Throughout this country’s history, college students have been behind some of the most impactful protests.

The May 4, 1970, protest at Kent State University, which left four dead, is the most memorable example of a student-led protest. More recently, students have held Occupy Wall Street protests against economic inequality, Black Lives Matter rallies, and most recently, pro-Palestine gatherings.

While looking into these major events, however, we were shocked to find nothing about AACC students staging protests on or near campus—about anything.

Are we apathetic?

The editorial staff at Campus Current is worried that apathy—showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm or concern—is going to be the main word that describes our generation.

It feels like the days of going out of our way to make our voices heard are behind us. You are more likely to see students post infographics to their Instagram stories than to shout about the problem in person.

We feel that performative activism—activism done to increase one’s social capital—has become the only type of activism people our age actually do. We haven’t been known to disrupt the status quo the way the students of the 1970s did.

We acknowledge that things have changed in our society in the last 50 years that might keep students feeling hesitant to speak out. Most things we do end up online, and they never go away. So an opinion you have been vocal about online might influence a manager to pick someone else for a position instead of you.

However, during this unprecedented time in our country’s history, we want to remind students that we do have the power to enact change in the world around us. We need to do something more than pointing out the issues on TikTok, and then going about the rest of our day.

It doesn’t have to involve a full-blown protest alongside 100 other people, however.

We can look to classic types of protesting, like sit-ins and walk-outs, to help us show older and younger generations that we are willing to disrupt the norm to bring about change in our society. But  more subtle protests can be just as impactful.

For example, we at Campus Current have been protesting by changing where we choose to spend our money.

Some of us canceled our Washington Post subscriptions once owner Jeff Bezos canceled a planned Post editorial endorsing presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Others are boycotting specific companies like Johnson & Johnson, Jimmy John’s and Airbnb if they donated money to candidates we don’t endorse.

Remember, our generation controls the present and the future now more than ever.  Let’s start acting like it.