Our kids may not have a journey as unsettling as Malala Yousafzai, but maybe her passion to stand up for what’s right could inspire them. Certainly, her affinity to use her voice and speak her mind might be a connection some of our youngsters could feel a kinship to.
Malala didn’t plan on being a blogger much less an anonymous blogger, but her situation and her safety relegated her to that role. In 2008, her home was ruled by the Taliban who refused to let girls to to school.
This Taliban threat to Malala’s right to learn spurred her to do an unthinkable, dangerous, action. Her father’s associate at the BBC asked if there was someone who would journal life under the Taliban for its Urdu website. When no one would do it, Malala volunteered and her anonymous blog was a huge success.
In her blog, she journaled about her fear of the Taliban, the loss of her school, how much she wanted to learn, and her unease about her family and friends.
Her anonymity did not continue. When she was 15, as when she was riding on a bus, a man boarded the bus asking where Malala was on the bus, and then he fired three shots, striking Malala in the head. After many surgeries, she made a full recovery.
Since the shooting, Malala’s mission has evolved:
- More than two million people in Pakistan signed a petition titled, I am Malala, for the Right to Education campaign.
- Malala has spoken to young people at the United Nations
- TIME’s most influential people of 2013
- Published an autobiography called I Am Malala,
- Started her own nonprofit fund to help girls around the world receive safe, free education
- In 2014, Malala became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize
Innocence to Influence features youths that have made an impact on society by using initiative, ingenuity, and determination. Our kids could be the next generation of influence.
