Kids these days… It’s something we’ve all heard.  Kids are so hooked up to their little cell phones, Smartphones, Blackberries, and iPhones.  Literally wherever today’s teenager goes they’re hooked up to their friends through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogger, Buzz, text messages, and sometimes even “old fashion” email.  Seventy-five percent of kids have their own phone, and one out of three teens send over 100 text messages a day.  The attitude of young people towards anything that isn’t on the screen in front of them is pure neglect… and it’s your fault.

My name is Max Kamin-Cross and I’m here to tell you why teens no longer care about our world.  Let’s take a few moments to look at our role models… We’ve got the celebrities who make millions of dollars acting like idiots.  These people can do drugs, have sex, and attempt suicide; while their entire life is being covered by the media.  We are showing kids today that you don’t have to do anything with their lives and everything will work out.  News stations spend more time covering the stupid things that rich people do then they do covering the things that really matter.  The real world is being left out of news cycles. 

With things like this it’s hard to imagine why kids would care about the world.  But there is hope!  After almost 5 years of dealing with idiotic politicians, who can’t get it through their heads that teens are the future, there are a few things that I’ve learned.  The first is simple, but something most people don’t realize: we are the future, teens are.  If the next generation doesn’t start getting more interested in politics America will be in some major trouble.  The average age of the House of Representatives is 56 and the Senate, 62.  It’s no wondered young people don’t care; we just don’t see why it matters or how politics relate to us.  There aren’t any political role models for us to look up to.

I said something about hope didn’t I, so here’s what it is: kids are connected, and do care.  All that has to happen is one person to start the chain reaction.  A few weeks ago several students started a Pro-Life Week demonstration at my school in Pittsford, New York.  They planned on wearing shirts saying “Abortion Kills A Person,” that didn’t go well with me.  I decided to do something about it. 

I called our local Planned Parenthood in Rochester and NARAL in Albany, and told them the situation.  The awesome people at Planned Parenthood were able to hook us up with 80 great shirts from GetTheFactsNY.com that said “REAL Sex Ed Saves Lives” and NARAL sent us 180 stickers and buttons that said “I <3 Pro-Choice NY.”  Then I went to the one thing that every teen has to put this event into action, Facebook.  Within 48 hours about 60 people had replied wanting a shirt to show their Pro-Choice opinion.  By the end of the week there weren’t enough shirts and I had to turn people away and give them a button or sticker instead. 

The first day of National Pro-Life Week came and over 100 students wore shirts, buttons, and stickers.  Only 25 or so wore Pro-Life shirts.  This was a huge success in all the students’ eyes.  Pittsford is predominantly a Republican area and it was a huge surprise to everyone, including myself, to see that many students participate. 

The moral of this story is that kids actually do care.  This is a perfect example; all that needed to happen was one teen step up and organize it.  We realize there are problems in the world, our world, but what’s one more teen standing up for their rights going to do?  As you can see, it can do a lot.