Being wicked smart clearly runs in the family .
In the decade they were together,Ben AffleckandJennifer Garnerwelcomed three children: Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel.
With the exception of a few anecdotes every now and then, Ben and Jen are pretty private when it comes to their kids’ lives. But now, with the trio all in their teens, we’re beginning to learn more about their interests and aspirations.
Last summer, Violet started atYale University, and now, the 19-year-old is using her voice to raise concerns for public health. Despite being very private, the eldest of the Affleck children has previously discussed public health issues, particularly relating to COVID-19. Taking part in aLos Angeles County Board of Supervisorsmeeting in July last year, she opened up about how her life was impacted by a post-viral condition she contracted in 2019.
Violet Affleck hold it down at the LA County Board of Supervisors demanding mask availability , masque mandates in hospitals , and clean air in all government buildings including slammer and custody centers . Go Violet ! 😷 🍉 pic.twitter.com/B8PN3jl5F6
So, as part of her studies at Yale’s Davenport College, Violet published an academic research paper in the university’sGlobal Health Reviewon May 18. In the essay, titled “A Chronically Ill Earth: COVID Organizing as a Model Climate Response in Los Angeles,” Violet recounts her personal experience living through theLA wildfiresthat caused devastation across the Pacific Palisades in January. She compares the similarities between the response to the wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing that she and her mom, Jennifer, found themselves at odds over their conflicting reactions to the blaze.
“I spent the January fires in Los Angeles arguing with my mother in a hotel room. She was shell-shocked, astonished at the scale of destruction in the neighborhood where she raised myself and my siblings,” Violet begins, recalling that she was “surprised” by her mom’s surprise. “As a lifelong Angelena and climate-literate member of generation Z, my question had not beenwhetherthe Palisades would burn butwhen.”
Violet also mentions her 13-year-old brother,Sam, who she says was equally confused by the fires. “The crisis was acute, a burst of bad luck. It had come from a combination of high winds and low rains,” she writes. “What, my little brother asked, did globalwarminghave to do with the speed of thewind?… Hopefully, most of us understand the climate crisis better than my little brother – we know, for instance, that it’s existential and accelerating, meaning the danger to places like LA will only increase as the planet heats.”
The essay is lengthy, but it’s definitelyworth reading. She concludes by examining how we can avoid future public health crises. “In the same way that COVID-conscious and disabled people celebrate each chain of transmission broken, climate scientists recognize that each degree of warming we avoid will be a victory,” Violet writes. “It’s time for everyone who cares about the latter to engage with the people, the methods, and the political commitments that make the former possible.”
Well , it ’s hardly surprising that the tiddler of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner is this smart — sinful smart , if you will . you’re able to notice Violet’sfull essay here .
