Kids for Change

Last spring, kids and teens took to the streets. They were participating in the March for Our Lives. This student-led demonstration was held on March 24 to demand tougher gun laws in the U.S. Marches took place in more than 800 cities across the country—and many more around the world.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, spearheaded the effort. They decided to organize the march after a former student shot and killed 17 people at the school.

Last spring, kids and teens took to the streets. They were participating in the March for Our Lives. This demonstration on March 24 was led by students. They were demanding tougher gun laws in the U.S. Marches took place in more than 800 cities across the country. Many more were held around the world.

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School led the effort. Their school is in Parkland, Florida. They decided to organize the march after a tragedy there. A former student had shot and killed 17 people at the school. 

Since the deadly shooting, the student activists from Stoneman Douglas have become the faces of the gun-control movement. Each year, more than 30,000 people in the U.S. are killed by guns. Many Americans—including these teens—are urging lawmakers to pass laws that would limit who can own guns and the types of guns people can own, and change the process to purchase a gun.

The main March for Our Lives protest was in Washington, D.C. At a rally near the U.S. Capitol, students from Stoneman Douglas, including 18-year-old Emma González, took to the stage to speak out about reducing gun violence and making schools safer. “This march means a lot to me and everyone else,” González said. “It’s the beginning of the conversation we need.”

For decades, kids and young adults have led protests and stood up for what they believed in like the Stoneman Douglas students. Read on to learn more about other kids who have fought for and are still fighting for change.

Since the deadly shooting, the student activists from Stoneman Douglas have spoken out. They've become the faces of the gun-control movement. Each year, guns kill more than 30,000 people in the U.S. Many Americans-including these teens-are urging lawmakers to pass stricter gun laws. These laws would limit who can own guns and what types of guns people can own. They would also change the process to buy a gun.

The main March for Our Lives protest was in Washington, D.C. At a rally near the U.S. Capitol, students from Stoneman Douglas took to the stage. They spoke out about reducing gun violence and making schools safer. One of these students was 18-year-old Emma González. "This march means a lot to me and everyone else," González said. "It's the beginning of the conversation we need."

The Stoneman Douglas students weren't the first young activists. For decades, kids and young adults have led protests and stood up for their beliefs. Read on to learn more about other kids who have fought for change.

Before World War II began in 1939, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party introduced policies meant to harm German Jews. They believed that Jews were racially inferior to Germans and blamed them for the country’s economic crisis after World War I. These policies led to the mass murder of Jews throughout German-controlled parts of Europe during the Holocaust.

Siblings Sophie, 21, and Hans, 24, Scholl were outraged by Germany’s treatment of Jewish citizens. They felt that it was their duty to stand up against their government. They founded the White Rose movement in 1942, when they were students at the University of Munich. The White Rose secretly distributed pamphlets that condemned Nazi actions and called for resistance.

In 1943, they were reported to the Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police. The Scholls were put on trial and sentenced to death for treason. But before Sophie was removed from the courtroom, she boldly said to the judge, “Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare to express themselves as we did.”

World War II began in 1939. In the years before that, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party made policies meant to harm German Jews. They believed that Jews were inferior to other Germans. They blamed Jews for the country's economic problems after World War I. These policies led to the mass murder of Jews in Germany and other parts of Europe that the Nazis controlled. This time is called the Holocaust.

Sophie Scholl, 21, and her brother Hans, 24, were outraged by Germany's treatment of Jewish citizens. They felt that it was their duty to stand up against their government. They founded the White Rose movement in 1942. They were students at the University of Munich at the time. The White Rose secretly passed out pamphlets that condemned Nazi actions. They called for people to resist.

In 1943, the Scholls were reported to the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret police. They were put on trial and sentenced to death for treason. But before Sophie was taken from the courtroom, she said something brave to the judge. "Somebody, after all, had to make a start," she said. "What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare to express themselves as we did."

Back in 1958—when she was only 7 years old—Ayanna Najuma began protesting segregation. Segregation is the practice of keeping people of different ethnicities or races separate.

Najuma and her friends held a protest called a sit-in. They went into a whites-only restaurant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and sat down and tried to order food. They sat there for hours and didn't budge, despite being ignored by waiters and harassed by white customers. They went back to the restaurant again the next day. On the third day, the restaurant’s owners agreed to serve black customers. “It was a big deal to be able to sit there and have a hamburger and Coke,” Najuma, now 67, recently told Scholastic.

But she didn’t stop there. She and her friends held more sit-ins. One by one, the restaurants in their area became integrated. “Even though I was little, my voice was just as important as everyone else’s voice,” says Najuma.

In 1958, Ayanna Najuma was only 7 years old. But she wasn't too young to begin protesting segregation. Segregation is the practice of keeping people of different ethnicities or races separate.

Najuma and her friends held a protest called a sit-in. They went into a restaurant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where only white people were allowed. They sat down and tried to order food. They were ignored by waiters and insulted by white customers. But they sat there for hours and didn't budge. They went back to the restaurant again the next day. On the third day, the restaurant's owners agreed to serve black customers. "It was a big deal to be able to sit there and have a hamburger and Coke," Najuma recently told Scholastic. She's 67 now.

Najuma didn't stop there. She and her friends held more sit-ins. One by one, the restaurants in their area stopped segregating customers. "Even though I was little, my voice was just as important as everyone else's voice," says Najuma.    

Levi Draheim lives five minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. His hometown, Satellite Beach, is on an island off the east coast of Florida. The 11-year-old loves living near the beach but is worried about his home’s future.

Climate change—a gradual change in Earth’s average temperature and weather patterns—is causing sea levels to rise around the world. Some beaches near Levi’s home have already washed away. “I’m scared because my home might be gone someday,” he says.

Levi is the youngest of 21 young people who are working with lawyers to sue the U.S. government over climate change. They want lawmakers to do more to stop the pollution that contributes to climate change and prevent its harmful effects.

One of the biggest pollutants they are worried about are greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide. Most greenhouse gases are released when people burn fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline. Greenhouse gases trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, causing the global average temperature to climb. 

The trial is scheduled to start in October. If the kids win, the U.S. government could be forced to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to levels that scientists believe would prevent a global catastrophe.

Levi Draheim lives five minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. His hometown, Satellite Beach, is on an island off the east coast of Florida. The 11-year-old loves living near the beach. But he's worried about the future of his home.

Climate change is a gradual change in Earth's average temperature and weather patterns. It's causing sea levels to rise around the world. Some beaches near Levi's home have already washed away. "I'm scared because my home might be gone someday," he says.

Levi is the youngest in a group of 21 young people who are working with lawyers. They're suing the U.S. government over climate change. They want lawmakers to do more to stop the pollution that contributes to climate change. They also want to prevent its harmful effects.

The biggest pollutants they are worried about are greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide. Most greenhouse gases are released when people burn fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline. Greenhouse gases trap heat in Earth's atmosphere. That makes the planet warmer on average.

The trial is scheduled to start in October. If the kids win, the U.S. government could be forced to make new rules about greenhouse gas pollution. They could be required to set limits for the gases that scientists believe would prevent a global disaster.