ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes recent youth-led social movements. The ways these social movements make use of the affordances of digital platforms and social media sites are examined in the context of March for Our Lives, a national anti-gun protest movement led by young people. The purpose is to derive implications that inform the work of civics and citizenship educators. Analysis is grounded within the wider ecosystem of youth-led social movements and begins by examining the scale and temporality of this movement. The analysis suggests that a part of its effectiveness as a movement was related to the interdependence of digital affordances and youth agency. The chapter critiques the need for the movement to be both inclusive and participatory and uses resource mobilization theory to consider how digital affordances might be effectively deployed. The chapter concludes with three implications for civics and citizenship educators: the need to study how digital tools are being used and who is using them; the interdependence of online and offline activism and the requirements to educate for both; and an emphasis shift from educating young people to be active citizens to strengthening the capacity of youth activists to educate adults to be more active citizens.
