Teen activism

By: Sophia Bass

 Table of contents
● Activism
● Ella Van Cleave
● What Ella Van Cleave is doing to help
● How you can help
● Conclusion
 Chapter 1: Activism
Today I will be telling you about teen activism. Specifically, a teen activist against dolphins and
orcas in captivity. It doesn’t take much to be an activist. All you have to do really is stand up for
a cause, talk about it, and have peaceful protests.
And teen activists are usually pretty cool and amazing.
How so?

Well first off, their making the world a better place one step at a time. And their still teens. They
still have to focus on school and such as well as being an activist. Plus, they must have to very
strong to not let things get in the way of their protests or campaigns.
Take Malala Yousafzai for example. She was shot because what she was standing for was
wrong in the eyes of some people(she stands for everyone getting educated no matter what
their race gender or beliefs are). But after she recovered fully, she back to being an activist. And
she still is an activist today.

Another thing that makes them so great is that they don’t let their age get in the way. Some may
say that their to young to have an opinion like that. But I think it’s great that their this young and
standing for a cause. And I'm sure that they have had people tell them things along the lines of,
“you’re too young to be doing this.”.
But they're still going strong for their cause.
They must also have to deal with some hate from people who different opinions. But they still
keep going strong and don’t let it get in their way.

Chapter 2: Ella Van

Cleave ​ ​ lla van cleave pictured on right)
(e

Now you may be asking, “Who is Ella Van Cleave?”

Well, Ella Van Cleave is a teen activist trying to free the dolphins and orcas in captivity. How
she started as an activist is pretty simple actually. When she was 12 she saw the movie “the
cove”. After she saw this she asked people how she could help go against the Taiji dolphin
slaughter. Many, of course, did not take her seriously as she was only 12. Being that no one
gave her any advice really, she went to create a website about it and shared it with as many
friends and family as possible to try and get her voice heard and seen.
This did end up working and overtime was invited to talk at school and some small local events
about her cause.
When she became more well known she was asked to talk at some bigger events such as
TEDxVictoria, ​Canadian Network for Environmental Education, and North American 
Association for Environmental Education. 
 
“I was determined to do more right then and there – without a fancy degree.”- Ella van 
Cleave. 
 

 
Chapter 3: How Ella Van Cleave is 
helping 
 
You may be asking, ‘well how is she helping?’. Well as I previously mentioned, she has been 
invited to go to some events and talk about her cause. But what does she do besides that? 
Well, she goes onto some websites and talks about her cause and how she got to where 
she is today. 
‘But how does her talking about her cause help?’ you may be asking.  
Well, since speeches nowadays are usually recorded and put online, someone against what 
she’s for might watch a video of her speech to see the other side’s facts and end up 
thinking she has some good points and switch to her side. 
Or, someone could bring a family member or friend to one of her speeches and this person 
happens to be on the opposite side. They could listen to her speech and learn what happens 
to animals in captivity and see that she has some good points. After listening to her speech 
they could then side with Ella Van Cleave and become a supporter of letting dolphins and 
orcas out of captivity. 
Now, what does she talk about at these conventions? She talks about dolphins and orcas in 
captivity and lists facts and gives stories about how and why they would be better off in the 
wild. For example here’s something she’s said at TEDxVictoria, “So with that in mind, 
imagine what life would be like performing for a clapping and cheering audience several 
times a day while spending your breaks swimming around in a tank whose walls are 
constantly being beaten on by small children. This stress can often lead to death, and this is 
what aquariums won’t tell you.”(video is right here h
​ ttps://youtu.be/-FKbUp65XrI​) 
 

What you can do to help 

 
Now you may be wondering what you can do to help. Well, I can give you some ideas if you don’t 
know how to start. 
One thing you could do is go to a convention Ella Van Cleave is presenting at and listen to 
her talk. Or you could go to dolphinproject.com and donate. What does the dolphin project 
do? They are trying to end dolphin slaughter for good. 
 

Conclusion  
Thank you for reading my paper. After reading it I hope you learned something new about 
dolphins and orcas in captivity as well as Ella Van Cleave. And I hope that after reading this 
you go do some research on Ella Van Cleave as well and look at dolphinproject.com.  
 

 
 
Sources 
● https://www.dolphinproject.com/blog/author/ella-van-cleave/ 
● https://www.thedodo.com/meet-the-16-year-old-activist--647475701.html 
● https://youtu.be/-FKbUp65XrI