Publications
FAQ
Workshops
YFEP Voices For Free Speech
Organizations that Defend Youth Rights
Youth Media/Arts Projects
Online Communities and Campaigns
Publications
- The First Amendment in Schools
- Book Censorship Toolkit
- Kids’ Right to Read Project report
- Abstinence Only Education
Workshops
A workshop for university students, faculty and staff
Censorship, Free Speech, and Student Rights
A workshop for high school students and teachers
Download a PDF of the workshop agenda
During the week of January 12-15, 2009, Sarai Trinidad, a student at MiamiCarol CitySenior High School, organized a Censorship Awareness Week. Click here to see the First Amendment workshop Sarai planned and conducted for her fellow students.
Related:
Read about YFEN at the 2007 Grassroots Media Conference.
Organizations that Defend Youth Rights
Advocates for Youth, www.advocatesforyouth.org, is “dedicated to creating programs and advocating for policies that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. Advocates provides information, training, and strategic assistance to youth-serving organizations, policy makers, youth activists, and the media in the United States and the developing world.”
The Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Schools,www.firstamendmentschools.org, “is a national initiative designed to transform how schools model and teach the rights and responsibilities of citizenship that frame civic life in our democracy.”
Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, www.GLSEN.org, is “the leading national organization fighting to end anti-gay bias in K-12 schools. It combats the harassment and discrimination leveled against students and school personnel by creating learning environments that affirm the inherent dignity of all students, and, in so doing, teaches students to respect and accept all of their classmates– regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.”
Student Press Law Center, www.splc.org, “the nation’s only legal assistance agency devoted exclusively to educating high school and college journalists about the rights and responsibilities embodied in the First Amendment and supporting the student news media in their struggle to cover important issues free from censorship.”
NYC Student Union, nycstudents.org, “acts as a powerful, collective voice for New York City students that can defend the rights youths are so often deprived of due to lack of organization.”
The NYCLU Teen Health Initiative, www.nyclu.org/thi, was founded to help New York State kids and teens obtain vital information about their rights to healthcare, including comprehensive reproductive healthcare.
Young People For (YP4), part of People for the American Way , www.youngpeoplefor.org, is “an intergenerational and diverse network of student leaders, activists and young elected officials dedicated to building youth progressive power in America. Young People For is committed to protecting and promoting our nation’s core values by identifying, engaging and empowering young leaders and activists and equipping them to work toward positive social change in their communities and across the nation.”
Youth Media/Arts Projects
Art Start, www.art-start.org, “values and nurtures the voices, hearts, and minds of under-served children and teenagers in New York City and helps them transform their lives through the creative process.”
Blunt/Youth Radio Project, www.bluntradio.org, produces a weekly call-in public affairs radio show for teens every Monday night from 7:30 to 8:30 on WMPG, Portland, Maine’s community radio station.
Downtown Community Television Center, www.dctvny.org, “believes that expanding public access to the electronic media arts invigorates our democracy. For the past thirty years we have pursued our grass-roots mission to teach people, particularly members of low-income and minority communities, to produce insightful and artistic television.”
Educational Video Center, www.evc.org, is a not-for-profit media arts center that teaches documentary video production and media analysis to youth, educators, and community organizers in New York City.
Foster Care Youth United, www.youthcomm.org, “is the only bi-monthly magazine written by and for young people in foster care. FCYU is designed to give a voice to young people living in the system by providing a forum for an open exchange of views and experiences by those most impacted by foster care.”
Harlem Live, www.harlemlive.org, is an Internet publication written, created, presented, and represented by teens in Harlem and throughout New York City. Its core purpose is “to empower youth of color to be productive, creative and thoughtful leaders who will be responsible caretakers of our future.”
LA Youth: Youth News Service, https://www.facebook.com/layouthnewspaper/, is a county-wide, teen-written publication with a readership of 300,000 youth and adults that “fosters critical thinking, writing skills, literacy and civic education.” Topics include juvenile justice, homophobia, bereavement, entertainment and more.
Native Networks, www.nativenetworks.si.edu, enables Native American youth to express themselves via media.
New Youth Connections, www.youthcomm.org, contains essays and commentaries in a print newspaper written by young writers in New York City with a readership of 200,000 teens and adults.
Radio Rookies, www.wnyc.org, is “a WNYC program that trains young people to use words and sounds to tell true stories about themselves, their communities and the world. Through a series of workshops, each held in a new neighborhood, Radio Rookies gives teenagers the tools to become radio journalists.”
Screening Librally, screeningliberally.org, “brings free, advance screenings of socially conscious films and filmmakers, directors and industry insiders to lead post-screening discussions.”
SEX, Etc, www.sxetc.org, is a teen-written magazine about pregnancy, sex, love, relationships, HIV, STDs, and other issues. Sex, ETC is created by the network for Family Life Education and a teen editorial board.
Silicon Valley De-Bug, www.siliconvalleydebug.com, is a publication made by young workers, writers, and artists in Silicon Valley. “We are a platform for the unheard voices of Silicon Valley’s young and temporary.”
Street-Level Youth Media, www.streetlevel.iit.edu, “educates Chicago’s inner-city youth in media arts and emerging technologies for use in self-expression communication, and social change.”
Teen Voices of Boston and San Francisco, www.teenvoices.com, “challenges the mainstream media’s image of girls by providing an intelligent alternative packed with original writing, poetry and artwork. We encourage our readers to write articles on self-esteem, racism, sexism, feminism, popular culture, health, and other issues important to them.”
Urban Youth International Journalism Program, www.wethepeoplemedia.org, “broadens the intellectual, educational and career horizons of youths who live in public housing and other low-income neighborhoods in Chicago by training them to communicate their perspectives and priorities in print news and feature articles.”
WireTap, www.wiretapmag.org, is the San Fracisco-based “independent information source by and for socially conscious youth. We showcase investigative news articles, personal essays and opinions, artwork and activism resources that challenge stereotypes, inspire creativity, foster dialogue and give young people a voice in the media.”
YELL – Oh Girls!, www.yellohgirls.com, “advocates creative self-expression as a form of empowerment among girls who are of Asian descent.”
Youth Channel, www.youthchannel.org, is a New York City “alternative to mass media created to provide equal access to all young people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or social status. The Youth Channel is governed and programmed by youth who want to make a difference.”
YO! (Youth Outlook), www.youthoutlook.org, “chronicles the world through the eyes and voice of young people — between the ages of 15 and 25 — in the San Francisco Bay Area. From reporting pieces on Palestinian American youth in the Bay Area to interviews with gospel hip hop bands; from photo essays by homeless youth to journal entries from temp workers in Silicon Valley, YO! offers a unique window into California’s youth subcultures.”
Youth Radio, www.youthradio.org, is “a non-profit media organization located in Berkley,CA, whose mission is promote young people’s intellectual, creative and professional growth through training and access to media.”
Online Communities and Campaigns
Global Arcade, www.globalarcade.org, allows you to “play arcade games and learn about globalization and what is happening to people around the world.”
Hip Hop Congress, www.hiphopcongress.org, is “a forum for all people to express their opinions, ideas, hopes and dreams, with the intentions of making words into actions, with the goal of changing the world into a better place.”
Living Liberally, http://cosmopolity.org/, “is an organization dedicated to providing easy entrance into progressive involvement, using social interaction to promote political action and facilitating collaboration among progressive organizations.”
Media Channel, www.MediaChannel.org, “is a nonprofit, public interest Web site dedicated to global media issues. MediaChannel offers news, reports and commentary from our international network of media-issues organizations and publications, as well as original features from contributors and staff.”
SEAC,www.seac.org, is a student and youth run national network of progressive organizations and individuals whose aim is to “uproot environmental injustices through action and education.”