Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
San Jose resident Shimon Goldstein knows how to use his voice. He marches at local anti-Trump protests and doesn’t hesitate to publicly share his opinions. He’s passionate and determined – and he’s only 18.
The West Valley College student was one of dozens of local teen protesters who took to the streets of downtown San Jose on June 14 as part of a nationwide “No Kings” demonstration against President Donald Trump’s policies and actions.
“The president is doing some very, very dangerous things,” Goldstein said, holding a poster that read “Facism is festering in the land of the free.”
According to the group 50501, which organized the San Jose protest, there were more than 12,000 attendees. Most of the demonstrators were adults, a turnout that several youths who showed up said was concerning.
“We are the younger generation,” said Evelyn Nguyen, 19. “We have to worry about our future. It’s great to see all these people, but I would love to see more younger people.”
The small teen attendance was a stark departure from recent global trends of youth protest involvement. The proportion of youths who participated in protests rose between the 1990s and 2010s. In 2019, at least 25% of protesters at selected demonstrations were youth, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Melanie Ontiveros, a U.S. history teacher at Sierramont Middle School in San Jose, said young people are “just not as active politically as they need to be.”
Ontiveros said threats of violence from Trump may have discouraged parents from letting their teens attend the protests. She referred to a comment Trump made ahead of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade, which was scheduled on the same day as the “No Kings” protests. He said those protesting at the Army parade would be met with “very big force.”
Goldstein said misinformation surrounding the recent Los Angeles protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids has also contributed to the low teen turnout in San Jose.
Still, the young protesters who rallied and marched in San Jose said the act of showing up was a movement in and of itself.
“It’s one thing to see (youth activism) on TikTok or post it on your story,” Nguyen said. “But to see it in person with everyone else around you, you’re like, ‘I have this community. I know I’m not alone in my views.’ I think that’ll make people feel less afraid to speak their mind.”
Others believe visibility can increase youth protest involvement.
Goldstein said if young people see others their age at rallies, they get the message that protesting “isn’t just a fringe idea.”
“This is real Americans fighting back against a real threat to freedom and to our country,” he said.
Beyond hoping to lead by example and motivate their peers to advocate, many teens who attended the “No Kings” event were compelled to protest by personal experiences related to Trump’s policies.
Gabi Vasquez, 18, came out to demonstrate because she’s afraid of Trump cutting funding and programs to slow climate change. She’s also worried about mass deportations, which she said affects “everyone that we know.”
One 17-year-old said his father chose not to attend the rally out of fear of being targeted by ICE.
“I’m here to represent people like my dad who don’t have the same privilege as me, to speak up for those who can’t,” the youth said.
Ontiveros said teen participation in protests are important. She referred to the poem “First They Came” by Pastor Martin Niemöller, about those who stayed silent during the Nazi regime and drew a parallel to the current youth response to government policies.
“If we don’t stand up now, then when the government comes to take away your specific rights, there’s not going to be anybody there to stand up for you, because everybody who stood up before has already been picked up one by one,” Ontiveros said. “So if young people want to have a truly free future, they need to fight for it now.”
A desire to preserve and maintain that freedom is what many of the young protesters said brought them out to the San Jose demonstration.
“We need to build the world that we want,” Goldstein said. “We have that opportunity because we’re still young.”
