Written by: Kate De Groote, 17, Utah
I sat in front of my state school board with my prepared speech on student representation in hand. As I looked out into the sea of board members and started to present my beliefs that the youth voice matters, I could quickly see a shift in expression. Half of the room became enthusiastic, while the other half took on the mood of, “why are we giving this student a platform?” I was speaking on the importance of creating a student advisory council to the state school board, as there was no opportunities for students to voice their opinion at this level. To me, this seemed like a very logical idea, and many on the board agreed. However, I also received pushback from those who didn’t understand why they needed a student’s input. As I continued to work to convince these members of the importance of student’s voices, I realized just how influential my own voice can be if I have the courage to speak out.
The voices of students and young people have long been ignored in the political circuit. I have been told that giving students influence would be tyranny (though it is actually the opposite) and that I was too young to know anything of value. This is far from the truth, but I didn’t know how to tell the people in power that. I instead decided to show that I was worthy of my voice being valued, so I continued to tell the school board why my voice and the voices of other students would help them understand the issues the students actually experience in school. Luckily, using my voice worked
If one can take anything from the past year, it is that the youth are more educated and more passionate than ever before about politics. The March for Our Lives movement spurred hundreds of thousands of youth to action and many groups such as Eighteenx18 encouraged youth to vote in the midterm elections. These aren’t movements that die out, but instead create a generation of informed citizens.
I imagine a future where these students that walked out of school to protest senseless gun violence now have seats in congress and are creating tangible change. I imagine a future where climate justice activists become members of the Natural Resources committee and protect the fragility of our planet. It’s a future that truly gives me hope.
If there is anything I can say, it’s that the voice of students matter. If legislators and those in power can take a chance on us and believe that we have powerful input, then I am confident that the future will be bright. We won’t have to wait until we can hold public office, as these officials will already be listening to gen z voices. I saw this firsthand as the Student Advisory Council was put into action. Each month, our meetings are filled with representatives from different departments and offices that want the input of students. It’s become so much more than just the existence of student voices at a state level. We’ve shown how valuable our opinions are, and it encourages me to keep fighting for student influence at all levels of government. After all, the youth are the future.