Observing the United States in the 1830s, the French political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his Democracy in America that “the position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in one.” Tocqueville was observing the exceptionality of American society, with its…
Reposted from our coalition’s website, We Warned Them. We are asking for your help. In Missouri, our friends from the TTI survivor community have drawn the line: Agape Boarding School has gone too far. Agape, a residential troubled teen program located in Cedar County, Missouri, is under investigation for their abuse and for using unsafe,…
Sometime in the past week was the tenth anniversary of my first attempt at running away from home. I was just as much an adult ten years ago as I am today. The difference is that ten years ago it was legal to hit me, vanish my relationships, and sequester me from society. I look…
“Keep the fight going, be involved, hold adults, leaders, and the justice system accountable for their actions.” As part of the Voices in Youth Rights series, this interview features Jarvus Turnley, a NYRA volunteer from Springfield, Tennessee. In addition to volunteering with NYRA, Jarvus works on the Robertson County Tennessee foster care review board, coaches…
As a high school student, I began to realize just how differently my female friends and I experienced school compared to our male peers. We faced discriminatory dress code enforcement that treated our bodies as “distractions,” and we were often left on our own to deal with sexual harassment that was downplayed as “jokes” or…
When it comes to mainstream society’s understanding of the adolescent brain, we are often limited to research which perpetuates harmful stereotypes and myths. Teenagers are lazy. Teens take stupid and dangerous risks. They’re impulsive and obsessed with approval from peers. While the people who stand by these stereotypes may point to neuroscience as evidence for…
There is no doubt that many youth rights issues are not well represented to those who have the most resources and abilities to make change on a county, state, or federal level. The issues of drinking and smoking age are no different and I firmly believe that spreading out support over as many districts and…
Growing up in the United States, I never understood the hypocrisy of drinking laws, and by extension drinking culture, in a country known to the world as a beacon of personal freedom. How was it possible that an 18 year old could vote for the president, drive a car, enlist in the army, and own…
We are happy to announce that NYRA is now fiscally sponsoring Breaking Code Silence, a movement organized by a network of survivors and activists to raise awareness of the problems in the “Troubled Teen” Industry, to aide them as they organize their nonprofit. Youth can be kidnapped and held without their consent in these programs…
Last week NYRA published our comprehensive section on Age Discrimination. It’s the sixth issue section on our website, and the second in the past year. At NYRA we stand against discrimination and actively work against ageism in all facets of society. To end age-based discrimination, we must work against the prejudicial treatment of people based…
