Voices | Teen Ink

Voices

February 26, 2008
By Anonymous

There were once voices that spoke so loudly they could not be ignored. The voices that spoke the inevitable truths of this world. Harsh truths that bred the word/term ignorance. If you call yourself naïve, that’s understandable, considering your fearful generation censors our educations so that we won’t have to live in the same fear. You think you’re doing us good, infact, sheltering us is the worst thing you can do. As time passes, we grow older and more unprepared, due to your concealing of the truth.

Instead of the plethora of historical facts we learn in our history classes, we need to be taught that we are history and that we make history everyday, through our actions and words. Teach us about the accomplishments made by past generations, so we can mimic and improve/build on their triumphs in turn making our world a better place. Teach us how past generations achieved their goals/dreams, so that we are ready and unafraid to act on them, knowing that they could better this world, not only for our generations, but for future generations as well. Teach us not to be afraid to speak our minds, our opinions, and beliefs, if past generations were censored and taught to live in fear, this country would not be as it is today.

Teach us about mistakes that have been made in history and the effect is has had on us. Let us interpret the events as we may. Teach us how we can mend the wrong, and start doing right. Teach us how to defend our opinions and beliefs, and how to express them to whomever we see fit.

Prepare us for our awaiting reality by exposing us to the harsh truths/realities of the world. Can we help? Can we make it better? You can choose to be ignorant or you can choose to help, but don’t make that decision for us. Don’t base our lives on your perceptions, interpretations, and morals. We need to be taught to live and think for ourselves, we can choose to conform, but the choice is ours to make.

Your generation makes decisions for ours; your decisions affect our lives. Because you are older, you assume that you know what’s best for us, but who knows us better than ourselves? ‘What’s best for us’ means whatever has worked in the past. We should have the choice to change our future because maybe, we don’t want to live in the past.

Should I be punished for utilizing my voice and my opinion? You did not give me a voice, therefore how can you take mine away? Even more so, how can you let your voice be taken away? You offered me a chance to learn words and language, if I choose to make use of my knowledge and voice my own opinion, who are you to tell me that I can’t considering the fact that you didn’t invent/create either? You just taught me the language, you didn’t make the rules.

When the constitution was written, our forefathers might have intended for the laws to be used in a different manner, how can you say what’s right and wrong?

You interpret how you want and I shall do the same. Interpretations are based on opinion, and our ideals/values may vary.

If you have your own interpretations and opinions of laws and how they should be enacted and dealt with, if those laws affect my life, how can you silence my own beliefs/voice?

What’s right in your mind may be wrong in mine, if you go on your own beliefs and fail to ACTUALLY listen to mine, then all men are not created equal.

Were you present when they signed the constitution? Did you help create the document? I don’t see your name on it. You interpret the laws to how you see fit, who are you to tell me if I am right or wrong?

Teach us how to think and not what to think.

How does one go about educating today’s youth?


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