We’re giving over an entire issue of Ideas this fall to young people’s voices and stories. You’re the expert on your own life, right? What’s on your mind and in your heart? What brings you joy, gives you hope, makes you roll your eyes, causes you worry? What do you wish you could tell the grown-ups in your life, if only they’d listen?
The floor is yours.
Share your aspirations, your concerns, or your secrets. Tell us what matters most to you. How do you feel about your mental health, your school, social media, your friends, your pressures, or your future? What would you change about your life if you could? What would you change about the world?
Or maybe you want to tell us what stories you wish you could find in the newspaper that would speak more directly to your experience. What do the adults in your life get right about you, and what do they just get totally wrong? This is your chance to set the record straight.
Submissions can be of any length up to 700 words. If writing isn’t your thing but you’d like to add your voice, a short note or video telling us what’s on your mind works, too. So does a graphic narrative or illustrated work.
Send us, at ideas@globe.com, an email including your submission, your age, and where you live under the subject line TEENS SPEAK by July 14. If we plan to use your submission, we’ll be in touch.
(No well-meaning adults, please. And no ChatGPT, either!)
We can’t wait to hear from you.
—The Ideas editors