How Youth Can Engage in Activism | Bich Vy Vo Hoang | TEDxYouth@PennSchool
Jevie argues that transforming an idea into impactful, sustainable activism requires careful, creative methods like education and community work rather than extreme acts, illustrated by her own campaign to save parrotfish by teaching drawing and fun facts to children.
## Speakers & Context
- **Jevie** — Presenter; student from IP 4A pen school.
- Delivers a talk on the power of youth activism and her personal campaign to save parrotfish.
- Initial goal: To share how youth can create activism.
## Theses & Positions
- Nature is an endless source of inspiration for ideas, and children's curiosity should be encouraged.
- An idea is nothing until it is turned into action.
- Transforming an idea requires time and effort; there is no shortcut to success.
- To spread a message, choose methods that are not extreme, such as social media, word of mouth, or TED talks.
- Sustainable activism requires staying focused, as change does not happen overnight.
- The progression of impactful effort is: Idea $\rightarrow$ Meaningful Message $\rightarrow$ Actions $\rightarrow$ Campaign $\rightarrow$ Activism.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Activism:** The process of creating change, moving from idea to sustained campaign.
- **Parrotfish:** Subject of the preservation campaign; eating old corals to make young corals grow healthier.
- **Coral Reef:** Directly linked to the survival of parrotfish and the ocean's health.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Generating Ideas:** Inspired by favorite cartoons (e.g., *Octonaut*).
- **Idea to Action:** Requires sharing the idea with people to gain support, which helps the message become respected.
- **Spreading Message:** Methods include:
* Extreme protest (e.g., throwing tomato soup at Van Gogh's *The Sunflower*).
* Social media use.
* Word of mouth.
* Sharing at TED talk.
- **Campaign Building (Parrotfish):**
* Started with a single drawing.
* Mother helped copy the drawing into hundreds of copies.
* Took materials to the school for disadvantaged kids to draw and learn.
* Taught teachers fun facts to embed the message.
* Created a video on the parrotfish and clean water conservation.
## Timeline & Sequence
- Jevie has been running the "save the parrotfish campaign" since she was **8 years old**.
- Video content creation: Plans to upload more videos on the campaign to YouTube in both English and Vietnamese.
## Named Entities
- **National Geographic** — TV show watched by Jevie's mother.
- **Octonaut** — Educational cartoon that provided inspiration for the campaign.
- **Van Gogh** — Artist whose painting, *The Sunflower*, was targeted by protestors.
- **Greta Thunberg** — Famous climate activist cited as an example.
- **IP 4A pen school** — Jevie's affiliation.
## Numbers & Data
- **500 kids** have watched the video and learned about the campaign.
## Examples & Cases
- **The Extreme Protest:** Teenagers throwing tomato soup at Van Gogh's *The Sunflower* to protest oil production; noted as harsh, fast, and resulting in bad consequences (jail/fines).
- **Greta Thunberg's Trajectory:** Became an activist at **15 years old**, but later mocked religions and wars instead of solely focusing on climate change; recently received a fine in Sweden for blocking public roads.
- **The Parrotfish Campaign:**
* Started with **one drawing**.
* Used the mechanism of teaching fun facts, such as "parrot fish eat old corals to make young corals grow healthier" or "one PA fish can make one ton of white sand per year."
* Goal: Saving the parrotfish equals saving the coral reef and the ocean.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Video creation:** Planned to upload videos to YouTube (in English and Vietnamese).
- **Drawing/Art:** Initial tool—a drawing replicated into hundreds of copies.
## References Cited
- None explicitly cited as external sources; the talk relies on personal experience and observation.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The danger of methods that are too extreme, such as the tomato soup protest, which leads to consequences like fines or jail time.
- Critics of Greta Thunberg's recent actions for deviating from a single focus (climate change) to include mocking religions and wars.
## Methodology
- **Observation/Inspiration:** Noticing inspiration from media like cartoons.
- **Action Planning:** Conceptualizing steps from idea to measurable campaign actions.
- **Community Engagement:** Active participation by taking materials to a school for disadvantaged kids and teaching both kids and teachers.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The overarching framework for success is the progression from Idea $\rightarrow$ Message $\rightarrow$ Action $\rightarrow$ Campaign $\rightarrow$ Activism.
- Sustainability requires focus and patience, as change is not immediate.
- Recommendation: Continue and amplify efforts through educational methods like drawing lessons and video documentation.
## Implications & Consequences
- The current success metric for the campaign is marked by the **500 kids** who have viewed the educational video.
- The implication of the failure to build sustainable activism is the stagnation of the movement.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"This is where I got the inspiration to save the parrotfish from and I believe other kids find their new ideas from watching their favorite cartoons too."*
- *"nature is an endless source of inspiration nature is where kids start their own adventure their own Journey nature is where kids learn to take risks and accept challenges"*
- *"an ID is forever an idea if it is not turned into action"*
- *"there is no shortcut to success"*
- *"I think all kids should have a chance to share their curiosity their ability to think and their ability to ask questions"*
- *"let me share with you how I created a campaign to save the pared fish"*
- *"for example I told them par fish eat old crawls to make young crawls grow healthier and did you know that one PA fish can make one ton of white sand per year that's a lot"*
- *"i believe my campaign will soon become youth activism because more and more people are joining me to save the parot fish"*
- *"change does not happen overnight it takes a lot of time for you and me to build up our activism and make our voices heard"*