In the summer of 1863, the Union army began forming all-black regiments to fight in the Civil War. Many black leaders were ecstatic that their people could take a greater role in a war that was being fought in large part for their freedom. They also felt that if they proved themselves worthy in battle,…
The automotive club AAA released the results from a so-called teenage driving study today. New teenage drivers are more dangerous than previously thought: Nearly two of every three people killed in crashes involving 15- to 17-year-old drivers are people other than the driver, auto club AAA will announce today. The newspaper USA Today began its…
Ageism manifests itself in so many ways. Typically at NYRA we chose to focus on the big issues that are enshrined in law and stand as barriers to equal status and civic involvement for youth like the voting age or the drinking age. However it is often the day-to-day elements of our age apartheid system…
Great news, New Hampshire has joined Vermont and Wisconsin in introducing bills to lower the drinking age. Unlike Vermont though, the New Hampshire bill covers just those serving in the military. So if you are 18 and in the military you could legally drink in New Hampshire. Its a positive step forward at least. Most…
NYRA-Berkeley recently participated in a successful debate on whether 17-year-olds should be permitted to vote in Berkeley School Board elections. The debate, which took place on the campus of Berkeley High School, was sponsored by the Berkeley Youth Commission and attended by four classes of students. Councilman Max Anderson spoke in favor of the youth…
Chris Lydon, a NYRA member from New Jersey, applied for a grant through his employer, Time Warner. Lydon has done work for NYRA in the past by volunteering at Warped Tour events in New Jersey, and attending meetings in New York. Time Warner gave NYRA a grant in the amount of 1000 dollars, the single…
This fall the Paterson, New Jersey City Council asked residents to vote on whether they would support a youth curfew ordinance. The Council did not present any details or any kind of plan, and the only relevant court case in New Jersey resulted in a ruling against curfews. Unfortunately, Paterson voters overwhelmingly supported the proposed…
To me, school uniforms are so vehemently opposed by young people in the United States because they violate our individual-centured culture. In other countries, such as east Asian, Native-American, or African cultures, uniforms do not arouse the same level of ire because their cultures are collective in nature. Uniforms, because of their inherent nature, seem…
A day ago, NYRA’s website was hacked by an outside person or group. These people added files with malicious content to every directory, sub-directory, sub-sub directory, and so on! When the horrible situation was first noticed, Alex Koroknay-Palicz contacted NYRA’s technical staff. This group of people, Alex Koroknay-Palicz, Jason Kende, Jim Pleger, Rich Jahn, and…
It’s been nearly 13 months since Alex KP, Dave Varney, Alexis Grant, Rio Samsie, and I went to this “Town Hall” meeting at Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School. The subject was a favorite of those with political power: teen driving. Although, I suppose anything related to teens is a favorite of politicians: just take more rights…
