In this essay, I’m going to talk a bit about three different philosophies of Youth Liberation, problems that are likely to arise between them, and how each is basically responding to a different (and important) aspect of adultism. I. THREE FLAVORS OF YOUTH LIBERATION There are lots of different ways to approach Youth Liberation. However,…
A Key to Developing Positive Youth-Adult Relationships Most of us are youth workers because we care about young people. Personally we want to both be effective and have good relationships with young people. We are satisfied when things go well. We feel bad when our relationships sour. Sometimes we scratch our heads in dismay when,…
While most common oppressions, such as sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, even speciesism, have been identified, widely acknowledged, thoroughly discussed and deeply analyzed, one oppression remains largely untouched. This fact is astonishing given that the group oppressed by this ignored injustice is one to which every adult human has once belonged. It is the one oppression…
This excerpt is just a small section from many essays, articles, documents, and letters written on discrimination due to lack of age that one can find on the internet: Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of this country said that “Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little security will lose both and…
Youth Liberation seeks to change how adults treat young people. But what makes someone an “adult”? Who falls into the category of “young people”? Where is the line between these two groups? I. THREE MODELS OF AGE Before we begin trying to answer these questions, it’s valuable to take a step back and look first…
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. Today in North American society a new scapegoat is being fabricated, this scapegoat is our…
In 1988, the William T. Grant Foundation released a report that found the picture painted by adult culture of youth in our society as pervasively negative. The commission wrote, There is a portrait of youth that is not only misleading, but harmful. We ought to correct the record out of a sense of fairness, as…
Suppose you suddenly found yourself in the body of a twelve-year-old child. Suppose that despite this physical transformation, your personality, your knowledge and every other aspect of your mind remained unchanged. How might this affect your life? This was the theme of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (entitled “Rascals”). A transporter malfunction…
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…
A couple months ago, I was explaining the Mosquito device to someone, about how we had the Gallery Place one taken down and why. But he didn’t seem sold on the idea of, you know, allowing teens to assemble freely in public, citing the recent case where a group of teens created a rowdy flash…
