Recently, we sent out an email looking for your youth rights stories. The President of our board of directors, Jeffrey Nadel, shared the story of his fight against West Palm Beach and their youth curfew law. Your stories have begun to come in and we have enjoyed reading them. We look forward to receiving more of your stories as the year goes on.
“At my school, we have very harsh rules regarding identification cards. We are told to wear them constantly, because drug dealers were at our school one day dealing drugs to students. Essentially, they were telling us that these IDs keep drugs out of our school, and lower the rate of rules broken at our school. It is mildly upsetting to see certain students filling up the detention room because they forget their ID card, rather than other students who got into trouble for more serious infractions. It has only created more problems for the school.
What has happened since then is increased penalties on students who forget their IDs. When it was first enacted in 2004 at my school, we’d get a detention if we forgot our ID multiple times. Now, if we forget it more than 4 times per semester, we face suspension or expulsion…simply because we are either forgetful or wish not to wear a degrading lanyard and badge, which makes us feel like cattle. I, myself, found a way to beat the system and put a picture of my school ID on a t-shirt. It is the only way I know how to beat the system. ”
~ Scott Yeager
“I can buy cigarettes but I can’t buy a beer? Srsly?”
~ Nathalie M.
“When I was 12, I went to the library, where someone was holding a discussion for one of my favorite books (and inspiration for the novel I’m writing right now), Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I was pretty much the only teen there. The others? Senior citizens. And instead of discrimination, people were impressed by my input and me. I forgot what we discussed – something about how modern society represents the society in the book. But yes, I impressed and even made friends with the leader of the discussion. My mom was even getting comments like, “Your daughter will go far in life.” And I believe I will.”
~ Alyssa P.
To share your youth rights story (it can be anything, from a video, to a letter, to a poem) please contact us.
