Kids throughout history have often been the key impetus behind social change. From the student-led revolution immortalized in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables to the modern-day series of books turned movies: The Hunger Games, Divergent, and even Harry Potter, literature has both influenced and been influenced by teens standing up for what they believe to be right.
The most recent real-life example of teens taking action has been broadcast across the national news and incited much debate between lawmakers and common people alike: the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school in Parkland Florida, with Emma Gonzales taking center stage after her speech at the March for Our Lives on March 24.
While the cause behind the March for Our Lives can be directly traced back to the lethal shooting at the High school on February 14, 2018, the idea of young people bringing about social change is not restricted to the last month and a half. Young people have been involved in protests, revolutions, and politics for much of history. From the failed June Rebellion in 1832 France to the Greensboro N.C. sit-ins in 1960 by young African-Americans, to China’s infamous Tiananmen Square in 1989, and many more, young people have always been active in the face of injustice.
However, two factors are arguably different in the March for Our Lives movement: the fairly recent popularity of young adult novels that feature protagonists taking down the governing leaders, leading a revolution, or changing the status quo, and the accessibility and far-reaching influence of social media.
The parallels between The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen and Parkland’s Emma Gonzales can be easily seen: a young woman advocating for safety for her peers, influenced by her own tragic past, who is not afraid to speak her mind against ruling leaders. The parallels between the main characters of Harry Potter and the students are clear as well: not accepting the rebukes by those in authority and following what they believe to be true, even if many of the adults are ignoring them. While this type of literature is not entirely new, its recent popularity may have had a singular effect on young people who have experienced their formative years while these literary role models were popular.
While popular literature has assisted with forming the ideology and philosophy of many young people today, social media has given these same young people the platform to spread their ideas much farther than any previous generation, the only possible exception being millennials. The young people involved with the March for Our Lives are largely from generation Z which has a very intimate knowledge of the internet and social media, and they are using this knowledge to their advantage: joining with students from other cities and states, responding directly to the comments and statements by public and political leaders.
Historically, young people like the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school have always existed. They are not some new phenomenon, though the immediate circumstances and the literary and technological influences have helped to create a unique situation surrounding the high school students trying to change their world.
