Our Future: How Kids Are Taking Action
Our Future: How Kids Are Taking Action
Tiassa earned her nickname, Animal Girl. While the other girls were playing with dolls, she was digging up worms. “I like people,” she says, “but I like wildlife more. I have always been fascinated by animals, especially elephants.” But then, Tiassa discovered something she could not ignore—poachers killed elephants for their tusks. “I was so distraught, it made no sense to me. Ivory is not a need. And it’s unacceptable that people come to our country to kill such beautiful creatures just so they can make decorations out of their tusks. I started a club in my school—Teens for Wildlife—to create awareness about the threat of poaching; to share thoughts and ideas about how we could protect elephants. We take pride in our wildlife because it is our heritage. Animals are Africans, too…...“We are the first generation to know we are destroying our planet and the last one that can do anything about it.”
Another slim volume in the “Kid Activists” series, Our Future: How Kids Are Taking Action shares the stories of 50 concerned kids—10 are presented as main features and 40 as extra sidebar inserts—who have chosen to speak up and act for causes they believe in. In our age of communication, it is easy for these young people anywhere on the planet to find kindred spirits and to motivate each other to become stewards of the future, and it seems there is no shortage of those willing to get involved in issues that are already affecting them. Their missions include such things as a focus on the importance of clean drinking water for everyone, showing strength and unity to stand up to racial injustice and brutality, influencing governments about plastic pollution, welcoming everyone with kindness and demanding solutions to gun violence. They have taken their messages to world leaders, the UN, all levels of government and offer leadership to share the burdens of elders.
Each story is inspiring, and the variety of issues is without limit. They can be small and simple and need only minimal adult support, such as the idea of a seven-year-old in Peru to open “eco-savings bank” accounts where money was deposited for kids who brought in recyclable items. Or they can take on a major conservation crisis such as Tiassa describes in the above excerpt. As one youngster says, “Whatever I can do or anybody else can do, I suggest that they do that, because a small difference can make a big impact.”
The individual accounts in this book rely to a great extent on quotes, allowing the voices of the kids to come across loud and clear. They tend to express themselves in direct, confident terms: why is this happening, we don’t want…. I’ll do my part... we will, we can… . This is the next generation talking, and it’s clear they are determined to be heard. Whether they are skilled at speaking, writing or artistic expression, they are making the best use of their talents to make an impression. Many of them have their own websites or YouTube videos to bring their messages directly to the public, and a list of them is included at the back of the book.
The accounts are easy to read and accompanied by appealing illustrations and relevant photos; readers will find plenty to identify with here. Our Future: How Kids are Taking Action is a useful addition to any collection on these topics.
Gillian Richardson is a freelance writer living in British Columbia.