Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You

We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore!

The New York Times recently reported that kids who are serious about saving the environment are trying to make sure the adults in their lives are environmentaly responsible too. Not that this is any surprise, really! All throughout history kids have been ready to stand up and fight the power.

In the 19th and early 20th century, tens of thousands of children in the United States worked in factories, many of them under terrible conditions. Kids on Strike!, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, shows how kids worked together to force industrial giants to treat them more fairly.

Want to read about modern-day kids who are ready to fight for what's right? Elizabeth Rusch's book Generation FIX: Young Ideas for a Better World profiles 15 young activists who took their own ideas about how to fight white supremacy, clean up the environment, and help people in need. These are stories about self-starters — kids who saw something they thought needed changing, and then jumped in with both feet to get it done.

It's Our World, Too: Young People Who are Making a Difference, by Phillip Hoose also shares stories of young people working for social change. The second half of the book provides guideance for budding rabble-rousers with D.I.Y. information on finding allies, strategizing and planning your activities, fundraising, and smart research. A chapter on how to make sure adults don't take over your struggle is especially worth reading.