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Protests could indicate larger shift in activism, researchers say

Xavier Mendoza

High school and college students across the state and country have mobilized for walkouts and assemblies to draw attention to school safety and gun violence.

Researchers say since the 1980’s there has been a decline in social activism.

Cherie Strachan is a Central Michigan University Professor who studies youth movements around social justice. She said a book called Good Citizen, written in 1998, argued the trend of disengagement would eventually flip with millennials. 

“The good citizen said ‘hey, look, they have interest, they have civic skills, they’re going to flip.’ At some point, you realize those skills are transferable and you just want the problem solved. So there was a prediction this would happen with millennials.”

Strachan said the Parkland student activists are generation Z, not millennials, but this may be a part of the flip described in Good Citizen.

Strachan said particularly around generational issues - like gun violence - younger voters could become a political force.

“Just because the millennials and the z’s have the sheer weight of numbers on their side, when they organize and when they do walkouts or protests and marches, and they can get people mobilized to show up, you can’t ignore it.”

Generation Z, people born between the mid 90’s and early 2000’s, currently makes up more than 25 percent of the US population. 

Strachan said the increase in youth activism has been built on the work of educators who taught the importance of civic and community work, both in high school and university.