How I Know Gen Z Will Save Us
“Show me a candidate who depends on the youth vote, and I’ll show you a loser,” James Carville, an experienced Democratic strategist, stated years ago. Carville was suggesting young voters do not turn out to the polls and cast their vote. Mr. Carville, in 2020, I beg to differ.
I know the next generation well, Generation Z, as they are called. I have spent countless hours with them in the classroom over the past 20 years. And I can tell you without hesitation, this generation will never allow America to be in this situation again. Their energy and commitment to vote, now and in coming elections, will change the course of our America.
Generation Z has been the force behind climate change protests, Black Lives Matter protests, and gun legislation protests. Most recently, a group of young Generation Z “activists” decimated the attendance projections at Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally by registering to attend with the intent of making a mockery of the campaign. Yes, a group of teenagers impacted a political rally and made an entire campaign look ill-prepared and unaware of their actual following.
As for the Gen Z new voters, millions of 18–22 year-olds will vote in their first Presidential election. Was the 2018 blue tsunami due in part to their vote? According to an ABC poll after the 2018 election, young voter turnout surged 188% in comparison to 2014. Those numbers did not include the 18 and 19 year-olds who were just shy of the voting age but well-versed in the politics of the time. This election will be historic because of young voters, mark my words. And many pollsters are ignoring this sector.
Generation Z is the most anxious of any group of students I have ever taught. Year after year, the anxiety grows. Students paralyzed by fear. Studies have been done on child anxiety in recent years, and many have attributed it to the growing use of technology. However, let’s consider the environment in which this generation has been raised. School shootings. Police killings. Most destructive hurricanes ever. Out of control wildfires. And now, a raging pandemic.
This generation sees our country’s failures. They see it did not have to be this way. And they are not willing to live in a world filled with these fears any longer. Why? How do I know?
It began with Columbine. I was a young teacher during Columbine, and twenty years ago the act was unthinkable. The fear. The shock. It shook all of America to the core. And yet, no one acted to prevent anything like that from happening again. Instead, school shootings are commonplace. The average number of school shootings in the past 20 years has nearly doubled (according to CDHS Database). And over the past 20 years, despite hundreds of children being brutally murdered, our society has refused to enact gun legislation to prevent school shooters from obtaining guns. Instead, school systems subject children to a variety of anxiety-producing approaches in efforts to rehearse school shooting procedures. These lockdown strategies range from fighting back to jumping out windows, to huddling behind the teacher’s desk away from windows and doors. And these strategies are taught and practiced regularly in classrooms from kindergarten through grade 12 across the country. Some children become so terrified that teachers are instructed to give individuals a heads up beforehand to avoid severe panic attacks. Lockdowns are America’s answer to murder; prepare the children to be attacked instead of preventing the attack.
I remember realizing the lockdown impact on my middle schoolers during advisory one afternoon. We were supposed to be practicing civil discourse or something of the sort, and the conversation veered off track, typical in middle school. What do we do though, Ms. Smith, if there is a real shooter? We don’t know what we should really do. What if we run away, and no one knows where we are? What if I am stuck in the bathroom or a closet, how long should I stay there? What if I see someone get shot, what should I do? And of course, the clincher, Ms. Smith, did you have lockdowns when you were in middle school? I tried my best to provide straightforward helpful instructions to my 5th graders, but I was at a loss myself. It was only then I truly realized their terror and frustration. As young as 10, American kids understand their vulnerability, and once they have the power to initiate change and calm their anxieties, nothing will stop them.
I attended the March for our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. with my teenage son in March 2018. The crowd astounded me. Streets were blocked. Tens of thousands of young people rallied. And may I remind you, this rally and all of the March for our Lives rallies around the country, were organized by our country’s teens, led by the students of Parkland. As protestors rose from the Metro stairs, teens stood passing out stickers labeled 2018 and 2020, indicating the date the bearer would vote. Years ago, Gen Z was already mobilizing and planning their strategy for change.
Pandemic. Consider every single high school senior whose spring term senior year was decimated by the pandemic. No parties. No prom. No graduation. No graduation parties. No sports events. Grandparents and additional family members were kept from sharing in any minimal ceremonies that actually occurred. Consider just these impacts. And then consider how many of these new voters will make the effort to vote.
Add to that, these students will have their first term in college online. No roommates, no college parties, no fall sports. All of the socializing that goes hand in hand with the college experience has become deadly. Some college athletes who have been diagnosed with Covid have also been diagnosed with heart complications and told they should not compete. Imagine being a young athlete and told your life’s passion has been derailed, or your college scholarship on the line because you contracted a virus that could have been prevented. Some students are living at home with their parents and participating in virtual school, not what they had planned for their fall semester in college. Some have taken a gap year with the hopes we will have conquered the virus by next fall.
Consider the impact of these moments on your own life and how they shaped you as a person. Consider your high school celebrations, your epic college failures, your laughter and connections. And this generation has been deprived — and they know it. The incoming freshman had visited colleges, had friends in college, envisioned themselves in college, and they knew how their fall was supposed to shape up.
Climate change. This generation is keenly aware of climate change; they will inherit our earth, and they know it. Black Lives Matter. Who do you think is organizing and planning many of the protests around the country?
Trust me, the youth vote will turn out on November 3, 2020. And, the tide will turn.