(Publisher’s Note: A hearty welcome to the newest member of our Patriot Grassroots Perspective team! As a high school student, Paige excels in research and debate. She represents the youngest member of our crew and offers fresh insights on the challenges of being a young Patriot among peers who are increasingly influenced by the Left.)

As a 16-year-old student, I know the perils created by a growing number of brainwashed teens who have been greatly influenced by leftist narratives on social media. As my generation is growing up with more access to information than any previous generation, the fact is, conservative perspective is being crowded or censored out of that information. Our favorite celebrities are telling us to vote blue, our favorite singers and songwriters are expressing their hate for America, and the people we looked up to are bashing the president.

The celebrities who do stand up to support the president are shamed and bashed and called “delusional.” What are we supposed to think? Most of us have not been taught to research for ourselves or to be proactive in doing our own fact-checking of the headlines we see on Snapchat and Instagram, so how are we supposed to form our own ideas?

The silent majority among us must stand up against this form of mind/opinion control in order to educate young people on the facts and our nation’s history. The young people in America are the future of our nation. We cannot afford to stay out of politics anymore. Educate yourself on political views, get involved in schools, or speak wisdom into a young person’s life. Our education needs to be a priority again so that the next generation can rise up to honor and defend the United States of America. It is crucial that young people are involved in hard conversations, challenged in our beliefs, and pushed out of our comfort zone in order to fully establish and defend our beliefs. We don’t need to be told what to do; we need to be told why to do it.

I am extremely grateful for the involvement and engagement of my parents in my life. They have not left me out of political dialogue or chosen not to educate me on current issues just because I am too young to vote. They have challenged my beliefs and pushed me to do my own research to find the truth for myself.

If, as a parent, you have chosen not to engage in politics and have not educated the young people in your family about the importance of understanding the history of the United States, start now. Exercise your right to free speech and explain to them why it’s a blessing to be able to do so. Because we are the future of this country, and something must be done to stop the brainwashing exclusively through leftist media.