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.

Alex Koroknay-Palicz - Its May 4, 2004 at 10:23 PM Eastern time in Sacramento sitting down with Mike Males, author of Scapegoat Generation and Framing Youth and many other good books and articles. For those who may be unfamiliar with your work could you just introduce what your books are about and what kind of work you’ve done? (more…)

by Alex Koroknay - Palicz

Throughout history dominant majorities have redirected public attention away from the majorities’ problems and onto an artificially created scapegoat. Many countries have used a variety of scapegoats throughout time; this practice leads to persecution and anger towards the selected minority. (more…)

by Alex Koroknay - Palicz

The Fourth Amendment to the constitution protects United States citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. Our forefathers recognized the harm and abuses that occurred in the colonies to innocent people by the British, and they made sure to write protections into the U.S. Constitution. (more…)

by David J. Hanson, Ph.D.

“Underage drinking has reached epidemic proportions in America” warns Joe Califano, head of the private National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). His alarm is ominous, even frightening, as he calls for strong action in response to this national crisis. (more…)

by Rich Jahn

Criminalizing harmless behavior to prevent crime has long been the norm particularly for young people, despite often, dubious evidence of its effectiveness. Many times people assume obvious correlations exist between youth behavior and social problems and remove their constitutional rights with the very minimal, or almost no evidence it is necessary. The most blatant example of this is the use of curfew laws, which have been challenged on a number of constitutional grounds. Despite their vast use across the nation over the last decade, no conclusive evidence can be amounted for their effectiveness in curtailing juvenile crime. (more…)

by Alex Koroknay - Palicz

The case of In Re Gault started when Gerald Gault a 15-year-old citizen of Arizona made several lewd telephone calls to a neighbor. After a complaint by that neighbor Gault was arrested and detained by police. Gault’s parents worried that their son was not at home that day, searched for their missing child. Gault’s parents were never notified of his arrest and only found out later through a friend of Gault’s. (more…)

by Adam King

These speeches were delivered between April 3 and August 3, 2006, in an effort to add a student adviser to the Buncombe County Board of Education.

Buncombe County Board of Education - April 3, 2006

Dear School Board Members:

As a student, I believe that it is necessary for the Buncombe County Board of Education to implement the idea of creating a non-voting seat on the school board for one student selected from the district to serve as a student advisor. (more…)

by Alex Koroknay - Palicz

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act is perhaps the law that has the most impact on the day-to-day lives of America’s youth since it was signed into law on July 17, 1984. While the 21-year-old drinking age seems imbedded in American society, it is only a recent innovation. Most people do not know that the drinking age was only made a national law in 1984, and only after a determined battle by special interest groups. (more…)