“The Youths Shall Inherit the Earth…”

"Half of all adults believe that the behaviour of young people in their community has gotten worse. They've reacted by encouraging and supporting the enactment of anti-youth laws such as curfews, enacting zero-tolerance policies, raising the driving age, and even strip-searching you illegally in your school."

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By Joshua Gilbert, President, Canadian Youth Rights Association

Across North America, half of all adults believe that the behaviour of the young people in their community has gotten worse. They've reacted by encouraging and supporting the enactment of anti-youth laws such as curfews, enacting zero-tolerance policies, raising the driving age, and even strip searching you illegally in your school.

This article is about a rather serious issue, and not just one limited to Woodlands High School. It's about the scapegoating of our young people and the continued denial of equal rights and opportunities and what you can do about it.

Equal rights for youth is not a new issue. One of the first persons to suggest it was John Holt, in his book Escape from Childhood, printed in 1974. Subsequent authors have addressed the issue in further depth. It is most commonly suggested that we extend the rights of voting and legal emancipation (age of majority -- ie. ability to contract and hold debt and property), and eliminate curfews, to those under 18.

The reasons for wanting to extend equal rights for youth vary from individual to individual. Some people simply believe in the philosophy of equal rights for all. Others may believe that empowering youth will lead them to become more productive members of our society, while some believe that empowering youth will lead to the curbing and eventual elimination of child abuse.

Before the Internet, youth rights organizations were scared. The only organization that existed for such a purpose was the National Child Rights Association. But with the advent of the Internet, youth have been able to band together like never before. One of the first youth-run and youth-operated youth rights organizations was the Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions, which I once served as President of, until an internal membership battle regarding the age of consent (many members wanted to seek to lower or eliminate it!) led me to resign in disgust. Other organizations, such as Youthspeak and the National Youth Rights Association, have followed. There's even an e-zine called Oblivion.net dedicated exclusively to youth rights.

In 1997, at the age of 16, I incorporated the Canadian Youth Rights Association along with two other directors. Since then we have worked to get our organization started and are now starting to get active in the youth rights movement. We hope to eliminate the voting age, stop curfews from becoming as popular in Canada as they now are in the United States, and to fight discriminatory business and employment laws, discrimination in the media, and fascist-like-administration in the school system.

For more information on CYRA and youth rights in general, please visit our home page at http://www.net-globe.com/cyra/. There you will also find links to other youth rights organizations.

-- Joshua Gilbert, President Canadian Youth Rights Association