A Love Letter to Every Single Empowered Teenager

TRIGGER WARNING: This article will briefly discuss the efforts in diffusing rape culture. Reader discretion is advised.

For as long as I can remember, you’ve always been seen as troublemakers who didn’t know any better and who didn’t care about anyone else other than yourselves. Though this fact may still be true amongst your peers, most of you have undoubtedly made a substantial impact on our current society.

You have spoken against racial inequality more than any other generation of teenagers before you. Thank you for all that you have done in the Black Lives Matter movement. Before the whole world came to realize what you had already known on the wrongful injustices of systemic racism, it was you who had already voiced how you felt about it through spoken word, it was you who had already launched your activism by partaking in organizations within your communities, and it was you who had already addressed the disadvantages of the issue through multiple public platforms. You are the generation who understands how discrimination against someone’s race is wrong. You are the ones who have reminded us that it is necessary to stand by the oppressed to empower the position they are in, and you are the group that has encouraged us to voice our support or else we’d simply be siding with the opposition.

When I was in high school, I remember there was a lot of stigma around mental health. I remember most of my peers believing it was odd or unnecessary to express how we really felt. I remember my guy friends monotonically stating they were “fine”, even if they were having a bad day, my own hesitation in telling my best friend that I’ve felt depressed for months, and most of my generation’s fear of rejection and ridicule if someone ever caught us in our weakest moments. As the stigma surrounding mental health still exists, you were brave enough to do a TED talk in advocating the importance of being aware, you were open enough to share how you’ve been feeling during the COVID-19 pandemic, and you were creative enough to make a short film to explain to us exactly what depression looks and feels like. Because of you, the discussion on someone’s mental being is becoming normal in mainstream media. Because of you, mental health is considered one of the biggest concerns in this pandemic; because of all of you, there are more resources than ever offering free helplines, counselling, and access to the proper professionals.

Your efforts in diffusing rape culture by giving a voice to those who have experienced sexual assault is not going unnoticed. Thank you for being courageous enough to speak out against non-consensual advances, uncomfortable affection, and inappropriate behavior from people who don’t respect another person’s boundaries. Society has always had its way of silencing a person’s cry for help, especially if they’ve been raped or assaulted. But it was you who started an Instagram account that created a safe space for teen victims to seek support in, it was you who shared your stories on TikTok by denouncing the pieces of clothing you wore during your assault, and it was you whose poem went viral as you thoroughly explained the true meaning behind how boys will always seem to be just boys. You are a big part of why some men have seen how their past and present actions are something to be improved on, why colleges and universities have active support groups for victims of sexual assault, and why there are more services than ever to truly seek the help a survivor would need.

You are truly some of the most compassionate, vocal, and liberating teenagers society’s ever witnessed. You’re aware of how fast fashion only contributes to the world’s environmental problems rather than its sustainable solutions, you’re part of a movement that has noticed a flaw in how society upholds male figures on unjust pedestals rather than a fair balance beam, and you have evidently continued the pursuit of feminism with the work you’ve done in demanding a woman’s birthright to be respected and treated equally.

I never imagined myself writing a letter to teenagers on the advocacy and humanitarian pursuits they’ve achieved. But you are the generation that has had the courage to speak up on the most uncomfortable social issues that most of us would rather not talk about, you are the group whose relentless when it comes to seeking truth and justice for those who need it most, and you are the generation that is truly one of the most selfless, as your continued efforts to many social causes evidently make a difference in this world every single day.

Sincerely,

A former teenager who’s glad this revolution is finally happening

Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash