Youth

Shut Down Firing Ranges in US High Schools

March 28, 2018 Pat Elder, Popular Resistance Create! Guns, JROTC, Youth

The Army taught Florida gunman Nikolas Cruz how to shoot a lethal weapon in his high school cafeteria when he was 14. Nik was a member of the school’s U.S. Army JROTC Marksmanship Program. JROTC stands for the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Nearly 2,000 high schools have military shooting programs. They should be shut down. The marksmanship programs typically use CO2-powered long rifles that shoot .177 caliber lead pellets at speeds up to 600 feet per second. They are lethal weapons. America is the only country in the world that teaches riflery in its public schools. Militarism is a contributing cause of gun violence in America. These shooting programs don’t belong in schools!

Empty Shoes, Empty Schools: U.S. Gun Law Activists Begin Two Days Of Theater

March 14, 2018 Ian Simpson, Reuters.com Resist! Activists, Guns, Youth

Mauser was one of a handful of gun control activists and volunteers who braved a frigid March morning to lay out about 7,000 pairs of shoes on the U.S. Capitol lawn as a makeshift memorial to American children killed by gun violence. Their aim, like the thousands of students across the country who plan to walk out of their classrooms for 17 minutes on Wednesday morning, was to put more pressure on state and federal lawmakers to tighten rules on gun ownership. “There’s nobody in those shoes, it’s like the emptiness in our hearts from gun violence,” said Mauser, 66, of Littleton, Colorado. The memorial, organized by Avaaz, a U.S.-based civic organization, and the National School Walkout, organized by the activists behind the Women’s March in Washington, are part of a grass-roots movement that grew out of the killing of 17 students and staff at a Florida high school a month ago.

Teen Solidarity Against The Merchants Of Death

March 12, 2018 Kathy Kelly, Dissidentvoice.org Educate! Afghanistan, Solidarity, Youth

Here in Kabul, as the rising sun begins to warm our chilly rooms, I hear excited laughter from downstairs. Rosemary Morrow, a renowned Australian permaculture expert, has begun teaching thirty-five young students in a month-long course on low-resource farming. In war-torn Afghanistan, there’s a desperate need to rebuild agricultural infrastructure and help people grow their own food. People verging on despair feel encouraged by possibilities of replenishing and repairing their soil. The night before, over dinner, one of the students discussed news from his home town in Afghanistan’s Wardak province about U.S. aerial attacks. “The blasts have become so frequent,” he said, “that people can’t find spaces to bury their dead.”

Immigrant Youth Stand With Survivors Of Parkland Mass Shooting & Will Take Streets On The March For Our Lives

February 24, 2018 Sheridan Aguirre, Unitedwedream.org Resist! Immigrants, Immigration, Mass Shootings, Protests, Youth

Washington, DC – On March 24th, immigrant youth will march in solidarity with the courageous survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and students across the country who are calling on Congress to protect the lives of young people and communities by enacting stricter gun control laws. Immigrant youth will organize marches at Pompano Beach High School (Pompano Beach, FL), Woodrow Wilson High School (Washington, D.C.), and Central Washington University (Ellensburg, WA) with more to come. Camila Duarte, high school student and immigrant youth leader at United We Dream – Florida, said: “The shooting in Parkland hit home. My friend’s brother was one of the victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and I can’t express just how much this has affected our whole community.

Behind The Explosion In Socialism Among American Teens

February 23, 2018 Rebecca Stoner, Portside.org Organize! Socialism, Youth

TAMPA, FLA.—In a fluorescent lit classroom with handmade posters covering one wall, approximately 15 high school students are chanting the words of black revolutionary Assata Shakur: “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and we must support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” With some embarrassed giggling, they recite it once, twice, three times, led by their visiting speaker, Pamela Gomez of the Hillsborough Community Protection Coalition, an alliance of local progressive groups. These students are some of the 40-odd members of the Blake High School chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). The Tampa high school has 1,697 students, a majority of them black or Latino, and the YDSA chapter reflects that. The chapter also has a high concentration of LGBTQ students, the club’s biggest demographic bloc.

This Time Students Are Old Enough To Organize, Mobilize And Speak Out

February 21, 2018 Danielle Vabner, Huffingtonpost.com Resist! Mass Shootings, Student Activism, Youth, Youth Activism

Last week on Valentine’s Day, a 19-year-old gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where he had been expelled. He opened fire just outside the school, and soon began shooting students in hallways and classrooms using an AR-15. Minutes later, 17 students and staff were dead, and 15 others were injured. We are just a month and a half into 2018, and already the number of school shootings since Dec. 31 has risen into the teens. Predictably, as with every other time innocent Americans have been gunned down in schools, movie theaters, at concerts, or in places of worship, politicians took to social media to offer up “thoughts and prayers” rather than the legislative action we so desperately need. More than five years ago, my 6-year-old brother Noah was shot and killed in his first-grade classroom in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Immigrant Youth Launch Walk To Stay Home From New York To D.C.

February 19, 2018 Staff, Theseedproject.us Organize! DACA, Immigration, Undocumented, Youth

NEW YORK, NY -- On Thursday, February 15th 11 undocumented youth and allies began The Walk to Stay Home, a 15-day walk from New York City’s Battery Park to Washington D.C.’s Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. The 250-mile journey has been organized by the Seed Project with the support of the #OurDream Campaign to draw attention to the need for a clean Dream Act that not only grants permanent protection for undocumented youth but does not harm 11 million undocumented people living and working in the United States. “Everyday I wake up to read the latest news reports. Reading quotes from politicians, both attacks and promises about my existence,” said Hector Jairo Martinez, a New York DACA recipient from Brooklyn. “It is time for us, undocumented youth, to once again step out of the shadows and make a simple demand, let us stay home.”

School Walkouts, Sit-ins Planned After Florida Shooting

February 19, 2018 Staff, Apnews.com Resist! Florida, Protests, Youth, Youth Activism

The mass shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead has sparked calls for walkouts, sit-ins and other actions on school campuses across the United States aimed at pushing lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws. Organizers behind the Women’s March, an anti-Trump and female empowerment protest, called for a 17-minute walkout on March 14 to “protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods.” The Network for Public Education, an advocacy organization for public schools, meanwhile, announced a “national day of action” on April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which two students opened fire on their classmates, killing 12 students and one teacher.

Statement From DSC, AEJ And J4J On Tragedy At Stoneman Douglas High School

February 17, 2018 Staff, Dignityinschools.org Educate! Mass Shootings, Massacres, Schools, Youth

“A tragedy of this magnitude will be felt in the Parkland community long after the news cameras leave and our attention is drawn elsewhere. It is hard to fathom the pain that students, educators, and families in Parkland are feeling right now, but our communities are familiar with the trauma, pain, and difficulty of navigating the healing processes that are needed to come together after inter-communal violence shakes a community to its core. We know that prioritizing comprehensive social, emotional, and mental health supports, trauma informed care and community building practices are necessary for rebuilding the sense of safety, love, and communal care that should be the foundation of our learning environments and neighborhoods.

Air Pollution: Black, Hispanic And Poor Students Most At Risk From Toxins

February 3, 2018 Oliver Milman, Theguardian.com Educate! Air Pollution, Youth

Schoolchildren across the US are plagued by air pollution that’s linked to multiple brain-related problems, with black, Hispanic and low-income students most likely to be exposed to a fug of harmful toxins at school, scientists and educators have warned. The warnings come after widespread exposure to toxins was found in new research using EPA and census data to map out the air pollution exposure for nearly 90,000 public schools across the US. “This could well be impacting an entire generation of our society,” said Dr Sara Grineski, an academic who has authored the first national study, published in the journal Environmental Research, on air pollution and schools.

BRAZIL: 200,000 Workers And Youth Protest Lula Conviction

February 2, 2018 Staff, socialistorganizer.com Resist! Brazil, Corruption, Protests, Workers, Youth

On January 24, despite having absolutely no proof to back their charges, the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil sentenced former President Inacio “Lula” da Silva to 12 years in prison. This court is an institution inherited from the military dictatorship. The court sentence aims, among other things, to prevent Lula from running for office in the presidential election next October. The São Paulo Stock Exchange reacted immediately by breaking new records. At the same time, on January 23 and 24, an estimated 200,000 workers, activists and youth took to the streets to protest this court conviction. More than 70,000 people gathered on January 23 in Porto Alegre, where the court hearing was held, and 50,000 gathered on January 24 in Republic Square in São Paulo. The main slogan on all the banners read: “An Election Without Lula Is a Fraud!”

Disengaged By Design: Neoconservative War On Youth

January 24, 2018 By Benjamin Doxtdator, Longviewoneducation.org Educate! Education, Neocons, Youth

When I say that students are disengaged by design, I don’t have in mind the popular thesis that schools are stuck in some ‘factory model’ past, designed perhaps 150 years ago to satisfy the needs of industrialists, and since left unchanged. This kind of ‘future proofing’ imaginary about the past and future of schools is popular among neoliberal reformers in Silicon Valley & Ken Robinson. Often, the ‘real world’ of work is supposed to be more interesting and vibrant, demanding – and permitting – of creativity than schools. Of course, they have in mind only a slim sliver of jobs in the offices of places like Apple and Google, rather than the vast majority of work that increasingly alienates people.

Israeli Teens: ‘We Refuse To Enlist Out Of Commitment To Peace’

December 30, 2017 By Haggai Matar, 972mag.com Resist! Anti-War, Israel, Youth

Sixty-three Israeli teenagers have published an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday, declaring their refusal to join the Israeli army due to their opposition to the occupation. “The army carries out a racist government policy that enforces one legal system for Israelis and another for Palestinian in the same territory,” they write. “Therefore, we have decided not to take any part in the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people… for as long as people live under an occupation that denies their human rights and national rights – we cannot have peace.” The group calls itself the “2017 Seniors’ Letter,” continuing a long tradition of similar letters sent by high school seniors announcing their refusal to join the army, dating back to 1970 (the writer of this text was a signatory of the 2001 letter). Members of the group have stated they are willing to be imprisoned for their conscientious objection

Small Class Size – Reform We’re Too Cheap To Try

October 1, 2017 Steven Singer, www.gadflyonthewallblog.com Create! Education, Poverty, Teachers, Youth

By Steven Singer for Gadfly on the Wall. We’re one of the richest countries in the world, yet we treat our own children – especially if they’re poor and brown – as if they were refugees from the third world. Well, perhaps marginally better. To my knowledge no one is suggesting we send the unwashed masses back to Africa, Europe or wherever else they originally came from – at least those who can prove they were born here. But we certainly aren’t bothering ourselves too much about taking care of them. What would that look like? Nothing all that radical. Imagine a classroom where students have the space to be individuals and not nameless cogs in the system.

Teachers Should Not Do These When Educating Native Youth

September 25, 2017 Sarah Sunshine Manning, www.indiancountrymedianetwork.com Educate! Education, Native Peoples, Youth

By Sarah Sunshine Manning for Indian Country Today - American Indian and Alaska Native students remain a very special and uniquely vulnerable population, often suffering from educational experiences that either fail to serve them adequately or that cause them to feel alienated, invisible, or unsupported. Teachers who serve Native youth must be cognizant of the unique needs of indigenous students, and their communities. Teachers who serve Native youth must also be willing to examine their preconceived notions of Native Americans, and then make the necessary adjustments in order to give Native youth a meaningful education that they deserve and need. To best serve Native youth, here are some more important dos and don’ts for educators: 1. DON’T ever overlook students’ indigenous identity, or attempt to see them through a “colorblind” lens Native Americans have suffered centuries of forced assimilation and marginalization. Do not maintain the erasure of Indigenous Peoples by failing to acknowledge the unique identity of your indigenous students. Attempting to see them through a colorblind lens actually causes harm, as important parts of their identity are being ignored.

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