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YCteen publishes true stories by teens, giving readers insight into the issues that matter most in young people's lives.
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Social Justice (60 found)
Note: These stories are from YCteen and its sister publication, Represent, which is written by and for youth in foster care.
Rose and her family, who are from Canada, host a food drive at their house for those suffering during the pandemic. It feels good to help, but Rose also wonders why the U.S. government doesn't do more. (full text)
After the wave of protests following George Floyd's murder, many organizations asserted that "Black Lives Matter" to them. Gabrielle asks the ACS Commissioner how deep that commitment goes. (full text)
Amallia Orman is the New York City DOE’s first ever Student Voice Manager. She shares her plans to get students’ input into how schools are run.
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Abdullah was counting on his Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) job, both for experience and to help him pay for college. When New York City canceled SYEP, Abdullah joined the movement to restore it. (full text)
Zachary evaluates different presidential candidates' positions on climate change. (full text)
For many months, Alexandra Villasenor has been striking in front of the United Nations to protest governments’ inaction about climate change. Now adults are starting to pay attention. (full text)
Aaron Hoagland grew up around violence in his Flatbush, Brooklyn community. He joins a teen program to help train other young people learn nonviolent ways to solve problems. (full text)
Sixteen-year-old Leanne Nunes has experienced inequity in her own education and is committed to changing the system. (full text)
After Ruby lives through the terror attack near her high school, she is motivated to play a more active role in the fight to end gun violence. (full text)
Christina aims to dispel the various stereotypes associated with people who live in the projects. (full text)
Gang violence is frequent on the streets of Guaiba, Brazil, where Carolina is from. She visits Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets (YO S.O.S.), to learn how they are working to make their community safer. (full text)
With the teen organization Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets (YO S.O.S.), Sashwat participates in a theater performance designed to combat violence. (full text)
Are protests an effective tool for change? Christina examines this while reporting on an action against the administration’s zero-tolerance policy, which caused the separation of over 2,500 children from their parents or guardians at the U.S.-Mexico border. (full text)
For Carolina, who is from Brazil where there is much gang activity, the threat of gun violence is personal. (full text)
Writers from the 2017 summer writing workshop explore what it means to be an activist. They realize while talking that they actually do quite a lot! (full text)
Is the two-time NFC champion quarterback not getting offered a contract because he’s being punished for his activism against racism? Toyloy presents his case for why he believes that he is. (full text)
When Rianna's mom loses her job, the family has to move into a shelter. Of course it isn't like the comfort of home, but it's not the cramped, crowded, dirty place she expected. (full text)
Teens write about what the issues they care most about during this presidential campaign. LGBTQ rights, poverty, gun control, and voter restrictions are some of the topics they cover. (full text)
The writer, a Stuyvesant High School student, is eligible for free lunch and her family is on food stamps. She writes about how this government assistance benefits her. (full text)
Climate change isn't a far off concept, it's affecting us now. Cindy urges our politicians to make the issue a priority and to take immediate actions. (full text)
Hoa writes about moving from shelter to shelter: “Experiencing homelessness is something no child should have to go through, but it’s made me sympathetic toward other people who are struggling." (full text)
Aniqa reports on racism experienced by black students in her school. When a #hashtag is created to inspire students to speak out, the school community must confront difficult issues. (full text)
Bernadette was shy and insecure. In an effort to become more outgoing and confident, she joins several youth councils. (full text)
On Hande's last trip to Turkey, she sees Syrian refugees and realizes anyone could be driven from their home. She asks all countries to welcome refugees. (full text)
Julia shows solidarity with her LGBTQ friends by participating in a Day of Silence to honor those silenced by bullying. (full text)
After the decision not to indict the white police officer accused of killing Eric Garner, who was black, five writers went to their first-ever protest. (full text)
Using specific examples from their lives, contest winners write to President Obama about why he needs to make climate change a priority today. (full text)
Kelly joins her high school's Gay-Straight Alliance. Despite unpleasant reactions from some peers, she participates in annual awareness-raising events. (full text)
Julijana is horrified by "Kony 2012," a video about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, and immediately shares the link on Facebook. However, after learning more about the viral video, she wonders if social media is an effective tool for activism. (full text)
This teen-friendly guide to the Occupy Wall Street movement—with accompanying videos—explains the financial inequality that activists are protesting. (full text)
You can't swim or fish in Brooklyn's polluted canal, but the EPA and a handful of concerned citizens are working hard to clean it up. (full text)
Nesshell admires the Anti-Defamation League's message of tolerance. But in attempting to spread this message, she learns that she won't always meet with like-minded people. (full text)
YCteen interviews three experts on race: Rinku Sen, a racial justice activist; Lasana Harris, a neuroscientist who studies how our brains process race; and Dalton Conley, a sociologist and author of the memoir "Honky." (full text)
According to police records, the NYPD stopped 508,540 pedestrians in 2006 for questioning or frisking. The vast majority of those stopped were black or Latino, and 90% weren’t found to be doing anything wrong. Sidebar to previous article. (full text)
Getting stopped by the police is common in minority neighborhoods, but when 50 kids get arrested in Bushwick, Brooklyn just for walking down the street, they decide to take action. Helped by an activist curriculum at their alternative school, they successfully sue the police. (full text)
Whether it’s because they’re not documented, because their houses are illegally overcrowded, or just because they don’t like the idea of sharing personal information, many foreign born Americans will ignore this year’s census. (full text)
Chantal introduces articles about juvenile justice by noting that more than 2,500 prisoners are serving life without parole in the U.S. for crimes they committed before they were 18. No other country in the world does this. (full text)
Outraged by the unfairness of the juvenile justice system, Olivia embarks on a campaign to educate people. (full text)
While Wall St. has recovered from the recession, a lot of low and moderate income workers have lost their jobs permanently. NYC reporters travel to three different neighborhoods (wealthy, moderate income, and poor) to find out on the ground how the recession is affecting people. (full text)
Zachary reports on his experience at the 2019 climate strike. He calls for young people to hold their elected representatives accountable for combating climate change. (full text)
Daleelah is self-conscious about her weight until she participates in a girls' empowerment group. There she discovers self-love as a revolutionary act in the face of society’s negative beauty stereotypes. (full text)
The recession of 2008-2011 is the latest setback for Marco’s father, an immigrant who hoped to find financial stability when he came to the U.S. 20 years ago. (full text)
When Antwaun returns to Harlem after living in a safer, more middle class neighborhood in Queens, he realizes how far he's traveled from his roots. (full text)
Natasha interviews minority teens in the suburbs to explore the relationship between race and success. (full text)
The writer lives in a poor neighborhood where junk food predominates. (full text)
Diana feels ashamed that her family is on welfare—until she sees what it’s like to pay bills. (full text)
Zach interviewed people at the September 20, 2019 climate march in New York. The march coincided with the United Nations climate summit and featured 16-year-old Greta Thunberg's speech at the end. (full text)
Kaylee has worked with refugees for 12 years, helping connect them to families who can help them. Then she hears about Esther and decides to be her foster mom. (full text)
Inspired by the activist teens in Parkland, Florida, Carolina takes a bus to Washington DC to protest gun violence and the lack of laws preventing it. (full text)
Demetria joins a new Black Lives Matter club in her school. She gets frustrated with her small role, but overcomes her impatience for the sake of the cause. (full text)
Writers from the 2017 summer writing workshop explore what it means to be an activist. They realize while talking that they actually do quite a lot! (full text)
The activities help youth structure stories about their own lives and leads them to explore how and for what causes they could become activists. (full text)
Jazmine connects bell hooks' insights on class and race to what she sees around her and suggests ways for poor people of color to organize. (full text)
Margaret interviews several people and groups who share strategies on how girls and women can respond to sexual harassers safely but effectively. (full text)
Five youth advocates, ages 21-30, who were themselves in foster care, discuss how they told their own stories, learned to communicate effectively, began helping others, and their ideas for system change. (full text)
Miguel joins youth-led advocacy group FACE (Fostering Advocacy Change and Empowerment) and finds satisfaction in helping others and sharpening his public speaking skills. (full text)
Youth advocates in California and Oregon travel to their state capitols to lobby for improvements to those states' foster care systems. (full text)
Jesse goes into care at age 9 and anger leads him to a life of drugs, violence, and homelessness. He cleans up, finds God, and devotes his life to helping others. (full text)
Victor interviews former foster youth Jessica Maxwell, who heads up the Foster Youth Success Alliance. FYSA is pushing for legislation that would require New York state to pay for college for youth in care. (full text)
The Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) is a group of youth and adults working to improve foster care in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In one of their projects, young people are trained to go into homes and talk privately with kids about their concerns. (full text)
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