TeenActivism

HowtobeaTeenActivist
WhatDoTeenActivistsDo?
MalalaYousafzai
HowSheGotStarted
Haters,Prejudice,andHope
Haters
Prejudice
WhyGirlsWereDeniedanEducation
WhoisHelping?
HowtoHelp
WhyShouldyouHelp?
OtherActivists
Awards

TeenActivism

Teen Activism
is when teens stand up for what they believe in. One
example is Malala Yousafzai (you-saf-ZAI), who stands up for womens
education rights in Mingora, Pakistan. In Malalas story, she was shot in

the head on October 9, 2012. After months in the hospital, she recovered.
Her only scar was the loss of her long term memory. If you are a teen
activist, you need to be brave, persevering, able to persuade people, and
most of all, you need to be a leader.
HowtobeaTeenActivist

To be a teen activist, you need to find your motivation. To be a teen

activist, you need to find something youre passionate about and build on it.
Next, you need to Research existing efforts because your cause might
already be taken, and efforts might already exist. If that is the case, than
you can either join in on that action or think of another one. However, if it
isnt
taken, you then figure out what you can do to raise awareness of your
cause. After that, you then Educate yourself about activism. After that, make
your voice be heard in any way you can.

WhatDoTeenActivistsDo?

Teen Activists inform the world-- or anyone who will listen-- about
their cause, or a certain problem(s) that they try to raise awareness about.
To do this, they usually will protest.

MalalaYousafzai

Malala Yousafzai was persevering and brave because even though

she was shot in the head, she recovered and kept standing up for what she
believed in. She was a leader because- even when people said she couldnt
do it, she ignored them and kept standing up for what she believed in.
Even if I am a girl, even if people think I cant do it, I should not lose
hope.1 I chose this quote because it shows how she ignored the haters
and all the prejudice and never lost hope.
HowSheGotStarted

When Malala was 11 years old, she started a blog under the fake
name of Gul Makai-- A heroine from a Pashtun Folk Tale-- and became
known as the girl blogger from Swat. Her blog basically detailed how they
made themselves unnoticed from the militants by wearing plain clothes
instead of uniforms to school.

Haters,Prejudice,andHope

Malalas cause was that girls didnt have a good education. In 2009,
Pakistan had a female education rate of 39.6%, compared to the males
1

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinharris/powerfulinspiringquotesfrommalalayousafzai?bftw&utm_term=.fw4
oqYe11v#.wd9VLpBbbZ

67.7%.2 Sadly, womens education rate didnt go up until around 2014.

Although a lot of people did not believe in or agree with Malala and what
she believed in.

Haters

A lot of people-- including the Talibans-- hated Malala and what she
was standing for. That is one reason that the Talibans shot her. Although all
these people hated her, Malala never lost hope. Because of this, people that
did
believe in her and what she believed liked her even more. That is how
Malala faced the haters. Haters gonna hate
Prejudice

A lot of people had prejudice against Malala. But, again, she ignored
them and never lost hope. This is what makes Malala so great: She ignored
the haters and focused on what she believed in.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/speeches/2009/07/14pakistaneducationwinthrop

WhyGirlsWereDeniedanEducation

Girls were denied an education in certain countries either because

their parents couldnt afford it; their parents could only afford to send one
child to school, so they chose their boy so that the girl can stay home to
learn to be a housewife; and finally, the Talibans destroyed all schools that
allowed girls so that girls couldnt go to school.3

WhoisHelping?

There is a Malala Fund online that has raised over $7 million to help
girls get an education. (Visit MalalaFund
at
https://www.malala.org)
Also,

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/peshawarschoolattacktalibansrevengemalalayousafzaisnobelpeaceprize14
79754

girls all over the world are working to help Malala to make her voice be
heard.

HowtoHelp

You can help by donating to the MalalaFund, by protesting womens

education rights in a friendly, nonviolent, way (No riots, boycotts
massacres, etc.), On social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), post
#WithMalala
. For more ideas, refer back to the
Who is Helping
paragraph.
WhyShouldyouHelp?

You should help Malala because, think about this: Wouldnt y

ou
want
people to help you if
you
were in h
er
shoes?
I know I would. Because if I was shot in the head for something I
believe in and recovered, I would want people to support me. So do this:
Close your eyes for a minute. Imagine you are on a hot, sunny, road, riding
a bike with your best friend on your way home from school, talking and
laughing and joking around. Now imagine a huge man in a black mask with
a gun running at you and shouting. Suddenly, you hear a bang, then all is
quiet and you cant see anything. A sharp, sharp pain is throbbing on the
left side of your head.

Now open your eyes. Scary, right? Wouldnt you want someone to
help you? That is exactly why you should help. Because you would want
somebody to help you.
OtherActivists

Some other teen activists are Faye Carey, whose cause is adopting out puppies;
RaSia Khepra, who protests against gun violence; Jack Andraka, who has found a way
to detect Pancreatic Cancer; Leanne Kinkopf, who protects animal rights; and Camilo
Jimenez, who promotes Green Living.

Awards

Malala has won many awards. They include being named one of TIME
Magazines Most Influential Person in 2013; The Nobel Peace Prize (2014);
the Sakharov Prize (2013); the Simone de Beauvoir Prize (2013); The
National Malala Peace Prize (2011); Ambassador of Conscience Award
(2013); United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights (2013); Mother
Teresa Awards (2012); Shorty Award for Teen Hero (2015); Glamor Award
for The Girls Hero (2013); and The Goodreads Choice Awards Best Memoir
& Autobiography for her book:
I am Malala
in 2013.