What Youth in Iran Teach Us About Participation

Anya Dalal

In the United States, civic engagement often feels optional. We can protest, organize, attend city council meetings, serve on youth commissions, write op-eds, vote when we come of age, or choose to do none of the above. That choice itself is a quiet luxury and one we easily forget. 

A recent Wall Street Journal article about Iran tells the story of Sam Afshari, a 17-year-old who went to a protest after texting his dad, “I’m planning to join the protest tomorrow / But don’t tell Mom.” Four days later, his family found his body in a morgue. He had been shot in the head. Sam was one of thousands of young people killed during Iran’s recent crackdown, many of them teenagers, part of a generation that wanted nothing more than dignity, opportunity, and a voice.

Across history, young people have often stood at the front of protest movements, from Tiananmen Square to the Arab Spring. In Iran, that courage has come at an unimaginable cost. The article describes a country of internet blackouts that hide violence, families searching hospitals and morgues instead of social media feeds, and a government where participating in a protest can lead to a death sentence.

Here in California, when students join a youth commission, organize a walkout, speak at a school board meeting, or march peacefully in the streets, we are not risking bullets or secret detention. We are exercising rights protected by law and reinforced by democratic institutions, rights that young people in many parts of the world would risk everything to claim.

With those freedoms comes responsibility. The teenagers killed in Iran did not protest because it was trendy or comfortable, but rather because they believed their future was worth fighting for. Honoring that reality means using the freedoms we have with humility, seriousness, and purpose.

Image credit: Amnesty International