Youth rights
Encyclopedia
Youth rights refers to a set of philosophies intended to enhance civil rights
for young people. They are a response to the oppression
of young people, with advocates challenging ephebiphobia
, adultism
and ageism
through youth participation
, youth/adult partnerships, and promoting, ultimately, intergenerational equity
.
and intergenerational equity
. Tracing its roots to youth activists
during the Great Depression
, youth rights has influenced the civil rights movement
, opposition to the Vietnam War
, and many other movements. Since the advent of the Internet
youth rights is gaining predominance again.
, adultism
and ageism
in general, as well as fears of children and youth
.
Youth rights advocates believe those perceptions inform laws throughout society, including voting age
, child labor laws, right-to-work laws, curfews, drinking/smoking age, age of consent
, driving age, youth suffrage
, emancipation of minors
, minors and abortion, closed adoption
, corporal punishment
, the age of majority
, and military conscription
.
There are specific sets of issues addressing the rights of youth in schools, including zero tolerance
, "gulag schools", In loco parentis
, and student rights
in general. Homeschooling
, unschooling
, and alternative school
s are popular youth rights issues.
A long-standing effort within the youth rights movements has focused on civic engagement
. There have been a number of historical campaigns to increase youth voting rights by lowering the voting age
and the age of candidacy
. There are also efforts to get young people elected to prominent positions in local communities, including as members of city council
s and as mayors. For example, in the 2011 Raleigh mayoral election 17-year-old Seth Keel launched a campaign for Mayor despite the age requirement of 21.
Strategies for gaining youth rights that are frequently utilized by their advocates include developing youth programs and organizations that promote youth activism
, youth participation
, youth empowerment
, youth voice
, youth/adult partnerships and intergenerational equity
between young people and adults.
and for the civil rights
of young people – those "under the age of majority", which is 18 in most countries. It is ostensibly an effort to combat pedophobia and ephebiphobia
throughout society by promoting youth voice
, youth empowerment
and ultimately, intergenerational equity
through youth/adult partnerships.
Advocates of youth rights distinguish their movement from the children's rights
movement, which they argue advocates changes that are often restrictive towards children and youth, and which they accuse of paternalism
, pedophobia, and adultism
. They point out distinctions between 1970s youth liberation literature and child rights literature from groups such as the Children's Defense Fund
.
(IYR) is a student-run youth rights organization in China, with regional chapters across the country and abroad. Its aim is to make voices of youth be heard across the world and give opportunities for youths to carry out their own creative solutions to world issues in real life.
The European Youth Forum works in the fields of youth policy and youth work development. It focuses its work on European youth policy matters, whilst through engagement on the global level it is enhancing the capacities of its members and promoting global interdependence. In its daily work the European Youth Forum represents the views and opinions of youth organisations in all relevant policy areas and promotes the cross-sectoral nature of youth policy towards a variety of institutional actors. The principles of equality and sustainable development are mainstreamed in the work of the European Youth Forum.
Other International youth rights organizations include Article 12 in Scotland
and K.R.A.T.Z.A. in Germany. Youth for Human Rights International is an organization formed in 2001. In support of the United Nations
Decade for Human Rights Education from 1995 to 2004, Youth for Human Rights International's first project was to launch a Europe-wide essay writing contest for youth between the ages of eight and eighteen, in coordination with Friends of the United Nations.
is the primary youth rights organization for the youths in the United States, with local chapters across the country and constant media exposure. The organization known as Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions
is also an important organization. The Freechild Project has gained a reputation for interjecting youth rights issues into organizations historically focused on youth development and youth service
through their consulting and training activities. The Global Youth Action Network
engages young people around the world in advocating for youth rights, and Peacefire
provides technology
-specific support for youth rights activists.
Choose Responsibility
and their successor organization, the Amethyst Initiative
, founded by Dr. John McCardell, Jr.
, exist to promote the discussion of the drinking age, specifically. Choose Responsibility focuses on promoting a legal drinking age of 18, but includes provisions such as education and licensing. The Amethyst Initiative, a collaboration of college presidents and other educators, focuses on discussion and examination of the drinking age, with specific attention paid to the culture of alcohol as it exists on college campuses and the negative impact of the drinking age on alcohol education and responsible drinking.
, Richard Farson
, Paul Goodman
and Neil Postman
were regarded authors that spoke out about youth rights throughout society, including education, government, social services and popular citizenship.
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
has become a vocal youth rights proponent, making regular appearances on television and in newspapers. Mike A. Males
is a prominent sociologist and researcher who has published several books regarding the rights of young people across the United States. Robert Epstein
is another prominent author who has called for greater rights and responsibilities for youth. Several organizational leaders, including Sarah Fitz-Claridge of Taking Children Seriously
, Bennett Haselton
of Peacefire
and Adam Fletcher (activist)
of The Freechild Project conduct local, national, and international outreach for youth and adults regarding youth rights.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
for young people. They are a response to the oppression
Oppression
Oppression is the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. It can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing, the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, and...
of young people, with advocates challenging ephebiphobia
Ephebiphobia
The fear of youth is called ephebiphobia. First coined as the "fear and loathing of teenagers," today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world...
, adultism
Adultism
Adultism has been defined as "the power adults have over children". More narrowly, 'adultism is prejudice and accompanying systematic discrimination against young people'...
and ageism
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
through youth participation
Youth participation
Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their communities. It is often used as a short-hand for youth participation in any many forms, including decision-making, sports, schools and any activity where young people are not historically engaged.-Coinage:Youth...
, youth/adult partnerships, and promoting, ultimately, intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the concept or idea of fairness or justice in relationships between children, youth, adults and seniors, particularly in terms of treatment and interactions. It has been studied in environmental and sociological...
.
History
First emerging as a distinct movement in the 1930s, youth rights have long been concerned with civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the concept or idea of fairness or justice in relationships between children, youth, adults and seniors, particularly in terms of treatment and interactions. It has been studied in environmental and sociological...
. Tracing its roots to youth activists
Youth activism
Youth activism is when the youth voice is engaged in community organizing for social change. Around the world, young people are engaged in activism as planners, researchers, teachers, evaluators, social workers, decision-makers, advocates and leading actors in the environmental movement, social...
during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, youth rights has influenced the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
, opposition to the Vietnam War
Opposition to the Vietnam War
The movement against US involvment in the in Vietnam War began in the United States with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace. Peace movements consisted largely of...
, and many other movements. Since the advent of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
youth rights is gaining predominance again.
Key issues
Of primary importance to youth rights advocates are historical perceptions of young people, which they say are informed by paternalismPaternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
, adultism
Adultism
Adultism has been defined as "the power adults have over children". More narrowly, 'adultism is prejudice and accompanying systematic discrimination against young people'...
and ageism
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
in general, as well as fears of children and youth
Ephebiphobia
The fear of youth is called ephebiphobia. First coined as the "fear and loathing of teenagers," today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world...
.
Youth rights advocates believe those perceptions inform laws throughout society, including voting age
Voting age
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election.The vast majority of countries in the world have established a voting age. Most governments consider that those of any age lower than the chosen threshold lack the necessary...
, child labor laws, right-to-work laws, curfews, drinking/smoking age, age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
, driving age, youth suffrage
Youth suffrage
Youth suffrage, or children's suffrage, is the right to vote for young people and forms part of the broader youth rights movement. Until recently Iran had a voting age of 15; Austria, Brazil, Cuba and Nicaragua have a voting age of 16; and Indonesia, East Timor, Sudan, and Seychelles have a voting...
, emancipation of minors
Emancipation of minors
An emancipated minor is a minor who is allowed to conduct a business or any other occupation on their own behalf or for their own account outside the influence of a parent or guardian. The minor will then have full contractual capacity to conclude contract with regard to the business. Whether...
, minors and abortion, closed adoption
Closed adoption
Closed adoption is the process by where an infant is adopted by another family, and the record of the biological parent is kept sealed...
, corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
, the age of majority
Age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of...
, and military conscription
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
.
There are specific sets of issues addressing the rights of youth in schools, including zero tolerance
Zero tolerance (schools)
A zero-tolerance policy in schools is a policy of punishing any infraction of a rule, regardless of accidental mistakes, ignorance, or extenuating circumstances. In schools, common zero-tolerance policies concern possession or use of drugs or weapons...
, "gulag schools", In loco parentis
In loco parentis
The term in loco parentis, Latin for "in the place of a parent"" refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent...
, and student rights
Student rights
Student rights are those rights which protect students, here meaning those persons attending schools, universities and other educational institutions...
in general. Homeschooling
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
, unschooling
Unschooling
Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum....
, and alternative school
Alternative school
Alternative school is the name used in some parts of the world to describe an institution which provides part of alternative education. It is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional...
s are popular youth rights issues.
A long-standing effort within the youth rights movements has focused on civic engagement
Civic engagement
Civic engagement or civic participation has been defined as "Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern."-Forms:...
. There have been a number of historical campaigns to increase youth voting rights by lowering the voting age
Voting age
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election.The vast majority of countries in the world have established a voting age. Most governments consider that those of any age lower than the chosen threshold lack the necessary...
and the age of candidacy
Age of candidacy
Age of candidacy is the minimum age at which a person can legally qualify to hold certain elected government offices. In many cases, it also determines the age at which a person may be eligible to stand for an election or be granted ballot access....
. There are also efforts to get young people elected to prominent positions in local communities, including as members of city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
s and as mayors. For example, in the 2011 Raleigh mayoral election 17-year-old Seth Keel launched a campaign for Mayor despite the age requirement of 21.
Strategies for gaining youth rights that are frequently utilized by their advocates include developing youth programs and organizations that promote youth activism
Youth activism
Youth activism is when the youth voice is engaged in community organizing for social change. Around the world, young people are engaged in activism as planners, researchers, teachers, evaluators, social workers, decision-makers, advocates and leading actors in the environmental movement, social...
, youth participation
Youth participation
Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their communities. It is often used as a short-hand for youth participation in any many forms, including decision-making, sports, schools and any activity where young people are not historically engaged.-Coinage:Youth...
, youth empowerment
Youth empowerment
Youth empowerment is an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults....
, youth voice
Youth voice
Youth voice refers to the distinct ideas, opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and actions of young people as a collective body. The term youth voice often groups together a diversity of perspectives and experiences, regardless of backgrounds, identities, and cultural differences...
, youth/adult partnerships and intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the concept or idea of fairness or justice in relationships between children, youth, adults and seniors, particularly in terms of treatment and interactions. It has been studied in environmental and sociological...
between young people and adults.
Movement
The "youth rights movement", also described as "youth liberation", is a nascent grass-roots movement whose aim is to fight against ageismAgeism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
and for the civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
of young people – those "under the age of majority", which is 18 in most countries. It is ostensibly an effort to combat pedophobia and ephebiphobia
Ephebiphobia
The fear of youth is called ephebiphobia. First coined as the "fear and loathing of teenagers," today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world...
throughout society by promoting youth voice
Youth voice
Youth voice refers to the distinct ideas, opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and actions of young people as a collective body. The term youth voice often groups together a diversity of perspectives and experiences, regardless of backgrounds, identities, and cultural differences...
, youth empowerment
Youth empowerment
Youth empowerment is an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults....
and ultimately, intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the concept or idea of fairness or justice in relationships between children, youth, adults and seniors, particularly in terms of treatment and interactions. It has been studied in environmental and sociological...
through youth/adult partnerships.
Advocates of youth rights distinguish their movement from the children's rights
Children's rights
Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
movement, which they argue advocates changes that are often restrictive towards children and youth, and which they accuse of paternalism
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
, pedophobia, and adultism
Adultism
Adultism has been defined as "the power adults have over children". More narrowly, 'adultism is prejudice and accompanying systematic discrimination against young people'...
. They point out distinctions between 1970s youth liberation literature and child rights literature from groups such as the Children's Defense Fund
Children's Defense Fund
The Children's Defense Fund is an American child advocacy and research group, founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman. Its motto Leave No Child Behind reflects its mission to advocate on behalf of children...
.
Organizations in China
International Youth RightsInternational Youth Rights
International Youth Rights , is the first student-run, non-profit, non-political, international movement/organization, founded in 2009 by Mr. Mike Son to make voices of youth ring loud and clear across the world...
(IYR) is a student-run youth rights organization in China, with regional chapters across the country and abroad. Its aim is to make voices of youth be heard across the world and give opportunities for youths to carry out their own creative solutions to world issues in real life.
Organizations in Europe
The European Youth Forum (YFJ, from Youth Forum Jeunesse) is the platform of the National Youth Council and International Non-Governamental Youth Organisations in Europe. It strives for youth rights in International Institutions such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.The European Youth Forum works in the fields of youth policy and youth work development. It focuses its work on European youth policy matters, whilst through engagement on the global level it is enhancing the capacities of its members and promoting global interdependence. In its daily work the European Youth Forum represents the views and opinions of youth organisations in all relevant policy areas and promotes the cross-sectoral nature of youth policy towards a variety of institutional actors. The principles of equality and sustainable development are mainstreamed in the work of the European Youth Forum.
Other International youth rights organizations include Article 12 in Scotland
Article 12 in Scotland
Article 12 in Scotland is an independent, young person led, NGO that works to promote youth rights as set out in international human rights charters through the medium of peer education....
and K.R.A.T.Z.A. in Germany. Youth for Human Rights International is an organization formed in 2001. In support of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Decade for Human Rights Education from 1995 to 2004, Youth for Human Rights International's first project was to launch a Europe-wide essay writing contest for youth between the ages of eight and eighteen, in coordination with Friends of the United Nations.
Organizations in the United States
The National Youth Rights AssociationNational Youth Rights Association
The National Youth Rights Association is the largest youth-led civil rights organization in the United States promoting youth rights, with approximately ten thousand members...
is the primary youth rights organization for the youths in the United States, with local chapters across the country and constant media exposure. The organization known as Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions
Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions
Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions, also known as ASFAR Youth Liberation, is an organization dedicated to increasing the rights of youth under American law...
is also an important organization. The Freechild Project has gained a reputation for interjecting youth rights issues into organizations historically focused on youth development and youth service
Youth service
Youth service refers to non-military, intensive engagement of young people in organized activity that contributes to the local, national, or world community. Youth service is widely recognized and valued by society, with minimal or no compensation to the server. Youth service also provides...
through their consulting and training activities. The Global Youth Action Network
Global Youth Action Network
The Global Youth Action Network is an international network of youth NGOs spanning 180 countries, and headquartered in New York, near the United Nations. GYAN is a youth-led not for profit organization that incubates global partnerships and increases youth participation in decision-making...
engages young people around the world in advocating for youth rights, and Peacefire
Peacefire
Peacefire is a U.S.-based website, with a registered address in Bellevue, Washington, dedicated to "preserving First Amendment rights for Internet users, particularly those younger than 18". It was founded in August 1996 by Bennett Haselton, who still runs it...
provides technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
-specific support for youth rights activists.
Choose Responsibility
Choose Responsibility
Choose Responsibility is a non-profit organization in the United States that promotes public awareness of the dangers of excessive and reckless alcohol consumption by young adults. The main goal is to lower the minimum drinking age by educating the public. It was founded and is directed by Dr...
and their successor organization, the Amethyst Initiative
Amethyst Initiative
The Amethyst Initiative is an organization made up of U.S. college presidents and chancellors that in July 2008 launched a movement calling for the reconsideration of U.S...
, founded by Dr. John McCardell, Jr.
John McCardell, Jr.
John Malcolm McCardell, Jr. is the Vice Chancellor of The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and the president emeritus and a professor of history at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. He retired as president in June, 2004, after serving thirteen years as the fifteenth...
, exist to promote the discussion of the drinking age, specifically. Choose Responsibility focuses on promoting a legal drinking age of 18, but includes provisions such as education and licensing. The Amethyst Initiative, a collaboration of college presidents and other educators, focuses on discussion and examination of the drinking age, with specific attention paid to the culture of alcohol as it exists on college campuses and the negative impact of the drinking age on alcohol education and responsible drinking.
Prominent individuals
Youth rights, as a philosophy and as a movement, has been informed and is led by a variety of individuals and institutions across the United States and around the world. In the 1960s and 70s John HoltJohn Caldwell Holt
John Caldwell Holt was an American author and educator, a proponent of homeschooling, and a pioneer in youth rights theory.-Biography:...
, Richard Farson
Richard Farson
Richard Farson Ph.D., is a psychologist, author, and educator. He is the president and chief executive officer of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, which he co-founded in 1958 with physicist Paul Lloyd and social psychologist Wayman Crow.The non-profit WBSI explores ways in which human...
, Paul Goodman
Paul Goodman (writer)
Paul Goodman was an American sociologist, poet, writer, anarchist, and public intellectual. Goodman is now mainly remembered as the author of Growing Up Absurd and an activist on the pacifist Left in the 1960s and an inspiration to that era's student movement...
and Neil Postman
Neil Postman
Neil Postman was an American author, media theorist and cultural critic, who is best known by the general public for his 1985 book about television, Amusing Ourselves to Death. For more than forty years, he was associated with New York University...
were regarded authors that spoke out about youth rights throughout society, including education, government, social services and popular citizenship.
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
Alex Koroknay-Palicz is an American activist in Washington, D.C. He is currently the executive director of the National Youth Rights Association.-Biography:Koroknay-Palicz was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and grew up in Holland, Michigan...
has become a vocal youth rights proponent, making regular appearances on television and in newspapers. Mike A. Males
Mike A. Males
Mike A. Males is an American sociologist who is senior researcher for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, San Francisco, and content director for the online information service on youth issues...
is a prominent sociologist and researcher who has published several books regarding the rights of young people across the United States. Robert Epstein
Robert Epstein
Robert Epstein Ph.D. is an American psychologist, researcher, writer, and media professional whose primary contributions have been in the areas of creativity, artificial intelligence, peace, adolescence, and interpersonal relationships...
is another prominent author who has called for greater rights and responsibilities for youth. Several organizational leaders, including Sarah Fitz-Claridge of Taking Children Seriously
Taking Children Seriously
Taking Children Seriously is a parenting movement and educational philosophy whose central idea is that it is possible and desirable to raise and educate children without either doing anything to them against their will, or making them do anything against their will.It was founded in 1994 as an...
, Bennett Haselton
Bennett Haselton
Bennett Haselton is the American founder of Circumventor.com and Peacefire.org, two U.S.-based websites dedicated to combating Internet censorship. Peacefire.org is focused on documenting flaws in commercial Internet blocking programs...
of Peacefire
Peacefire
Peacefire is a U.S.-based website, with a registered address in Bellevue, Washington, dedicated to "preserving First Amendment rights for Internet users, particularly those younger than 18". It was founded in August 1996 by Bennett Haselton, who still runs it...
and Adam Fletcher (activist)
Adam Fletcher (activist)
Adam Fletcher is a leading advocate, author, motivational speaker, and educator focused on youth voice and student engagement, recognized for founding The Freechild Project. His work centers on youth studies, critical thinking and the development of democratic society, and has been acknowledged as...
of The Freechild Project conduct local, national, and international outreach for youth and adults regarding youth rights.
See also
- List of articles related to youth rights
- List of the youngest mayors in the United States
- National Youth Rights AssociationNational Youth Rights AssociationThe National Youth Rights Association is the largest youth-led civil rights organization in the United States promoting youth rights, with approximately ten thousand members...
- Amethyst InitiativeAmethyst InitiativeThe Amethyst Initiative is an organization made up of U.S. college presidents and chancellors that in July 2008 launched a movement calling for the reconsideration of U.S...
- Choose ResponsibilityChoose ResponsibilityChoose Responsibility is a non-profit organization in the United States that promotes public awareness of the dangers of excessive and reckless alcohol consumption by young adults. The main goal is to lower the minimum drinking age by educating the public. It was founded and is directed by Dr...
- Mature minor doctrineMature minor doctrineThe mature minor doctrine is a statutory, regulatory, or common law policy accepting that an unemancipated minor patient may possess the maturity to choose or reject a particular health care treatment, sometimes without the knowledge or agreement of parents, and should be permitted to do so...
- Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of YouthCommunity Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of YouthThe Community Alliance For the Ethical Treatment of Youth, or CAFETY, is an advocacy group for people enrolled in residential treatment programs for at-risk teenagers. The group's mission includes advocating for access to advocates, due process, alternatives to aversive behavioral interventions,...