Essay Sample on Global Issues Can’t Be Solved Until We Solve the Issue of Teens Not Knowing About Them

What would the world be like if we didn’t care about the major problems around our world? Global issues affect everyone so everyone should be educated about them. Without knowing about these obstacles’ teenagers become ignorant, leaning into their privilege and not being able to contribute to change. Teens should educate themselves because it helps them understand the world. By doing this they can build empathy and understanding, starting a change.

Many say that children are too young to understand or care about major problems, though, teens have developed more maturity and are shaping into young adults. As teens face many major problems every day such as depression, bullying, eating disorders, drug use, peer pressure, sexual abuse, racism, sexism, abusive families, etc. Many of these issues have a stigma attached to them and society dictates that we should be embarrassed to mention them.  Even as the world becomes more welcoming, we still haven’t detached ourselves from the awkward or in some cases shameful feeling that comes with opening up. The fact of the matter is that teens are growing up much faster and being thrown into a world full of terrible influences. Without them learning about the things that affect them how will they be able to face the world? The thing about global issues and the stigma surrounding them is that without talking about it you create misconceptions, which leads to a society drenched in ignorance. 

 For example, as a teen coming from a place of major privilege, I can never truly understand what racism feels like and because of this will always maintain a certain level of ignorance. but if I do not care about the effects of racism, educating myself, or supporting the movement of eradicating racism I am contributing against the cause. By educating myself I can become more empathetic to my fellow people and start contributing to change. If I lean into my privilege, however, I will never be able to help contribute to change of any sort. Many other teens come from a place of privilege not just limited to race. As David Gaider said, “Privilege is when you think something is not a problem because it's not a problem to you personally.” By educating the teenagers of our society we start to slowly eliminate privilege and look out for the future of humankind.

By teens learning about global issues, they can begin to understand what others go through and start to build empathy. After learning and continuing to educate themselves they can help develop and change who they are making their future and the future of the world a better place. Eventually, they will become more self-aware and understand their place of privilege. This makes them less ignorant and more likely to be open to change. Continuing with this, they can spark a reaction in their community and educate the people closest to them to become more respectful to issues surrounding the world. This helps establish viewpoints instead of establishing barriers within our society placed there by disregard.