My name is Isabel Hope, I am 17-years-old, and I am the Founder of Meddling Kids Movement. When I was younger the phrases "you're too young to understand" and "children should be seen and not heard" were tossed around a lot. For a long time, I felt like I didn't have a voice in what is going on surrounding my future. Then, sometime amazing happened. It would probably be considered revolutionary.
I started seeing kids my age speak about what they were passionate about. These kids were standing up for what they believe in and seeing that inspired me to do the same. That's why I created Meddling Kids Movement.
What is Meddling Kids Movement? Good question.
Meddling Kids Movement is an international youth-led media organization highlighting young people who are changing the world and encouraging those who want to. On this website under the "The Kids" tab, we promote activists ages 8-19 who are getting loud about issues that matter like gun control or gender equality. While we do actively seek out young people to talk to, we also include a submit feature for yourself or someone you know! We want everyone's stories told.
For over a year, Meddling Kids Movement has prided itself on being the only youth-led media organization telling the stories of grassroots youth activists around the world who are doing local, historic work. These are kids that you would not see on the cover of TIME, but who deserve just as much amplification for their work.
Our news division, Meddling Kids Media, is trying to fill the hole in international media spaces and let young people tell each other's stories. We do hard-hitting youth activism related journalism about stories that would otherwise go untold. We want to revolutionize the media industry because that's just what Meddling Kids do.
Another key thing is that we provide resources. Links to register to vote, call your representatives, get in touch with congress, join action groups around the country, and become more aware. Another big reason this movement exists: lawmakers cannot ignore us anymore. By coming to this website adults can clearly see that not only will kids fight; they will vote too.
When I first started Meddling Kids Movement in October of 2018, I was lost in my life. I did not know what my purpose was or how I, as a young person, could make a change in my world. Meddling Kids Movement now has over 30 team members who are all students living in countries around the world. It gave me my purpose and gave other kids their first experience organizing. I recently stepped down as Executive Director to take a role as Advisor to the organization. I did not know what to expect, but we have built an organization that is so much bigger than me, and it continues to thrive today.
I learned very quickly that our world has a lot of problems. Although we are told to wait our turn, young people are being directly impacted everyday by things we are told not to care about. Here is the thing: politics belongs to us too. Our world belongs to us too. We can hold our own in these movements and break the ground on what is considered an adult landscape. We do not have to wait for our turn or our time.
There is no age limit for changing the world.
