According to the statistics of Southern Poverty Center, there are 953 hate groups that are currently operating in the United States. While their targets differ, they have one main motivation which is to attack, either physically or verbally, a certain class of people who are members of one specific designated sector of society such as ethnicity or a belief system. The number of hate groups rose to 953 from 917 in the past 2 years. This immediate rise of hate does not only minimize the peaceful environment, but it also leads to a civilization where different is alienated and only one type of people are properly acknowledged by the rest. Eliminating the destructive power of hate is not easy when hating something is so popular; however, if this work is recognized by everyone as a responsibility, especially by the backbone of society which is youth, achieving a hate-free environment is not impossible. To create a tolerant, diverse, and peaceful society in the future, today’s young people need to acknowledge their own power of impact and start taking action now.

The first step of solving a problem is acknowledging it and genuinely wanting to find a solution. If a problem is ignored by someone, it is either not recognized or its solution might not seem possible. While people’s absolute impact power is limited based on certain things such as their information on topic, experience, and position; age does not have to be one of them. Samantha Smit was only 10 when she eased Cold War tensions between the United States and Russia with a single letter. She wrote a letter to CPSU General Secretary Yuri Andropov suggesting that both countries could co-exist peacefully, which ended up getting published in a Soviet newspaper. But if one girl can achieve something that thousands of politicians all around the world couldn’t achieve, why youth is still not actively involved in crisis solving processes? The answer is simple: because they do not believe they can make a change. What if Samantha’s
parents told her sending a letter to offer a solution about one of the most serious crises at that time was funny and only a waste of time? At this point, it’s the responsibility of society to support these young people who are full of potential by giving them an opportunity. If young people guard themselves with knowledge, patience, kindness and the inner drive that makes them always strive for more, their voices certainly will be heard.

Last year, at the very beginning of 10th grade, we came up together as 6 friends who had one thing in common. We were all terrified to see how surely hate was spreading all around the world and especially in our home. Knowing that we, the future building stones of society, had to do take an immediate action, we created our own non-profit organization called DoNotHate which is entirely student-run. Over the past year, we reached out to leaders of different communities, churches, reform temples and many more. However, as young people who have realized their power of impact, we also knew there were so many of us out there who were not awaken yet. As Nelson Mandela says, “Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom.” Creating something that can have an enormous impact on society was only the sketch without getting other young people involved. Thus, we created the DoNotBully project that aims to bring awareness to schools and provide a bully-free environment where students can focus on getting an education and developing themselves, far from the dreadful results of bullying. Being fully student-run, DoNotBully gives students a platform to take responsibility to improve their own environment. On our website, we organized a writers’ corner in which young people share their opinions on hate-related topics and propose solutions. We are in contact with many people whose beliefs are as different as fire and water; yet, all of them have never hesitated to support us from the bottom of their heart by doing everything they can so our message gets heard by everyone. It’s only the beginning; yet, we have a long road ahead to accomplish a society where every person views and treats each other with dignity and comes together to promote shared values of their communities and the world as a whole.

Youth is more than capable to make a difference in this world; yet, while it’s on young people to realize their capacity, it’s society’s responsibility to support them until the end. Young people need to be listened, encouraged and assisted wisely when necessary. Every great change starts from one place with one idea; yet, with determination, patience, and dignity it creates an enormous impact. Martin Luther King Jr. says “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” While the communication and tolerance level is so much higher among the youth, it is very unnecessary to wait for the leadership of an older generation to decide for us. It is our chance to prove we are capable and it is society’s chance to prove we have their support until the end.

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