Every time that I turn on the news, something bad seems to be happening. The refugee crisis, another senseless shooting, the crumbling NHS… the list goes on and on. It seems like we’re going through an exhausting time when everything seems so bleak. But then on Friday I went to an environmental protest and my hope returned. There were parents taking their 4-year olds, teenagers who had been threatened with isolation at school and university students who had coursework to complete, every single one of them part of a generation (or two, depending on when you think millennials end) determined to have a positive impact on the world.
This is Generation C(hange).
Let’s start with the environment, as that’s what the protest I attended was about. This protest in Newcastle was part of a worldwide movement of students designed to apply pressure on government across the globe to improve their environmental policies. It all started off with Greta Thunberg, who was only 15 when she started this all off. She’s now 16 and has given a speech to the UN, spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos and been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And this generation isn’t just waiting for the governments to change, they’re changing themselves; 42% of the 542,000 vegans in the UK were aged 15-34 in 2016. There is an overwhelming recognition that our lives do not matter more than the lives that come after ours and that we have a responsibility to lay a positive foundation for future generations, instead of stealing their opportunities.
Every week, I see the incredible work that hundreds of student volunteers have contributed towards at NEST with the hope of improving the lives of refugees and asylum seekers. When a school in Florida suffered a horrible shooting, the survivors did not cower, but instead chose to campaign for improved gun laws. Each time I work at NCS, there are teenagers who advocate for those with poor mental health. Students across the country are unapologetically promoting feminism. 18-24-year olds are finally choosing to express themselves in elections. Young people are much more accepting of those of different race or sexuality (although we are apparently less accepting of immigrants than previous generations of young people – a worrying trend). Millennials are rejecting capitalism after witnessing and suffering from the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
I am so proud of the people who are making it cool to care. And for those who consider us too easily offended and naïve? We are offended. We are offended by your ignorance, by your lack of belief in what is possible and by your stubbornness that you know what is right when your actions are so wrong. Generation C is coming, and we will not stop. Help us or get swept out of the way.
Happy voluntravelling,
The Voluntraveller