by Theresa Gamble

If your first thoughts of the Tea Party movement are old people assembling in large numbers, then you are like most people in the nation.

Would you imagine seeing teenagers there? How about ones who want to be there and are actually paying attention to the speakers? True, the initial image of someone involved in the tea party movement is “around 40 years of age, middle class, often a small business owner, some college education, of no particular political affiliation, with practically no previous political activity beyond voting.” as Tim Dake, a founding member of the Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty, put it.

Going by that definition, I guess then I would be Generation2 for the Tea Party movement. It was exciting to stand there on the lawn of the State Capital amidst the crowd of thousands. No high school diploma yet, no job, not even old enough to vote; my main opinion of the way government spending was handled was based on what I had learned during my economics class the semester before. Did I mention I had just gotten my license? I had heard about the Madison Tea Party from an underclassman at school, and I asked my dad, who knew more about it than I did, what I might expect if I went. Let’s just say, when I went I was blown away; to see how many people were excited about the economy of our country. Not only that, they are interested in turning it around so the government - on any level - isn’t spending out of control. Since then my best friend and I have been to as many Tea Parties as possible. We want to keep supporting Tea Parties because we can really get behind preserving our future.

We go to school for 12 years - 13 if you include kindergarten - and throughout that time we are constantly told to take responsibility for our actions. That to earn our own money is better than to live off someone else’s and that the government is meant to protect us, not babysit. We read and hear about “Helicopter Parents” who are shunned by their children and yet the government has taken on the roll of provider, disciplinarian and educator. What happened to the government not being parents to the citizens? Or the world is a place where you have to take care of yourself? By letting the government “take care” of you to the point where they even control your Health Care you are letting your free will be taken from you. By removing your ability to choose your own private health care provider, they are starting to take away your freedom of opinion.

The Tea Party Movement has been my first real experience with political matters - up until the 2008 election I was pretty much “as long they don’t ruin the government I’m good” Of course at the time I wasn’t that interested in politics and the going-ons of our politicians. There are more teenagers interested in the Tea Party than most people give credit. However, because the government says that we are too young to vote, we see them planning on taxing us to the point where we may as well not get paid at all. Teens - who earn their own money - are probably one of the groups most concerned because over the next several elections we hold the politician’s fates. If everyone between ages 18-27 were to register and cast their votes, after taking the time to actually listen to the issues the candidates talked of, then the government would be more inclined to listen to the people who put them in office. The Tea Party is a way to get educated about the political agenda without being targeted for a vote.