Give Feedback to Authority

An authority is someone with power, like your parents, teachers, or the governor of your state. When you were younger, maybe you automatically took what authorities told you as truth. But as you grow up, getting wiser and more aware, you realize that authorities make mistakes and sometimes abuse their power. When that happens, it’s important to speak up and make your voice heard: to give feedback to authority.

What does it look like? It could be a policy at your school that you don’t like, and your feedback could be a thoughtful letter to the principal, or a petition of students requesting a change. It could be a policy in the world that you don’t like, and your feedback could be anything from a protest to a social media campaign. Whatever it is, being able to speak to authority wisely makes you more independent, responsible, and able to change the world for the better.

Getting Started: Think of an authority – parents, teachers, school, the government, the police, the mayor, etc – who you have some feedback for. Maybe you want to add your voice to something already being discussed in the news. Or maybe there’s a particular change you want to see that other people aren’t thinking about yet. You can follow these steps to begin bringing your ideas to these authorities:

For authorities who know and like you:

Focus on your personal experience. Use “I” statements to describe how a given situation has affected you.
Avoid exaggerations. Words like “always”, “never”, “everyone” can make you seem less credible.
Suggest solutions. You’ll be taken more seriously if you are willing to suggest something to improve the situation, instead of only criticizing
Practice first. If you’re not sure you have it clearly, share what you want to say with a trusted friend for their feedback first.
Sincerity counts for a lot. An authority who likes you may be swayed by your earnest desire to make an improvement.
Show that you have an open mind. Make clear that you are open to discussion and know that you might not have the whole picture
Choose the right time. For a friendly authority, you can ask them when a good time is to share something.
Be steadfast. If the change is important, it is worth steadily pushing for even if it doesn’t happen as fast as we want.

For authorities who do not necessarily know or like you:

Strength in numbers: When presenting feedback to a potentially unfriendly authority, it pays to show that you are not alone. Build alliances with other people or groups who have similar views, and present your ideas together to show the power in your movement. All authorities at some level recognize that their power comes from other people, and can’t ignore you entirely or for long if large numbers of people are pushing for the same change.
Good Communications: To make change in this way, you have to be savvy with your communications. You might build an online group so you can communicate and recruit new members easily; or find powerful public speakers and writers to get the message out; or make compelling banners, posters or t-shirts. How well you communicate, how compelling it is to others, and how easily it invites others to your cause will make all the difference. 
Steadfast Determination: Unfriendly authorities may try to wait out the storm, hoping that you will be distracted after a while and move on to the next thing. if this change is really important to you, show them that you will keep working, will keep making things difficult for them, will keep raising this issue again and again.

For both categories, it’s important to manage your expectations and to take the long view. Change may not come immediately, and sometimes even the wisest adults can become defensive and close-minded, even if only for a time. Change that matters is worth working for over a long time if necessary. The good news is that even while you’re waiting and working on it, you are developing skills, building your ability to speak your mind thoughtfully and clearly, learning how to increase your chances of making real change.