter. 39% of students said that they were told their voice doesn’t matter 1-3 times, on average per month, and another 39% said that they were never told their voices don’t matter. This was a pleasant surprise when I first looked at the results, although after I thought about it, it made sense. There are plenty of people at Bermudian telling us that our voices do matter and that we should value our opinions. The only time that I can recall being told that my voice doesn’t matter was surprisingly by a classmate. I come a friend group that I think values their voices strongly, and it was kind of jarring to hear that one of my classmates didn’t think their voice mattered, all because they weren’t old enough to vote.
How Many Times Per Month Do You Get Told Your Voice Doesn't Matter?
Finally, the big question. I asked students if they thought their voices, as teenagers, mattered. 63% of students said yes, they did think their voices mattered. It took me awhile to realize that same thing, and that what my family said didn’t matter. And to the other 37% of students, I say to now, your opinions are important and your voice does matter.
Do You, As a Teenager, Think Your Voice Matters?
REFERENCES
Alter, C. (2018, March 22). How Parkland Teens Are Leading the Gun Control Conversation. Retrieved from http://time.com/longform/never-again-movement/
Edbenson98. (2018, March 28). All in favor of Gun Control raise your right arm! [Twitter post]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/edbenson98/status/979018296384159744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fslate.com%2Fnews-and-politics%2F2018%2F03%2Fthe-insults-pro-gun-people-use-against-parkland-students-david-hogg-and-emma-gonzalez.html&tfw_site=slate
Olmstead, M. (2018, March 29). The Public Attacks on the Parkland Teen Activists Are Getting Nastier. Retrieved from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/the-insults-pro-gun-people-use-against-parkland-students-david-hogg-and-emma-gonzalez.html
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