What are teen activists?

  

   Teen Activists are teens that want to make their voice heard and they speak up for what they think is right. Sometimes people don’t agree with them and become their enemies.

Here are some true stories about teens that wanted to make their voice heard:

 

Malala: A true story of a brave young woman

   Malala Yousafzai as born on  July 12, 1997. Malala was named after Malalai of Maiwand, Malalai of Maiwand is an afghan martyr. A martyr is someone who dies for their country. The name was perfect for Malala, she was a hero and almost a martyr. Her father-a teacher named Ziauddin-unlike other fathers in his culture did not grieve because of the birth of his daughter instead he added her name to his clan's family tree- something usually reserved for boys. And Malala's sense for justice came when she was young. One time when she was young she saw children living on a garbage dump, she wrote a letter to God. "give me strength and courage," she pleaded. "I want to make this world perfect."

  

Malala's Struggles

   Like many other teen activists Malala faced many struggles and obstacles before she got what she wanted. One of her struggles was that she had to cover her face while men and boys could walk around freely, and also her mother and herself could not go out without a male relative, "even if it was a five-year-old-boy!" Malala hated this! Her biggest struggle was the Taliban- a religious group of people that thought girls should not go to school. They came to her valley when she was ten and started shutting down schools,  Malala disagreed with this, so she started blogging at the age of ten by the name of Gul Makai, for protection and she told anyone who would listen about the Taliban and how they were taking over the valley by shutting down the schools, killing teachers and innocent people, and congratulating girls that had dropped out of school by the local Taliban leader's radio, announcing it to everyone. People wanted Malala to stop writing blogs-some criticized her father for letting her do it.  The Taliban told everyone to shut down their schools but Malala's father did not listen, he still went on teaching, but the girls stopped their uniform because it would have made them easy targets. But Malala's struggles did not end there.

 

Malala's Attack

On October 9, 2012 Malala faced her biggest struggle-the Taliban! Malala was going home with 19 other girls in her class. It was a normal day with 20 girls chatting on their way home from school. But just then a young man with a handkerchief around his face boarded the bus and asked "Who is Malala?" The girls looked at their brave friend who was sitting in the back of the bus. And then the man shot 3 bullets from his gun, one of which went into Malala's head! Miraculously the bullet missed her brain-barley, and went into her cheek. She went to a hospital in England and now she goes to school there for protection because of the Taliban. She misses her school and her friends but she loves her school in England and even from there she fights for girls education. 

 

Make a difference!

Malala is just one of the teen activists that helped make a diffference. There are hundreds of activists around the world trying to make a difference.

 

What can you do to help?