It upsets me that children can't change the world.

I was looking through scholarships, and one in particular required participants to write an essay based on their prompt: What can you do to change the world?

All sorts of stuff ran through my brain as I racked my head for ideas: I could write about how I want to become an influential diplomat, or become a famous artist. In my essay, I could be anything. I can even be a singer, even though I sing terribly and can be prone to pee in my pants from a nervous breakdown onstage.

I can lie so, so easily. So can the other participants I'm competing against.

And they will. Students these days are so unreliable and so untrustworthy that even I, as a fellow student, admit it.

But that isn't the direction I want to go in this post. What can an individual (or in this case, a mere child) really do to change the world?

For example, I was debating with my mother, father, and brother (as well as some friends) on the matter of homosexual relationships. For some reason, my entire family aren't welcome to the idea of male-male, female-female couples. Except me. And my bringing up the subject apparently caused fear in my mother that I might actually be gay as well.

What I realized from those debates were that most people aren't easily swayed in such serious issues. I can support anti-gay, anti-racist, anti-anything, but the numbers of people whose lives I can influence are so miniscule. So is it really worth the effort?

Optimists say yes; one person is better than none. Pessimists say no; you're bound to die and leave this world behind anyway.

But if I can't make my own family and friends understand, how can I change the world? It gave me a sense of helplessness that I can't shake off. I know I alone am not enough to make a big enough impact, but then again, how can I just do nothing and merely sit by the sidelines?

Then, my family brought one thing into the light -- I'm just a child. I haven't lived life long enough to know what to support and what not to support. It really stung, but it left a mark on me.

So.... what can people really do to change the world? Was my viewpoint too naive?