The key to the success of the youth rights movement will come in getting our message across. A protest can get local and even national attention, greatly increase membership, and give notice to politicians that we are for real.

A protest is not hard to organize. It can be done in five steps:

1. Getting people to attend

Set a day VERY early, at least one month in advance. Pick a date and a time when you think people will attend (probably a weekend afternoon).

Start with family and friends? Do any support youth rights? Would any people able and willing to attend the protest?

Then talk to your classmates or coworkers. Would any be willing to attend?

Once you have 5 or 10 or 15 people committed to coming to the protest, you can start passing out leaflets outside your school, or the mall, or anywhere you think interested people would be.

2. Finding a location

Try to find a location that is easily reachable by everyone. You need to make sure you can legally hold the protest at the time and place you want. You may need to get a permit to hold a protest. Call your local ACLU or City Hall.

For any protest, you will need to contact your local press, well in advance, at least one week before the protest. You should call the news department of your local newspaper, radio and tv stations, and find out the fax number. Then fax a press release stating the time, date and place, and the reason for the protest. You may also be able to e-mail this information to the press.

4. Having the Protest

The protest must be peaceful and legal. We encourage you to plan in advance what you will do at your protest. Will you have speehes, sing songs, etc. Make sure someone brings a still picture camera and a video camera so that you can record the event if television stations do not show.

Make sure you contact YouthSpeak right after the protest and let us know what happened. Also, you may want to contact any members of the press who did not show up at the protest.

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