“Safety with Dignity” aims to show the Department of Education that students can perform better when they aren’t treated like criminals: in contrast to the harsh, zero tolerance policy of many “at-risk” public schools, students in participating schools don’t need to walk through metal detectors to get into school. When a rule is broken students participate in “conflict-resolution programs,” or “fairness committees” to address problems. School Safety Agents don’t discipline students for non-criminal incidents, like being tardy or not taking off your hat.

These six  schools that don’t use metal detectors or zero tolerance policy have higher graduation rates, higher attendance, and lower rates of criminal and non-criminal incidents than “Impact Schools” (which actually have armed guards) and schools with metal detectors.

As of a decade ago, the NYPD took control of security in New York City public schools—since 1998, the number of police personnel in public schools has risen from 3,200 to 5,200. This means the officer-to-student ratio here is higher than the officer-to-citizen ratio in most major US cities. There are more police personnel in New York City schools than there are on the streets of Baltimore, Las Vegas, Boston and Washington DC, according to the NYCLU. “It makes me feel like my only purpose is to go to jail,” said High School student Luis Mendoza in the NYCLU/Make the Road New York video, Schoolhouse to Jailhouse.

The NYCLU is working to encourage the Department of Education to reduce the number of SSAs in public schools, give back disciplinary authority to school administrators and faculty members, and to use metal detectors only as a last resort. In short: make schools positive and welcoming environments for learning rather than juvenile detention centers. NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman maintains the study shows that, above all, “treating students with dignity and respect is the best approach to producing good, safe schools.”

Let’s hope the DOE will get the message and start rethinking zero tolerance policy, the role of SSAs and the necessity of metal detectors. Principal William Justino of Progress High School said in the report, “You’d think the Department of Education would want to know all about us, but they don’t… we’re one of the best kept secrets in New York.”

ycivics will be giving away flip video cams to civically engaged youth, broadcasting youth produced videos on local and national TV and on every social media hub imaginable, running civic skills training sessions (video bootcamp, public speaking battles, etc), assisting with the creation and growth of civic action clubs, partnering with One Vote to bring robust civic education programs into schools throughout the country, and of course bringing NYRA’s message into everything we do. We’ve got a lot of other fantastic partners lined up that we’ll be announcing over the coming months, too.

Most of the big parts of what we are doing will launch over the Summer. (This was all just an idea two months ago, and is moving along very very fast). In the meantime you can help us out by joining the Facebook Causes page or by signing up for updates on ycivics.com.

Since we are fiscally sponsored by NYRA, a portion of all donations to ycivics will go towards NYRA’s general fund as an administrative fee. So if you want to help two very worthwhile missions at the same time — youth rights advocacy and youth rights as practiced through active civic engagement — please join our cause and consider donating whatever you can:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/226837/1308?m

For more information, click here.

Some of the students we talked to were pretty open to the idea of lowering the voting age as soon as we brought it up, or were supporters already, while there were others who had low opinions of teenagers politically despite being teens themselves. When there were perspectives being tossed back and forth, the latter mostly didn’t have logical counterpoints to the most fundamental arguments though. The best example of this had to be when one nearby group was being particularly loud and the boy we’d been talking with said “And that’s why 16 year-olds shouldn’t vote,” and Pam shot back “I know so many 35 year-olds who should not be voting.”

Engaging in conversation on an individual basis worked well, but we need to make a 2nd stop there to deal with more mass flyer handouts. Also, can’t wait to get to Brooklyn Tech and Hunter. Since this event on Election day is about youth civic participation, teen and youth interest in using their own political strength is vital.

Youth activists generally don’t come from the popular crowd of a coddled Middle-American suburbia.

Of the Youth Movements I’ve come across in person, on the web, or in print, they are built from the foundation of trauma.  There is the immigrant youth movement, the urban youth movement, the disabilities youth movement, the foster care youth movement, the incarcerated youth movement, the anti-military recruitment youth movement, the systems-of-care youth movement, and the youth voting rights movement among others. Whether the battle is against gentrfication, exploitation, stigma, or family separation, the general outlines of each movement retain the fundamental characteristic that the youths’ ability to maintain control over their own lives have been threatened and the only way to fight back is to organize.  If not for the sole reason to fight back against the external threat, then to strengthen one’s resolve by associating with like-minded allies and supporters.  Healing and defense through mutual aid and support.  As important as reaching the eventual goals of each movement are, there is value enough in the journey itself.