The Sink or Swim Project

“I haven’t seen a movement like this, period,” Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie, whose district includes Parkland, said last week after an estimated 1 million U.S. students walked out of class. “I think it can be a critical turning point in the politics of this country.”

Some say that the children that are speaking up and out are too young to voice their views, but I beg to differ.

My friends and I, my peers, youth all over the world are connected to one another, literally wired to one another, like has never been possible in all of history.

The only world we know is a wired one and within it we have a world of information, of answers, in our pockets. We’ve grown up accessing information and connecting with one another at the speed of light our entire lives. And when we have questions, or want something, you might have noticed that we are not particularly patient. And that’s especially true when it’s something that common sense tells us needs to get fixed. We are the most informed generation in history and we have the tools to make transformational change at our fingertips.

When our parents and grandparents fiddle with their own phones and tablets and computers to the point of frustration, it’s us, their children and grandchildren, that you turn to and ask us to fix whatever’s wrong. We are the fixers you’ve been turning to since we were young and we’ve not let you down yet.

And now the time has come for young people all over the world to fix the messes we see and sense all around us. Those problems that adults before us created or keep overlooking as they tolerate the pollution, murder, apathy and something, that for some reason they call a political ‘system’, that permeates our society.

“The power of the youth has been displayed,” said Minisee, the Youth EMPOWER organizer, “and we are going to be reckoned with.”

I am incredibly inspired by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas students from Parkland, their strength, their will and their passion. We can agree that it’s unconscionable that you had to be placed in this position in the first place but you are well armed, yes armed, to change the world. And you are already making a breathtaking difference and are political forces setting an example for our generation to run over any and every one who stands in our way of fixing what’s broken here in the United States. I proudly stand with the MSD children and children all over our country and the world who demand sensible gun laws including a ban on automatic weapons and devices that turn ‘semi’ automatic into automatic machine guns. It’s just common sense to outlaw these weapons of war.

#Neveragain

Likewise, I am inspired by the young people all over America that comprise Our Children’s Trust, kids that are taking on our state and federal governments in court by suing them to demand that they protect our environment for future generations. The fact that we must wage such a legal fight is unfortunate but it’s a fight that we will gladly spend our lifetimes fighting so as to fix what’s broken. Carbon from fossil fuels has no place in our environment and eliminating it while fighting the global climate crisis is the biggest challenge that my generation will ever face but it is one we must and will overcome. Yes today’s youth will fix our climate crisis and we will not allow anyone to stand in our way.

To consider how truly different things are today, how kids in my generation will not settle for ‘politics as usual’ I hope that you will please consider reading an excellent article by David Smiley entitled Youths Mobilize for Change After Parkland that can be found here.

Please also consider sitting down and having an ‘adult’ conversation with your children or grandchildren about their thoughts on gun violence, the need for an automatic weapons ban or the fact that we must stop pumping fossil fuel pollution into our oceans and atmosphere and shift to sustainable energy such as solar before it’s too late. You might be surprised by how engaged and enraged we are over the fact that these issues exist as well as how committed we are to fixing them.

And speaking of fixing things, please consider supporting your children and grandchildren by voting with them or, for those too young to vote, by voting for them, and for their future. I would hope that today’s adults will step up and set their bias aside by applying common sense to fixing things while they are still ‘in charge’ but in the event you choose not to help then I promise you that my generation will do it ourselves.

Don’t believe me?

Just watch how quickly we elect new leaders that truly support common sense solutions or how fast we move to enact the laws we need to fix what’s broken.

My connected, compassionate friends and I, are ready to fix things, and this time I’m not talking about helping you with installing your latest phone update. No, this time I am talking about fixing what’s wrong in our world. So either help us or step aside because our time, my generation’s time, has arrived.