Over the past, social movements and protests were dominated by adults, with few youths. However, as the world continue to evolve, from the religious dogma to the scientific creationism, youth activism and movements have taken a different facet. Recently the world is witnessing many youths coming out in large numbers to form movements to protect their rights. This paper therefore, seeks to analyze this change while highlighting the causes, impacts and assumptions of youth involvement in social movements.
Primary Argument
Young activists have led public protests and action on a variety of issues, including climate change and abortion rights with their presence in politics sparkling fierce controversy. Research done by Earl unveils that, it is vital to guarantee that young people are actively involved in social movements, and activities in order to encourage active citizenship and build programs that effectively represent their interests and concerns.
Key Elements that are Fundamental to the Argument
Understanding youth transition is critical for social movements. When youths grow into adulthood, they tend to exhibit habits and routines they developed as children. This may have significant implications on their future social life and relationship with others. In this regard they may join forces and movements to protest for their rights whenever they feel oppressed. Moreover, they are more mobile than the older generation, thus issues confronting them are an important part of social movements. They are frequently disregarded for a lack of civic involvement or criticized for disrupting oppressive laws, norms, and practices, despite the fact that disrupting oppressive laws, norms, and practices is a vital aspect of all liberatory movements.
Provided Evidence
It is evident that young people are politically engaged and actively participate in the formation of their own political socialization. Unlike previous protests or lobbying efforts, it is clear that technology has become an integral part of many current youth movements. Multiple studies reveal that, using the internet and finding information online has a favorable impact on political activity (Lee 40). The research states that in the twenty-first century, popular sites like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube have become the new instruments for young activists. Technology and the emergence of digital media have revolutionized the way young people participate in activism around the world.
Underlying Assumption
The assumptions of these arguments are based on the current world trends and historical analogies. For instance, opinions in these articles assumes that young people must be politically mobilized by adults to actively participate in movements and become activists. Most young people limit their involvement movements because they believe they are not old enough to take part in social movements, thus, to participate in social movements they must receive an external force from their leaders.
Intended Audience
Despite the fact that the research reveals communication techniques for effective adolescent engagement in social movement transformation, these tactics may be similar to communication strategies for a broader audience. Following the arguments of the importance of young people in activism, as well as reports that young people are increasingly resorting to protest, the most intended audience is the youth (Earl). The tone, styles and main arguments depicted in the authors’ works clearly reveals youths as the intended audiences. Recognizing that the target audience is primarily made up of teenagers and young adults and taking it into account, the authors’ finds it easy to choose the appropriate language and style to effectively pass their message to the audience.
Tone Adopted
The authors’ works reveals a descriptive style with an honest, and formal tone throughout their literatures’. Additionally, they employ assertive tone with a focus on positive, aspirational, and powerful concepts. For instance, Instead of focusing on short-term objectives they assert that communications should reflect the kind of connection that the state is aiming to develop with its young residents and focus on long-term behavior and involvement. Thus, the tone is seen as beneficial as it asserts that when governments communicate with young people, they typically avoid overtly partisan content and instead focus on engaging around social or policy concerns in a way that does not support the goal of a particular political party or group.
Works Cited
Earl, Jennifer, Thomas V. Maher, and Thomas Elliott. “Youth, activism, and social movements.”Sociology Compass, vol. 11, no. 4, 2017, e12465.
Lee, Ashley. “Invisible networked publics and hidden contention: Youth activism and social media tactics under repression.” New Media & Society, vol. 20, no. 11, 2018, pp. 4095-4115.