The youth of America are being labeled the most lazy, rude and selfish generation yet.

I understand. Our technologically advanced society has some of us playing with our cell phones, listening to iPods and counting down the days until we don’t have to go to school ever again. I wander my school’s halls and listen to people who care mostly about who made out with whom last weekend or who is wearing the same shirt for the second time in a week.

In a culture where the tabloids care more about Tiger Woods’ latest slip-up than the tragedies and genocides in Uganda and Darfur, where summer fashion is more important than serving at a food kitchen, the youth have become immune to the cries of people who urgently need help.

We, the youth, are going to be the next presidents, the next members of Congress and the next activists; we need to start getting our priorities in order. We need to start helping people. The time for clearing youth’s disgraceful name is fading.

A few weeks ago, my school was lucky enough to be visited by Invisible Children, an organization that spreads awareness of the atrocities happening in Uganda. Specifically, we heard about the atrocities committed against a young boy named Jacob.

In an hourlong video, we learned of the Lord’s Resistance Army (also known as the LRA), an army that, in the middle of the night, rounds up small children to be taken and raised as child soldiers. Even today, I am haunted by stories of young boys throwing babies into rivers, of children being injected with drugs so that they wouldn’t remember anything, and of children being forced to kill their own families.

To think that most of my school didn’t know about this, and that our Congress isn’t insisting we do something, is distressing.

After the Invisible Children video, many kids began advocating for the Invisible Children. T-shirts and posters became a common sight in our hallways; teachers began to talk about Uganda in their classes. This is fantastic.

As teenagers, we are able to bring attention to many topics. A few weeks ago, a group of us decided to carry out a walk to raise awareness of children who live in developing countries and have no shoes. They run around barefoot in blistering heat and over all kinds of terrain. So, to grasp an appreciation of the hardships endured by these children, some 30 kids walked about one mile to a park, barefoot, waving signs and hopefully raising awareness among everyone.

That day, it rained, snowed, hailed and was incredibly windy. I found it eye-opening as to what those poor children have to go through every day, regardless of the weather. A lot of people stopped and asked us about our trek. Through this very simple task, we opened a lot of eyes to the pain that some kids have to go through.

But risking the health of one’s feet isn’t the only way that teenagers can help. We can volunteer. We can volunteer at food banks, homeless shelters and soup kitchens. We can volunteer at the hospital, at a nursing home or at an animal shelter. We can volunteer at the library by teaching younger kids to read. There are so many different ways that teenagers can help – and that younger kids can help, too.

Edward Everett Hale once said, “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.”

Yes, we’re just kids. Yes, we might be considered insignificant and rude, but we can do something. If we don’t do something to help the Ugandans, if we don’t do something to help our society, our generation will disappear just like a handprint on a frosty windowpane.

Our childhood is slipping away. Soon we will have to rely on another generation to get people to understand. We, the generation of iPods and texting, need to redeem our name, prove that we aren’t just involved with ourselves. Our time is now.