Greta Thunberg is one of the youngest and strongest activists of our time. She has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the Time’s Person of the Year. She had led millions of people around the world and has protested in 150 countries. She has changed the discussion on climate change. There have been many youth movements going on around the world, and there are even some going on at our school.

One club at Apex High that uses activism is the Equity Team. The Equity team focuses on helping the school and is student-led. The Equity team is planning on doing a student activity in classes. It will be a privilege walk to help students understand how and what they are born into and that things you experience affect your life but do not define you. They also plan on helping coordinate the International Festival and the Black History Month block party. The Equity team helps the school and the students in many ways and helps encourage students to use their voice and help make the school a better place.

Student activism is a big part of not just part of our school but many others. Student activism had been going on for many years. One big movement was the Greensboro sit-ins in the 1960s where four African-American students walked into a restaurant and sat in the “whites only” countertops. In just three days, three hundred other students joined them; by the summer fifty other cities joined them. This simple action played a major part in the Civil Rights Act being passed in 1944.

In 2018 there was a school shooting in Florida at Stoneman Douglas High School. This shooting was one of the worst ones we have had seventeen students were killed and seventeen more were injured. The school shooting, however, leads to a rise in student activism where students everywhere left school for a moment of silence to honor the students who were killed. This lead to March 24th where students everywhere started the March for Our Lives movement where students protested for safer schools and gun control.

With simple actions like sitting down or taking a moment of silence, we are able to cause so much change. Just like Greta Thunberg who simply sat down with a sign in front of the Sweedish parliament building and is now leading a global movement on climate change. In our time of technology, we are able to help so many people. So what’s stopping you from helping?