Zoe Moret is a high school student in the Washington D.C. area and a volunteer with AoCC’s Social Media Team. She enjoys reading, playing soccer, listening to music, AoCC Checklist volunteering :), long car rides, and photography.
As a minor who can’t yet vote, I am often told that I have little to no say when it comes to politics.
It has therefore been very challenging for me, seeing my fundamental rights being questioned by the government, yet feel there is nothing I can do about it except sit on the couch with popcorn and watch CNN.
This becomes frustrating as many of these new restrictions on human rights directly affect me in more than one way. It wasn’t until the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022 that I decided that I needed to find something that I could do to help.
At first, I was a little stuck on what I should do. Would writing one email to a senator really make a difference? What I’ve learned in short is yes, yes it does. Everyone has a voice; it is just what you decide to do with it that will make the difference. Because sure, I may only be one person. But so is everyone else and when every individual person decides to make one phone call, now all of the sudden that one senator has received hundreds of calls.
This is why I eventually decided to join the AoCC team. While I may feel that my individual voice is sometimes insignificant, working with so many other people that share similar views as me has shown that we can truly push to make a difference.
While voting is extremely important in making sure our government officials respect and agree with the majority’s views and rights, there are other ways to get involved that aren’t just voting. After joining the Women’s Rights Initiative Club in my high school, I learned that teenagers and students have a bigger voice than I had originally thought. What makes the difference is what you decide to do with that voice.
I noted that following my involvement in this club, I got to speak with delegates and other people in official positions that do have that power to make change. So while I may be too young to physically vote, I can still find ways to interact with our officials and inform and question them on their beliefs and position.
One example is a few weeks ago, we got to speak with Adele McClure, a woman running for Virginia delegate in my district. In this session, we got to ask her questions on how she was handling certain issues and let her know the issues that we felt were important to us. This gave us an opportunity to learn and impact our elected officials, even though we can’t yet vote for them.
Basically, the message I am trying to give is that there is always something you can do to help. Even if it is just writing one email to a senator on a random Friday, or even just sharing the Checklist with a friend or two, everything you do, big or small, will help the government move to a more equal and accessible way of governing.
See you on the Checklist!