In times like these, many people our age are eager to cause some change. Change can occur in pretty much everything, and when one has the power to cause that change, they dedicate themselves to make it happen. 

In a time like this, the main things that people seem to want to change involves politics and the environment–two very big things that may be hard to change, depending on what it is. Some changes are instant and some take years or more to happen, which can make us anxious. We twiddle our thumbs because we think that we aren’t doing enough to change the world in a way that we see fit. We’re desperate to show older generations that our youth doesn’t mean that we can’t do a single thing to make the world better for us. We become activists because we think that’s what we’re supposed to do since nobody else will. While it’s understandable and even a little admirable to think that way, isn’t it a little toxic?

Yes, the world is in need of some great young activists these days. If no one else is going to speak up against the injustices that occur around the globe, or care about the environment and the species that inhabit it, or expose the corruption in our society and our government, we might as well do it ourselves. 

We expose ourselves to the horrors of the world because we want to desensitize ourselves and become stronger people that future generations can look up to. We ignore our mental health for the sake of activism because we’ve convinced ourselves that it’s our responsibility to be the change that we want to see in the world. 

It’s not like we should stop trying altogether, but maybe we should take a break. Maybe we should tell the older generations that it’s impossible for us to fix all of the world’s problems, especially since there’s a lot of issues that they’re responsible for causing and therefore responsible for fixing.

You’re not any less of an activist if you decide not to join a public protest or anything like that. This isn’t purposefully being ignorant of what goes on in the world, nor is it a selfish act. Our generation is in no way obligated to make up for all the mistakes that the older generation has made; they’ve got to share some of the responsibility as well. 

Some people of older generations may take offense to his and say that this is just us coming up with an excuse to be lazy and blame everyone else for their problems, but it’s honestly true. We aren’t saying that we should hand all of the hard work to the older generations, but instead we’re asking that they at least consider joining us in the effort.

In the end, we’re still young. 

We’ve got tons of other opportunities that await us in our future. We don’t have to spend the rest of our lives trying to cleanse the world of all the bad that lies within it; we’re fully capable of living a normal life while being aware of the problems in the world. It’s a little unfair to us to shoulder all of these responsibilities and expectations all on our own.