Our world is no longer controlled by men, and there is no such thing as male chauvinism. Nowadays, not only women also take important roles in society, but also children and teenagers. Specifically, Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager who has now become an education activist and a symbol of courage among many.
Malala Yousafzai is a 16-year-old girl mostly known for her devastating experience with the Taliban terrorists, but has now become even more known due to her wise words and deep knowledge on educational values and the overall importance of education in one’s life.
In late 2008, the Taliban had banned television, music, girls’ education and women from going shopping. BBC officials decided that it would be an interesting idea of covering the Taliban’s growing influence in Swat by having a schoolgirl anonymously blog about her life, and that’s where Malala came in. On 2009, Malala posted her first blog on the BBC website, where she talked about her experience during the First BAttle of Swat, where military operations took place, fewer girls showed up to school, and finally schools shut down.
As Malala became more recognized and continued blogging, the dangers facing her became more acute. Death threats started being published in newspapers and sent to her house. Since this didn’t stop Malala from blogging and disagreeing with the Taliban, they decided that the only way to shut her up was by killing her.
On October 9th 2012, a Taliban gunman entered her school bus and asked who Malala was, and mentioned that if no one answered, he would kill them all. Malala spoke up, and she was hit with one bullet that went through her head, neck and shoulder. Additionally, two of her friends were also wounded during this shooting.
After this event, Malala’s story received worldwide media attention and coverage, which resulted in an outpouring of anger and led to several protests.
Malala is now an activist for rights to education and for women, especially in the Swat Valley. She has been interviewed in various talk shows around the world, has made speeches in front of the United Nations and the Junior United Nations, and has published a book about her experiences and beliefs towards women and their impact in society.
“Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism”, Malala mentioned in one of her interviews.
When asked if she was scared about the Taliban going after her again, she said that she was, but that she would try and make them realize the importance of education first.
“I started thinking about that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, ‘If he comes, what would you do Malala?’ then I would reply to myself, ‘Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.’”
Malala Yousafzai is an image of courage, strength and a fighter for women's rights and human education. She strongly believes that education is the answer for all of our problems, and that there is nothing more powerful than it.
“One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world”
By: Carolina Franco
Malala Yousafzai is a 16-year-old girl mostly known for her devastating experience with the Taliban terrorists, but has now become even more known due to her wise words and deep knowledge on educational values and the overall importance of education in one’s life.
In late 2008, the Taliban had banned television, music, girls’ education and women from going shopping. BBC officials decided that it would be an interesting idea of covering the Taliban’s growing influence in Swat by having a schoolgirl anonymously blog about her life, and that’s where Malala came in. On 2009, Malala posted her first blog on the BBC website, where she talked about her experience during the First BAttle of Swat, where military operations took place, fewer girls showed up to school, and finally schools shut down.
As Malala became more recognized and continued blogging, the dangers facing her became more acute. Death threats started being published in newspapers and sent to her house. Since this didn’t stop Malala from blogging and disagreeing with the Taliban, they decided that the only way to shut her up was by killing her.
On October 9th 2012, a Taliban gunman entered her school bus and asked who Malala was, and mentioned that if no one answered, he would kill them all. Malala spoke up, and she was hit with one bullet that went through her head, neck and shoulder. Additionally, two of her friends were also wounded during this shooting.
After this event, Malala’s story received worldwide media attention and coverage, which resulted in an outpouring of anger and led to several protests.
Malala is now an activist for rights to education and for women, especially in the Swat Valley. She has been interviewed in various talk shows around the world, has made speeches in front of the United Nations and the Junior United Nations, and has published a book about her experiences and beliefs towards women and their impact in society.
“Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism”, Malala mentioned in one of her interviews.
When asked if she was scared about the Taliban going after her again, she said that she was, but that she would try and make them realize the importance of education first.
“I started thinking about that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, ‘If he comes, what would you do Malala?’ then I would reply to myself, ‘Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.’”
Malala Yousafzai is an image of courage, strength and a fighter for women's rights and human education. She strongly believes that education is the answer for all of our problems, and that there is nothing more powerful than it.
“One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world”
By: Carolina Franco