Every year around this time, we hear the same soundbites from Martin Luther King’s poetic but relatively innocuous “I Have a Dream” speech. In some schools, textbooks include King’s more thought-provoking essay “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” but they usually censor the thought-provoking parts. What those in power are most eager to hide from young audiences…
NYRA is beginning a local advertising campaign in Abilene, Texas to initiate reforms towards a lower drinking age and to raise awareness of youth rights. This campaign will direct Texas residents to the NYRA site where they can find answers to their frequently asked questions, get legal research on drinking age laws for all 50…
One of NYRA’s most intensive campaigns took place in March & April of 2005. Rep. Richard Marron introduced a bill in the Vermont legislature to lower the state’s drinking age to eighteen. The bill had widespread support and Vermont was an ideal state to push the issue. NYRA-Vermont mobilized in support of it and invited…
This is my first blog post in far too long. In fact, I’ve been depressingly absent from NYRA for quite a while. Two things are bringing me back here. The first is that I suddenly find myself with a rare free few hours. The second is, oddly enough, my 21st birthday, which was almost two…
Because of the drinking age, people who attend underage drinking parties are sometimes afraid to report any emergencies. In some cases, this results in death. What do you call this? Is it a tragic accident? Is it his/her own fault for overdosing? The real question is this. What do you call it when someone needs…
One of our bigger campaigns here at NYRA is lowering the drinking age, the issue about which we’ve probably gotten the most press, as well as the most vocal opposition, whether angry opinion articles or pro-21 forum trolls or that time Alex Koroknay-Palicz was tabling and someone came up and screamed at him after merely…
What a week for youth rights! At times like this, I am thrilled to be a NYRA member. With our tiny budget but a great deal of passion, NYRA was able to have a significant impact on all three branches of government this week. It makes me happy to see what our organization can accomplish,…
The Vermont Senate has passed a resolution asking the federal government to drop its threat of penalties for states that want to lower their drinking age. The resolution states that the minimum drinking age should be left to state discretion and cites several reasons why 18 would be a more appropriate minimum age. Congress was…
Spotted a very interesting post over at the Institute for Democratic Education in America. It started as a response to the following comment: I used to direct an after-school program, which was housed in a public school classroom, and I tried to implement a democratic meeting with my middle school students (a diverse group in…
The 21 year old drinking age doesn’t work. You know it, NYRA knows it, Choose Responsibility knows it. Vote for this issue so the whole country can understand the harm that the 21 year old drinking age does: https://www.change.org/ideas/view/21_doesnt_work_change_the_drinking_age The top 10 ideas with the most votes on Change.org will be presented to President Obama…
