In his book, Teen 2.0, psychologist Robert Epstein gives an account of the medical profession’s complicity in the movement to marginalize young people: “In short, my own colleagues have long played and continue to play a leading role in the maintenance of the artificial extension of childhood. They have pathologized socially induced behavior and…
Bob Chipman had a very interesting take over at ScreenRant on the rumored R-rated directors cut version of Superman V Batman to be included on the DVD. Put simply, as he does, he sees it as an awful idea and a perversion. His reasons are rather interesting for youth rights activists. This isn’t the first…
This letter was sent to the Vote16SF Campaign this week: The National Youth Rights Association strongly endorses the Vote16SF campaign to lower the voting age in San Francisco. We believe lowering the voting age will be good for young people, good for San Francisco and good for democracy as a whole. NYRA urges passage of…
Nebraska state Sen. Tyson Larson’s effort to reduce the age to serve as governor, in the state legislature, or in other state offices to 18 died this week due to a filibuster by state Sen. Ernie Chambers. Even after Larson offered to remove offices other than the legislature from his bill, Chambers would not give in,…
This month marks the sixth anniversary of #16tovote on the 16th! We missed a few months in the middle there, but the tradition is back and going strong! This last month saw bills introduced in both Jersey City, NJ and in Canada. NYRA’s own Hudson County chapter was behind the introduction of the Jersey City…
Sixteen-year-olds can go to work, be taxed, drop out of school, be tried as adults, and operate motor vehicles. It makes sense to give them the vote. Here are some common arguments against it that simply do not hold up: “Young people do not know enough to vote intelligently.” The results of the National Assessment…
National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) Summer & Fall 2016 Fellowship Program 3 openings Application deadline: February 29th, 2016 Download Fellowship Information in Word Founded in 1998, NYRA is a national non-profit dedicated to fighting for the civil rights and liberties of young people. Based in the Washington, DC area, the organization challenges age discrimination against…
Nebraska is considering lowering the minimum age to hold state office to 18. Currently, Nebraska “imposes an age minimum of 21 for state senators and 30 to serve as a governor, lieutenant governor or Supreme Court justice,” according to The Associated Press. A bill introduced by Republican state legislator Tyson Larson, who is 29, would…
In the 80s at the age of 14 (I’m 43 now), I stumbled across Unschooling and Summerhill in the public library. Life-changing for me. It sent me on a quest because until then, I was unaware of having any rights at all. I looked up what rights I had under the laws of the state…
Most people would probably agree that tobacco smoking is bad, and that it is worthwhile to try to reduce its prevalence. But the recent trend toward raising the legal minimum age for purchase from 18 to 21 is the wrong approach. One indicator of officially sanctioned ageism is policymakers’ willingness to artificially increase the length…
