I may be one of the few teenagers/adults/humans to say that teenagers should voice their opinions on politics.

During the course of this election, I have seen so many articles/posts/Tweets encouraging students and young adults to shut their mouths about political issues on social media and I think that’s wrong. I encourage students to take a stand, make decisions, and argue about issues. People may think I’m crazy, but I think it’s important, but here’s the catch: education.

I am all for voicing your opinions, but unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of informative and intelligent conversations/debates. I’ve seen students screaming misheard information to combat someone else who is taking a quote out of context. It’s a perfect example of naive, uneducated comments said in a rude, attacking tone. In that case, it’s more harm than foul.

When you voice your opinions on social media, be especially sure to at least be somewhat informed on what you’re trying to preach. In the ideal world, you would be educated on both sides of the issue. Just like every English teacher has taught you, the best arguments are the ones that understand both the argument and the counter-argument; those are the ones that really convince people.

On the large platform provided by social media, students need to be aware of their words, even if they are only 140 characters. Twitter is a public place for impressionable the youth of America. Your words have more impact than you think. That is a double-edged sword. If you show your ignorance as you attack someone on social media for their opinion, you will not only damage your image, but you also give a bad name to the candidate in which you support. Everyone on social media will judge you, because they only have a short glimpse of your character based on your Tweets.

Also, don’t get offended when you receive backlash, good and bad. You only have 140 characters, a couple sentences, to convey a whole political message, so don’t surprised when people ask questions and refute your stance. You won’t be able to encompass all of your political views into one Tweet. That is just another reason to be educated on your topic, so you don’t have to resort to harsh words when someone calls you out.

There are many negatives to social media, but I believe social media can also be a platform for positive, constructive conversations. If your opinions reveal an understanding and informed teenager, you have the chance to bring about new ideas and influence the voters of the future, no matter the age. There’s another perk; you get to prove to the other generations that millennials are informed and can use technology for the betterment of society.

If you are wanting to give a political opinion, test your knowledge. Could you make a 10 minute video of you talking about the issue? Would you put your face to your opinion? If you can’t write at least a paragraph about the topic and then condense it to 140 non-aggressive characters, you probably should research instead of rant.