Children and young people as activist authors

Abstract

Children and young people, including individual activists such as Greta Thunberg and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, as well as larger groups such as March for Our Lives and It's Not Your Fault, are raising their profile and advancing their political agendas through social media, protests, and speeches. This article examines the ways in which their arguments draw on three forms of ethical underpinning: Equity claims to the same rights as adults, assertions of unique rights or protections based on child status, and projections into a future adulthood to demand protection of the environment. While some adults have welcomed and lauded young people's political involvement, others object to the very idea of young people's presence in the political arena. Youth activism has been met with expressions of concern over supposed naïveté or vulnerability, as well as contempt and even aggression toward children who would disrupt an adult-dominated hierarchy through their action, speech, and writing.