“In my school, most people don’t make it to high school and even more people don’t make it to college because of the homicide rate,” said Sarah Hinton, one of the two people chosen to represent her inner-city Boston school at the first Youth Inaugural Forum.

With so many of us in more privileged areas, it can be so easy to forget why we have to stay involved in local politics. With just a few sentences, Sarah brought all 1500 people in the Shubert Theatre back down to earth this Inauguration Day.

But the reason that we must stand up is not only murder in Boston – it’s cut funding for electives, the deterioration of our buildings and increasingly harsh MCAS standards that inhibit ELL and immigrant kids from graduating. It’s the possibility of losing the right to equal marriage and the situation in Darfur. Governor Deval Patrick said in his Inaugural Address, “… we ought to know that either we invest today or we will surely pay excessively tomorrow. An investment in education today beats an investment in prisons tomorrow.” Why must we be civically engaged? Because we cannot afford not to be.

Too often we make excuses for our inactivity. Too often kids ignore current events. Too often kids will think that they are too young to make a difference, or that no one will listen to them. Or too often they just don’t care – let’s face it, the Bush years have not exactly been encouraging.

Today we have no excuse.

Governor Patrick held the first Youth Inaugural Forum today, encouraging kids to get as involved as possible and asking questions about the issues important to us.

The campaign was a 40,000 person strong move for change, and the Patrick Administration intends to continue the involvement. How can you get involved? Write an email to your congressman (or Governor Patrick) about an issue important to you. Go to a rally. Watch the news. Vote. (Seniors, January 23rd is the day to vote for the new Newton North) Visit www.patrickmurraytransition.org. Send $10 somewhere that will use it to help someone. Just DO something.

Don’t let other people decide your future for you. It’s time to step up to the plate.

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)

Article I wrote after attending the '07 MA Youth Inaugural forum.

 

WINGS

WINGS from: 1 users

Informative Inspiring Incredible Industrious Overall WINGS How would you rate this activist effort? Only registered users can submit comments. Please register or login.

All User Comments

I couldn't agree more, Wednesday, 24 January 2007 Written by lufkin  - See All My Comments  - Top 50 WINGER Informative Inspiring Incredible Industrious Young people need to know that whatever they do, no matter how small, can make some difference. If everyone did something small, like voting, holding a sign, being informed, informing others, putting on a button or bumper sticker, or contacting public officials, our society would be far better. Were these comments helpful to you?     Report as inappopriate

Powered by xtdratings