"What matters to you most? If you were an adult. . .", a teacher of mine started to say.
"Well", I thought to myself "why does my opinion not matter now"?
This week in class, we've been discussing the upcoming election, and what truly matters to us most. What are the core issues that will affect our voting; will we we choose to align ourselves with a political party? All of these questions get thrown out so easily, and for good reason--we're talking about "the future".
This ominous term tends to terrify me, mostly because at my age, I really have no say. As a Jewish girl who became a Bat Mitzvah, I am deemed an adult. I now have the responsibility to pray with the adults, yet am still expected to play with the kids. Similarly in politics, I am caught in a relatively uncomfortable position. Society is telling me that I am "the new generation", yet I'm given none of the trust or responsibility. I am expected to care about the changes going on around me and to take ownership of what "my generation" is doing to "our country".
In our country, people with money are valued. Scholars and those who are educated are valued. I am in honors classes in an upper middle class society, but I am not a pre-law student, nor am I in college. I can't tell you what the headline in the business section was this morning, but I can tell you how I think this country can move forward. I can tell you what I want my world to look like. I am the new generation, and yet I am constantly feeling suffocated by society. No matter how many letters I write to my congressman, I know that the response I get is from his secretary. I have been taught time and time again that my voice at my age simply does not matter.
A long time ago, my voice was stolen. A long time ago, people decided that I don't deserve the right to speak up, based on my religion, gender and simply my age. Today, you may not hear more than a brush stroke. Tomorrow? You'll hear an explosion of color as I paint the world I will be living in--it's MY world now.
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