National Youth Rights Association

Sky high unemployment.  Astronomical government debt.  A fragile environment.  Rapidly rising college tuition.  Our country, and our world, face massive problems, massive problems that according to venture capitalist Andrew Lerner are caused principally by the older generation.  The first step to fixing this problem is understanding the severe discrimination young people face.

Andrew Lerner’s new book draws on a wide variety of business, government, and societal trends to illustrate how most major challenges younger adults face are exacerbated by age biases.

This book is required reading for anyone who has been, will be, or is currently, a young adult.

All the proceeds from this book will be generously donated to NYRA.  Buy a copy for your mom, your dad, your son, your daughter, your aunt, your teacher, your best friend, and your dog.

Buy the book here:

http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Being-Young-ebook/dp/B0068VJANS

Not convinced this e-book is the perfect gift for every friend and family member you have? Then you must not have read it yet. But we have a way to fix that.

Mr. Lerner has generously offered to make the book available through our website at a cost that is $9.99 cheaper than the $9.99 cover price. That’s right: Free!! A gift to NYRA’s supporters.

Download your free copy at http://www.youthrights.org/research/downloads/?did=194. Then, after you’ve enjoyed how Lerner blows the lid off ageism in the workplace and throughout society, buy copies for everyone you know. (http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Being-Young-ebook/dp/B0068VJANS ) Your friends and family will thank you as they learn about this problem, and NYRA will earn more money to fight for solutions. It’s a gift for everyone!

The Hazelwood School District near St. Louis, Missouri is known to youth rights activists as the district that stomped on a school paper’s First Amendment rights and led to the Supreme Court’s notorious Hazelwood ruling. But more recently, this district was the site of a youth rights victory.

NYRA-St. Louis, headquartered in Hazelwood West Middle School, recently succeeded in shaking up their school cafeteria. Students at this school found too few vegetarian foods available in their cafeteria. The school was not honoring students’ dietary and ethical choices.

In response, NYRA-St. Louis President Jaylen Bledsoe presented his fellow students’ concerns to the school district’s Director of Child Nutrition Services and persuaded her to change the district’s policy. As a result of their action, the district agreed that, starting this December, vegetarian foods will be added to the menus in all the district’s middle school and high school cafeterias, giving students a choice at last. Way to go, NYRA-St. Louis!

“I felt it was important for the people who run our school to hear the students’ concerns,” said Bledsoe. “People should not have to go hungry just because they are vegetarian. I’m glad we have some administrators who care enough to listen to their students and do the right thing.”

Though the local chapter has only been active for a year, they are already impressing the national organization.

“With the increased concern about healthy food and obesity, schools across the country have taken punitive measures such as banning packed lunches or suspending students for candy,” said NYRA Executive Director Alex Koroknay-Palicz, “Jaylen’s success reminds us that the best solutions are usually ones that work with students, not against them.”

NYRA-St. Louis’ success was featured in Veg News.

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NYRA is beginning a local advertising campaign in Abilene, Texas to initiate reforms towards a lower drinking age and to raise awareness of youth rights.

This campaign will direct Texas residents to the NYRA site where they can find answers to their frequently asked questions, get legal research on drinking age laws for all 50 states, read the history of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, and get lots of research studies and papers on the drinking age.

The campaign intends to build awareness of the fact that over 962 men and women in uniform under twenty-one have died in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for their country, never to be respected under the law as equal members of American society because of current minimum legal drinking age legislation. Because of the arbitrary discrimination of the drinking age law, our troops serve us without us being able to serve them.

San Angelo resident and NYRA member Adam Zarnowski explained the campaign, “The goal is to raise awareness about the failure of the 21-year-old drinking age and show support for our young men and women in uniform. The members of our military are just one example of the many ways in which responsible young people prove themselves unworthy of the negative stereotypes we have about youth.”

Students, parents, workers, soldiers, artists, teachers and 18 to 20 year old citizens in every corner of our nation lead responsible, productive lives and are treated as adults in nearly every other way except the ability to buy alcohol. It makes no sense to say an average 19 year old is mature enough to buy a house, get married, own a gun and go to Afghanistan but isn’t mature enough to have a can of beer. NYRA strongly believes it is time to lower the drinking age.

NYRA President Jeffrey Nadel stated, “The 21-year-old drinking age has been a discriminatory failure. For America’s military and civilian population alike, it is time to lower the drinking age.”

The billboard will run from September 12 through November 6 near the corner of Mocking Bird Lane and N 10th St in Abilene.

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Welcome to the new National Youth Rights Association website!

After more than a year of planning, designing, coding, porting, and a lot of other things we just want to forget, NYRA and WireShout are pleased to present the new NYRA website! The current site has implemented many new features such as:

• Chatrooms for Chapters and General Chatting
• Picture Gallery
• Unified Login System (Known as the NYRA Passport)
• Featured Slider
• Integrated Forums
• and many more!

If you already have a NYRA Forum account from the previous system, check your email for your reset link to reset your password for the new website. If not, click this to register. It only takes a few minutes. If you have any questions or comments, please click on this and select Website Inquiries.

Signed Up? A few basic tips!

1. Setup a profile! — Click here and fill out as much info as you want!
2. Introduce yourself — Click here and tell us a little about yourself, what you are interested in, etc.
3. Join an Action Team — Click here and select what you can do to help NYRA.
4. Donate — We can’t exist without donations, click here to send a tax-detectable donation

We Want to talk with You!

We are currently online in our chat. Login here.

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The 2011 NYRA Annual Meeting, held July 29th through 31st, on the campus of University of Maryland – College Park was co-hosted by the UMD Chapter of SSDP and sponsored by the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Foundation. With nearly 70 people in attendance, this year’s conference was twice as big as 2010. Not only did we double the attendance, we doubled the schedule. Packing in a Friday night petitioning event against the proposed Montgomery County curfew, a night of bowling on Saturday, and notable speakers such as Steve Culbertson, CEO of Youth Service America, Mary Beth Tinker, the plaintiff in the famous Tinker v. Des Moines free speech case and Dr. Robert Epstein our keynote speaker and author of Teen 2.0. The schedule was packed with debates, discussions, speakers, workshops, panels, and videos covering all aspects of the youth rights movement, from traditional subjects like the voting age and drinking age, to the question of whether Rebecca Black was good for youth rights.

Attendees came from as far away as Hawaii, Florida and New Mexico. A large contingent of staff and members of the United Teen Equality Center in took a van down from Lowell, Massachusetts. In addition to the 70 people in attendance, many more watched the conference live online. Videos of the annual meeting are still available online, so if you missed anything be sure to watch here.

The conference was not only informative and inspiring, it was a heck of a lot of fun. Saturday night at AMF Lanes in College Park, MD was one highlight of the weekend. UTEC’s own Geoff Foster, newly elected NYRA board member Eric Goldstein and NYRA Executive Director Alex Koroknay-Palicz took home the top three scores of the night.

Thanks to the expert work of local photographer Chester Lam, this year’s annual meeting also has the best looking pictures we’ve ever had at an annual meeting. Check out the full photo gallery here.

Finally, the 2011 NYRA Board Election concluded on Saturday night and we are proud to announce the 2011-2012 NYRA Board of Directors! This year’s winning candidates include: Jeffrey Nadel, Kathleen O’Neal, Katrina Moncure, Chris Hardy, Eric Goldstein, Keith Mandell, Samantha Godwin, Usiel Phoenix and Nigel Jones. Three bylaw proposals were put before the membership and two of them passed. A change was made in how elections are announced and paid staff are no longer permitted to run for the board of directors. The membership voted down a bylaw that would have created two-year terms for board members instead of the current one-year term.

Food, snacks and coffee were generously provided by the College Park locations of Noodles & Company, Bagel Place of College Park and Starbucks. Staffing the exhibition hall were the Reason Foundation, the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the United States Youth Chamber of Commerce and The Hitting Stops Here! We thank all of them for helping make this year’s annual meeting such a success. And of course, all the amazing people who came! Thank you! See you in 2012!!

NYRA, and much of the Washington, DC area was caught by surprise this month when Montgomery County, MD County Executive Ike Leggett proposed a youth curfew law for the county. What was surprising is that crime has been steadily declining in the county, so unlike other communities that consider curfews, there seemed to be no real problem it seeks to address. Due to the proximity of Montgomery County to national NYRA staff and the political engagement of the county’s youth a well organized campaign quickly emerged to stop this bill from passing.

Rapidly after news broke on Monday July 11th about the bill a Facebook event was created called “Stand Up to the MoCo Youth Curfew!” calling upon opponents of the curfew to attend an upcoming hearing on the 26th. Within 48 hours over 2,000 said they were coming. Now the event has well over 5,000. NYRA has been working with the local activists, the County Council, and local press non-stop since this campaign began. As well known experts on curfews, NYRA has been sought for comment by local TV, radio, print and online press sources.

NYRA members and local organizers petitioned against the curfew outside of a busy movie theater in advance of the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Responses were overwhelmingly against the curfew and we easily got 200 petition signatures in an hour and a half. The petition effort and letter writing campaign are both going well.

In addition to testifying at the hearing next week, NYRA has reshuffled our Annual Meeting schedule to include a protest against the proposed curfew on the night of Friday July 29th. All conference attendees and local youth rights supporters are strongly encouraged to attend the rally, scheduled to begin at 9 pm in the plaza across the street from the Majestic theater in Silver Spring, MD. There will also be a workshop at the Annual Meeting led by the local high school students organizing the anti-curfew campaign.

Check Out the Facebook Event

Click Here to View the Website for the Campaign

In exactly one week the 2011 NYRA Board Election will begin! We’ve got an impressive slate of candidates this year. Six incumbents are running for reelection and nine challengers are vying for a spot on the board. This is one of the more diverse and impressive fields we have
seen. Current board members seeking reelection are: Jeffrey Nadel, Jackie Ferro, Katrina Moncure, Nigel Jones, Usiel Phoenix and Keith Mandell. Also running for the board are Kathleen O’Neal, Chris Hardy, Eric Goldstein, Samantha Godwin, Max Harmony, Jaylen Bledsoe,
Gibson Katz, Daniel Karpantschof and Connell Wise. All dues paying NYRA members will receive their ballots on June 30.

This election also has several bylaw amendments for the membership to approve. One of which bars staff members from serving on the board of directors, meaning that this is the first time since 1999 that Executive Director Alex Koroknay-Palicz will not be running for the board. With his absence, the election will be wide open, so it is more important than ever to become a member and vote!

The election will conclude on July 30 at our Annual Meeting. A tentative schedule will be released soon, but we can tell you this will be the first Annual Meeting with breakout sessions, effectively doubling the amount of workshops and activities at this year’s conference. Together with our first ever keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Epstein, the widely recognized author of Teen 2.0 (formerly The Case Against Adolescence), this will be the biggest most involved and most participatory annual meeting in NYRA history. There is still time to register for the conference, please do so here.

Two youth-led NYRA-allied organizations have made great strides towards making a lower voting age a reality. In 2002, Cambridge, Massachusetts passed a home rule petition to lower the voting age through the Cambridge City Council and that legislation has been waiting legislative action at the state level ever since. In 2004 the Cambridge Kids Council, the official youth voice of the Cambridge, MA city government got involved in pushing for the state legislature to pass the home rule petition. The effort received a big jolt this year when the teen leaders from the United Teen Equality Center in Lowell, MA took on the issue locally and passed a similar measure through the Lowell City Council. UTEC has been petitioning the State to allow a municipal ballot initiative to lower the Lowell voting age to 17. NYRA members Stefan Muller and Usiel Phoenix joined UTEC members at the MA State House on April 13 to support the Lowell initiative while it was being discussed in committee. Among those who testified in favor of the initiative were a Lowell councilor, a high school principal, a representative of the voter engagement organization MassVote, and, of course, local young people.

On May 11, a hearing was held for legislation sponsored by the Cambridge Kids Council that would allow municipalities in the state to lower their voting ages independently, without state approval. NYRA members Daniel Widrew and Ralph Verna both spoke in favor of the legislation. This is the most progress we have seen towards a lower voting age since the 26th amendment. These bills have been passed by elected officials in their local communities and with continued work at the state level, we are hopeful that the state legislature will implement these changes.

We are proud to announce our special guest and keynote speaker for the 2011 NYRA Annual Meeting: Dr. Robert Epstein. Dr. Epstein is a prominent author and psychologist and die hard supporter of youth rights. He co-founded National Youth Rights Day and has written the ground breaking book, Teen 2.0. Dr. Epstein will be delivering the keynote address at the Annual Meeting on Sunday July 31 and will be participating in a special donor lunch earlier in the day.

Today we are officially opening up registration for the 2011 NYRA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The meeting is set to begin on Friday July 29 and last until Sunday July 31. A rough schedule can be seen here.

This event is the event to be at in 2011. Youth rights advocates are coming from all over the country to attend, don’t miss out! The Annual Meeting has been described as inspiring, informational and a heck of a lot of fun. Too often we may feel isolated, like no one else out there really understands and supports youth rights. Coming to the Annual Meeting will shatter those doubts. This is the single best way to get plugged in to the youth rights movement. This will be our largest, best organized and most interactive conference in history. Now we’ve made it easier than ever to participate, just click this link and register:

On January 27th, NYRA had its first chapters meeting of the year. 10 chapters were present, including NYRA-Bergen County, NYRA-New York University, NYRA-Southeast Florida, NYRA-Los Angeles, NYRA-Stockton, NYRA-Potsdam, NYRA-Nanuet, NYRA-Austin, NYRA-DC, and NYRA-Berkeley. NYRA-Bergen County has managed to get the student government reinstated at Midland Park High School after their long fight with the Board of Education while maintaining their campaign opposing Kyleigh’s Law (an ageist legislation targeting young drivers) and working to recruit new members. Newly formed NYRA-NYU is currently in a year-long club development program with other official NYU clubs. The chapter’s main focus is opposing an ageist restriction on young shoppers at the Atlantic Terminal Mall in Brooklyn and has begun planning peaceful protests. They also intend to work to lower the drinking age and create awareness about behavior modification programs. Across New York is NYRA-Potsdam, led by Alexander Ivanoff, which plans to become a registered SUNY-Potsdam chapter.

NYRA-Southeast Florida is currently preparing for their hearing against the West Palm Beach curfew, scheduled two months from now. They have also begun National Youth Rights Day planning and are negotiating unjust school policies authorizing teachers and administrators to violate student privacy by reading their text messages and forcing them to take blood tests due to suspicion of marijuana abuse. NYRA-Los Angeles has also taken a stand against injustices in their school, protesting the random and unwarranted use of drug dogs at Temple City High School. The chapter is also planning a “Know Your Rights Day” on March 26th this year. Another California chapter leader, Alyssa Palomares of NYRA-Stockton, is working to spread awareness about youth rights through various local events including a fundraiser at a local restaurant and a possible benefit show.

Last night NYRA’s President, Jeffrey Nadel, took on New York State Senator and former police officer (better known for his crusade against sagging pants), Eric Adams, to defend the privacy and dignity of young people against his attacks. Sen. Adams published a video on YouTube urging parents to search the rooms and backpacks of their kids for drugs and weapons and giving them instructions on how. He defended his video on CNN, insinuating that any young person could be hiding a gun or a crackpipe and that it was a parent’s responsibility to spy on them.

Jeffrey Nadel responded by pointing out that 2009, the latest year we have statistics for, was the safest year in the United States since 1968. And drug use among 12 graders has plummeted 32.6% since the 70′s according to a Monitoring the Future report. Young people today are in fact safer, less likely to use drugs and better citizens than their parents were.

In response, Sen. Adams said, “I’m an adult, I have an obligation and a responsibility not to look to stats to try to beautify or to give a dream environment.” Sen. Adam wasn’t the only one on the show to assert adult privilege. Both he and the host continued to point out Nadel’s age and patronize him for being 17. Clearly in this case wisdom does not come with age. While somewhat confusing, Sen. Adams’ quote does make clear that as an adult, he does not think he has an obligation to look at stats. Apparently Sen. Adams believes statistics are more the realm of young people – as is truth and common sense.

During the interview Nadel made a cogent argument that instead of invading the privacy of their kids, parents should try talking to them. An open, trusting relationship in the family is the best guard against teen crime and drug use. If your kids trust you, they will come to you when they are in trouble or need advice and seriously listen to what you have to say. Going through their things breaks down this bond of trust, pushes your kids away from you and your home and potentially into dangerous situations. Nadel did an amazing job and this is a very important press opportunity for the youth rights movement. Be sure to check out the video and share it with everyone you know.

Today, New York State Senator and former police officer (better known for his crusade against sagging pants), Eric Adams, published a video on YouTube instructing parents on how to search the rooms and backpacks of their kids for drugs and weapons. His calls for parents to invade the privacy of their children has attracted considerable press attention, even though his YouTube video only has 170 views (as of 4:30 pm on January 31). NYRA believes that all people, including young people, have a reasonable expectation of privacy, and that following Sen. Adams call to rifle through their things is misguided and dangerous. NYRA President, Jeffrey Nadel, will be telling this to Sen. Adams directly when he appears on CNN’s Headline News today at 6:15 pm to discuss the topic.

Sen. Adams’ pleas for parents to spy on their kids is unnecessary. Despite a great deal of focus on “out of control youth” young people today are in fact safer, better citizens than their parents were. 2009, the latest year we have statistics for, was the safest year in the United States since 1968. Indeed the murder rate hasn’t been this low since 1964. Drug use among 12 graders has plummeted 32.6% since the 70′s according to a Monitoring the Future report. This means that kids today, the ones Sen. Adams hopes parents will spy on, are in fact less likely to be violent drug users than their parents were.

Instead of invading the privacy of their kids, parents should try talking to them. An open, trusting relationship in the family is the best guard against teen crime and drug use. If your son or daughter trusts you, respects you and feels he or she can talk to you honestly, you will have far better information about their lives than you could get by snooping. If your kids trust you, they will come to you when they are in trouble or need advice and seriously listen to what you have to say. Going through their things breaks down this bond of trust, pushes your kids away from you and your home and potentially into dangerous situations.

Be sure to tune in to CNN’s Headline News at 6:15 PM Eastern time to watch NYRA President Jeffrey Nadel explain this to Sen. Adams.

NYRA President Jeffrey Nadel has been campaigning against his town’s illegally enforced unconstitutional youth curfew for a few years now. He’s met with city officials, organized rallies and protests, attended hearings, and filed suit in state and federal court. Before he did all that, he had to make sure he had the facts. Jeff used Findlaw.com to research the legalities of his case. At 17 years old, Jeffrey Nadel doesn’t have a high school diploma but he so thoroughly learned the ins and outs of curfew law that his knowledge was complemented by journalists and even by the curfew-supporting Mayor of West Palm Beach.

Findlaw.com is currently running their “When Life Gets Legal” video contest. Check out Jeff’s video and take a few seconds to vote for him. If we win, it will mean $5,000 for Youth Rights – which means more campaigns and more trained youth rights activists like Jeff. Vote for Jeff Here.

On November 2, NYRA members gathered on the steps of the US Supreme Court to speak out for free speech, opposition to video game censorship and support for lowering the voting age. On this day, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Schwarzenegger v. EMA. On trial was the right of the state to restrict the sale of video games based on age. November 2nd was also election day, a day in which youth were denied the right to vote based on age. NYRA was there also to support our amicus brief in the Schwarzenegger v. EMA case.

The rally was a great success, and tons of youth rights supporters turned out for it, even traveling from New York and Pennsylvania for the event. Our rally attracted great press in Time Magazine, Games Radar and 1up.com. NYRA members held signs that read “Live Free, Start Young”, “Suffrage Not Censorship”, “Free Speech is for All Ages” and “Been Playing Grand Theft Auto Since 2004, Still Haven’t Stolen a Car”. Check out some great pictures of the event on Facebook and Flickr.

NYRA board member Usiel Phoenix gave an inspiring speech at the rally. With cameras filming her every move, Usiel said, “As I speak, millions of American citizens are exercising their right to defend their political interests through the casting of a ballot. Not one of these people will be under the age of 18. Not one of these ballots will clearly reflect the interests of youth. On this day, 75 million American students, workers, and taxpayers, should they think of raising their voice to speak, will find that their tongues have been cut out and held in trust. If I could vote, I would vote against those who would betray the founding ideals of this country so deeply as to engage in needless censorship.” Read the text of Phoenix’s speech here.

We are holding a rally on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on November 2nd in support of free speech, opposition to video game censorship and support for lowering the voting age. On this day, the Supreme Court will be hearing the arguments in the case of Schwarzenegger v. EMA. Up for trial is the right of the state to restrict the sale of video games based on age. November 2nd is also election day, a day in which youth are denied the right to vote based on age.

Join us at the Supreme Court to defend free speech, video games and democracy.

It is important to recognize that youth, those who are affected by the ruling of this case, have not been allowed a vote towards electing those who appointed and confirmed the Justices ultimately making this decision.

We’re hoping for a large turnout at this rally, so as to make it known to both the Court and the nation that Americans of every age support the civil rights of youth. Please join us at 8:30 AM in Washington, D.C. on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to show your support for youth rights. RSVP for the rally on Facebook! For more information, check out our blog’s coverage of the rally and some early press coverage.

We have done our part in this case to ensure that the voices of youth are heard, we joined with the ACLU and the National Coalition Against Censorship to file an amicus brief. We generated a storm of discussion on several gaming forums and gathered over 100 comments describing the social, political, and artistic value of video games. Several of these comments were included in our final brief and will be read and discussed by the Supreme Court. But we cannot change the fact those most affected by this ruling have been allowed no role in electing those who will make the decision. Join us on Election Day on the steps of the Supreme Court to make it known that youth will no longer sit idly by as our rights are curtailed and our political means of opposition stifled.

Recently, a law was passed in California that banned the sale of all “violent” video games to individuals younger than 18. Now, the case of whether or not this law is constitutional is going before the United States Supreme Court. This is an important case, for it could end up setting the stage for alterations in how games look, how they are produced and who can play them. This law could be a catalyst that sparks stricter standards across the industry and could alter the First Amendment rights of young people in matters entirely unrelated to violent video games for decades to come.

NYRA is doing all we can to make sure the free speech of youth is protected. We are working with the ACLU and the National Coalition Against Censorship to write an Amicus brief to be submitted to the Supreme Court regarding this issue. Unlike the nine justices hearing this case and most lawyers on either side of the issue, NYRA staff and NYRA members have actually played video games. We are working to channel our combined expertise to help win this case, you can help!

NYRA is seeking testimonies from people who are familiar with video games and can explain their artistic, social and especially political assets. If we can prove that video games contain political speech, we very well may win this case. Please visit our blog and leave a comment about the political value of video games. The Internet is buzzing about NYRA’s campaign, and we’ve already received 95 comments about this. This overwhelming response represents a total of one-third of all comments the NYRA blog has ever received. But we’re not done yet! The more information we have, the better. Let your gamer friends know about us, too! We need to hear your thoughts as well as examples of specific games that are both political and violent. The more you have to say, the better!

On July 10, members from NYRA-DC attended a youth hearing held by the DC City Council and brought important youth rights issues to the attention of the council and the city. NYRA-DC President Larry Pretlow II spoke to the council about reforming the Youth Advisory Council so that it would provide an effective, meaningful voice for the youth of DC. City staff were very impressed with the testimony and described it as very bold yet “a breath of fresh air”. City officials present at the hearing pledged to work closely with the chapter on implementing these policy suggestions. Larry Pretlow’s testimony can be read here.



NYRA-DC Treasurer, Usi Phoenix, testified in opposition to the DC curfew law, an issue the chapter has attracted some press on of late. Present at the hearing were Chairman Vincent Gray and Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr., two of the councilmembers who voted against a recent proposal to make the DC curfew law stricter for the summer. The chapter was pleased to hear Councilman Thomas reiterate his opposition to the curfew. NYRA-DC Director of Political Affairs and founder of the US Youth Chamber of Commerce, Connell Wise, spoke on the issue of lowering the voting age to the council. Wise laid out a solid case for lowering the voting age that sparked an interesting discussion on the issue both during and after the hearing. Watch all the NYRA-DC testimony at our YouTube page.



DC members, both those who did and didn’t testify, spoke to other youth advocates present and discussed how they could work together. Several people were very interested in NYRA-DC. Also, NYRA-DC has filled out and notarized their paperwork for incorporation. Soon the form will be submitted and NYRA-DC will be an official non-profit corporation in Washington, DC. The chapter is off to a great start and is expected to accomplish great things. If you are in the DC area, please join the NYRA-DC Facebook page.

A multi-year effort to change the start time of Zionsville Community High School (ZCHS) in Indiana has finally ended, and ended the right way – in victory. The campaign began in March of 2009 when ZCHS student Erica Park presented research to her AP English class outlining the physical and psychological benefits of allowing students to sleep later and start school later. Like most high schools, their start time was created entirely by adults and the students affected by it (and hurt by it) had very little say. NYRA’s chapter at the school, the Zionsville Student Rights Union (ZSRU), were determined to fix this problem and determined to have a say. Inspired by the research, ZSRU leaders Steve Ross and Abby Llorico organized a campaign to change their school’s start time.

Chapter leaders met with the school administration, the school board, athletic directors, transportation boards and other stake holders about their Sleep to Succeed plan. All were impressed with the research and arguments put forward by ZSRU, but many obstacles stood in their way. Changing the start time affects bus schedules for elementary schools and middle schools in the district as well as schedules for all sports teams in their division. The chapter built up support for the change from the student body and from the teachers. The process was long and difficult, and after Steve Ross graduated, leadership of the chapter and the campaign fell to Abby Llorico who spearheaded efforts through all of the 2009-2010 school year. Finally, at a school board meeting this spring, the Zionsville school board voted unanimously in favor of pushing back the start time from 7:30 am to 8:15 am.

This is a tremendous victory for ZSRU and for youth rights advocates everywhere. ZSRU is once again leading the way in demonstrating that with the facts on our side and a huge amount of persistence anything can be accomplished. Zionsville Community High School is one of very few schools in the country to move their start time back and it happened entirely due to the efforts of NYRA’s dedicated local chapter. This success story exemplifies all that is good about this movement. Young people were harmed by a system created exclusively by adults, and through their own hard work and ingenuity fixed that system to the benefit of all involved. If you are interested in putting together a similar campaign at your school, please check out the ZSRU website and contact them for more information about the campaign.

Kyleigh’s Law, which went into effect on May 1, 2010, adds additional requirements to New Jersey’s Graduated Driver’s License program. The most controversial of these new requirements is that any driver who is under the age of 21 and holds a driver’s permit or probationary license is required to buy a pair of red decals and

display them on the top left corners of their front and rear license plates. The rationale behind this, according to proponents of the law, is that the decals help law enforcement to ensure that GDL holders are following the legal restrictions placed on them (such as curfew laws and passenger limits).

However, the law has created a controversy. For one thing, it could lead to police profiling. Also, the safety of the young drivers under this law has been questioned. A similar law was passed in Florida in the ‘90s (requiring those with a rental vehicle to have indicators on their license plates) and it lead to the murders of nine people. There is a fear that the Kyleigh’s Law decals will identify young, solitary drivers and make them easy targets for people with malicious intentions.

NYRA has been a vocal opponent of Kyleigh’s Law and has gained a substantial amount of press for encouraging New Jersey drivers to protest Kyleigh’s Law. It is illegal for a driver who falls under the requirements of the law to not display the decal; however, there are no limits as to who can buy the decals (or how many). If drivers voluntarily choose to display the decals, the decals would be rendered useless as a way to identify young drivers.

NYRA was out in front on this issue, we were the first organized group to oppose this law. Now, dozens of lawmakers who originally supported the bill are rethinking their support – some have introduced amendments to overturn the decal requirement. We are also pleased to announce the creation of a new local chapter, NYRA-Central Jersey which was created specifically to fight for the overturn of the decal requirement. Chapter founder and president, Bernadette Calderone, is organizing protests against the law. We are currently working with other local leaders working to form additional NYRA chapters in the state. Stay tuned for more developments.

We are pleased to have received a number of sponsoring member organizations for our first celebration of National Youth Rights Day, as well as future annual events to come, 16 groups altogether. The most successful and prominent live event occurred at our headquarters in Washington D.C. The local celebration featured a Prohibition Party, held at Stetson’s famous bar on April 14th. The event attracted more than 30 people and we successfully raised $300, including all raffle ticket sales and donations.

Because of the discriminatory drinking age, President Jeffrey Nadel was unable to join us at the event but he managed to make a speech via video G-chat. During his five-minute speech, Jeff stressed the injustice of regarding young people “as chattel, as individuals incapable of thinking for themselves, defending themselves, or making decisions for themselves.”

“We have created a tradition. Like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, there is now one day, set aside from the vast calendar, to commemorate young people, to acknowledge my generation,” said Jeff.

At the end of his speech, Jeff persuaded everyone to close their eyes and try to remember what it was like to be young so that one would not “forget the experience of youth”. Afterwards, Jeff stayed for a discussion with guests and exchanged their thoughts on youth rights.

But DC’s event wasn’t the only thing happening on National Youth Rights Day, newly formed NYRA-Austin: Peeps 4 Change hit the streets to get the word out. Chapter members went downtown till the early morning passing out flyers, talking to people about youth rights and even singing about youth rights through the streets. Chapter members made and wore NYRA t-shirts and had a wonderful time promoting the cause.

NYRA board member Jackie Ferro and NYRA-Nanuet: Teen Suffrage Organization marked National Youth Rights Day by having members wear blue to school. It was a small demonstration of solidarity with the cause of youth rights that many were able to easily participate in, over 50 students participated. Linsday Coley wrote an op-ed about NYRD that got published in the Daily Collegian. Many members around the country also participated in their own ways. If you did something, please let us know! Send us an e-mail with the story of your NYRD activity!