Somewhat related to the last post about the War on MySpace, now this is a case of schools using information posted on student’s websites and MySpace pages to punish them. The Chicago Tribune did a story on it, and asked for our comments. Excerpts: A north suburban school district could become one of the first…
Students’ rights are quickly becoming an issue of significant import in New York City. It is in the papers and on television, and NYRA members have overheard youth rights issues being discussed in the office of a very influential New York City Councilman. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently been enforcing a ban on cell phones…
On an unseasonably cold May afternoon, I left my internship a little early to meet some old acquaintances on the steps in front of New York City Hall. Another member of The National Youth Rights Association had heard about Lew Fidler’s bill to end the cell phone ban in New York City schools, and he…
As NYRA continues to grow, we feel that it is necessary to publish more documents and guides for youth, particularly students. A recent project that Stefan Muller and I have taken on is developing a “Student Rights Handbook” where we list all of the rights that students have at schools and any limitations on those…
Since February, 2006, Adam King, one of the leaders in NYRA’s chapter formation, has worked extensively to convince the Buncombe County Board of Education to add a student advisor to the board. This position would initially be non-voting, and the student would not be allowed to sit in on closed sessions that deal with personnel…
As reported in my last blog entry, I have been actively working to create a position on my local school board for students. I was expecting to speak at the March board meeting, but I was informed a few days before the meeting that it had been postponed until the meeting on Monday, April 3,…
During this semester, I am taking the honors-level version of a state-mandated civics and economics class at my school. The class is quite interesting, and it involves a lot of open dicussion and thought. On Tuesday, the teacher assigned a fun project in which we were to write a mock state referendum concerning a state…
By reading this title, you may be wondering what the hell it has anything to do with youth rights. This is more of a personal story in connection to a general youth rights theme, so just relax and keep on reading to find out more. I must let you know that I have been a…
As I write this post in my first period class at my school during my spare time, I realize that I am fortunate. While my school is mainly pro-student rights, I realize that there are some schools that are ageist and barbaric in their policies. This must change. Students are in school for nearly eight…
I wandered over to the SSDP blog and had a look at this entry. It got me thinking. Great. Students at this particular high school are fighting the proposed mandatory random drug tests. It is very refreshing to see students who, no matter how they feel about a proposed policy, aren’t just sitting back and…
