Our world is constantly changing and evolving. Technology has become a crucial part of our society and daily lives. As of 2019 there are 1.2 billion adolescents around the world. Teenagers have the creativity and energy to be able to shape and impact the world we live in today. They offer a fresh and different perspective to how problems can be solved. Yet this potential is overlooked because of the mindsets of today’s society.

I believe teenagers can change the world because of our society’s technological advancements, the fact that age does not define what can and cannot be achieved and teenagers should not be confined to the stereotypes.

It is said that adults can only change the world because they are older and wiser. Maybe in the past it would have been perceived that only adults could have an impact on the world, because they were totally reliant on the knowledge they had acquired from school. But this generation has access to a variety of online sources, and virtually everything taught in school can be found online. Teenagers know how to navigate recent technology as it is incorporated into their daily lives, where adults may not have as much knowledge as it was not greatly part of their youth. Think of the trends that are developed globally due to the popularity it is given by social media platforms. These trends are all started by young minds and replicated by their peers globally. So, let me ask you this, why can these social media platforms not be used to make a bigger impact? Imagine 1.2 billion teenagers uniting and starting a global impacting trend. You don’t think that this will have an effect?

Stereotypical teenagers are defined by adults as ‘troubled kids’ that are constantly angry, unmotivated, insecure and lazy. Like all stereotypes though, that is only a small percentage of the population as we are all individuals that consist of our own qualities and talents. Teenagers have fresh, new, diverse, creative ideas. Research shows that the adolescent’s brain is not yet fully developed. Therefore, risks are not as accounted for. George Nissen was only 16 when he came up with the idea of the trampoline. Trampolines are now used by almost every household that has a child. Tell me, what adult would have come up with that idea? Hannah Herbst invented the BEACON (Bringing electricity access to countries through ocean energy) when she became aware that her pen pal did not have electricity. It converts salt water to energy, enough to charge three car batteries! Jack Andraka came up with a new cheap way to detect pancreatic cancer at the age of only 15! These teenagers were not master minds, they simply recognised a problem and decided to solve it. We have the same amount of potential!

Can an 80-year-old not change the world? Do we disregard their ideas because of their age? No, so why should we disregard adolescents’ ideas and input just because they are younger? Adolescents are more creative; this is because adults’ ideas are based on past knowledge whereas teenagers’ ideas are based mainly from their imagination. Therefore, the ideas coming from adolescents would be more original and unique. Age is just a number.

For these reasons It is that I feel teenagers are able to impact and change the world. All it takes is an idea that we are passionate about and ready to work for, then initiative. Some of the most basic concepts, are now inventions used globally. So, I challenge you, to beat the stereotypes. I challenge you, to bring forward new ways to fix that problem you have become aware of. And I challenge you, to show them that age does not define what can and cannot be achieved.