OPINION

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States of America on January 20^th, there has been much opposition to the executive orders Trump has signed in his first days in office. Donald Trump has quickly tried to make many changes in our government and our country. Whether it be the Muslim travel ban, the Mexican border wall, trying to repeal Obamacare, the appointment of cabinet members such as Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education or Steve Bannon, White House Chief Strategist, for the National Security Council, and many more. However, people are not just standing idly by. Americans have protested and marched in the streets all over the country trying to make their voices heard.

You don’t have to be a registered voter to protest–many teenagers and children go to marches too. But sometimes it may seem that your voice won’t be heard if you aren’t a voter. If you want to try to make a difference and be able to share your opinions, there are some websites that give you information about how you can contact your government.

• If you want to contact your senators and representatives over the phone, 5 Calls (https://5calls.org/ , a Liberal leaning site) is a website that provides you with phone numbers and scripts. There are scripts for a variety of government actions so you have many options and can choose what is most important to you. Also, by having an outline of what to say, it can be easier for you to get your message across. It also tracks your location, which allows you to get in touch with your local representatives so your calls can have a bigger impact.
• Write to Congress (https://www.writetocongress.org/#/?_k=j7ycol , a Liberal leaning site) gives you a draft of letters to mail to your senators and representatives. All you have to do is put in your address. Then you have a list of issues to choose from, ranging from cabinet nominations to the Affordable Care Act to women’s rights, and you can choose from elected officials from the state and federal levels and even Donald Trump himself. The site will then give you an outline of a letter to mail that you can then edit, print out, and mail to Congress.

Most of the information on these sites is directed at opposing certain proposed actions. However, you do not have to agree with the issues. If you have a different opinion on the problems, such as supporting instead of opposing, you can tell your perspective also. You can use the information these websites give you to call your senators and representatives and tell your views. Every voice deserves to be heard and we need more people to stand up for what they believe in. Sharing your viewpoint on Facebook or venting on Twitter may not make an impact, but calling and writing to Congress can.