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#30 - YOUTH SPEAKING UP

By now, you should have a better understanding on what freedom of speech for youth entales and how it benefits us. We would like to end off our 30 posts on a positive note, hence here is an example of a simple ordinary teenager stepping up to make a change.

When she was merely in her schooling years, this youth founded her own UNICEF club at her school. Despite facing many problems such as battling in the competitive environment and students doubting the club would be successful, she pushed on and managed to maintain her position as the president and founder. She was constantly made fun of for her efforts, but in the end, through walking from classroom to classroom, presenting on important issues and campaigns, they managed to raise awareness and also convinced the student body that they deserved to have a voice as well. They became one of the most prominent clubs in the school, and succeeded in not only raising awareness on global issues but fostering youth unity throughout their school.

Did you think her journey stopped there? Well, it certainly didn’t. Over the years, she started to get more involved within UNICEF through writing letters and tweets to the Congrrssmen as a member of the Houston Congressional Action Team. In due time, she was selected to be a member of the National Council in 2017-2018 and up till now, she serves as a spokeperson for the youth.

This shows that despite starting from something small, you can achieve great things. As teenagers now, we may not think that we are able to make a change. but we deserve the freedom to voice our opinions as well, and we could turn out to make a difference. Thank you for your time, we hope you enjoyed reading the posts. 😆😆

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#29 - How can young people be better included in decision-making processes around the world?

1. Governments and international organisations need to reach out to young people on the margins of society, who do not necessarily enjoy the privileges of high-quality education and access to networks. International conferences need to welcome true diversity among youth participants – whether socio-economic, cultural or geographic. It is the introverts and sceptics we need to bring to these meetings and involve in a constructive dialogue.

2. We should recognise that young people are not a homogenous constituency. They are different across cultures, religions and countries. Yet they are connected by their age and the degree to which they rely on the present for their future. Young people in North America and the Middle East are connected in that the actions of current decision-makers will have an impact on their generation as they come of age and become decision-makers themselves.

3. We should pay attention to and harness one of the largest global phenomena among young people – a growing demand for dialogue. The extraordinary success of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram illustrate a need to communicate. We must use this need to mobilise young people to change the world for the better and shape the future they want for themselves.

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#28 - All across the world, there are many students who have their own views on freedom of speech. As spoken by Jake Heisson, Wilmington, N.C:

“Freedom of speech lies at the core of democracy. It is a right so crucial to freedom and the function of our government that it was the first right listed on our Bill of Rights. Free speech creates an environment for people to freely discuss their ideas and develop them with the input of others. Without it, our country would almost undoubtedly be without the freedom we treasure so much. When a totalitarian ruler is trying to take power, one of the first things they limit is their freedom of speech. This goes to show that freedom of speech is the cornerstone of our entire governmental system.”

Youths, like adults have their own opinions and they must have a platform which allows their voices to be heard. Moreover, the youths are also aware of the type of “Freedom of Speech” that they withhold. A Student from Washington, D.C, said: “I think that free speech is free speech only if the presentation of the opinion is respectful and nonviolent.”

This article presents the different perspectives which students take on certain persistent issues in America, their opinions stated are extremely valuable and meaningful. Giving youths the freedom to express themselves will allow one to improve themselves, a system and will also give youths a chance to experience leadership in the real-world context.

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#27 - Getting teenagers involved in decision making is highly beneficial for society. It is highly important for youths to be involved in decision making as not only is it about inclusivity, but it shows what benefits youths have to offer for organisations and whole communities. Having youths involved in decision making also benefits adult-youth relationships.

How adults benefit from this:

- Adults begin to see youth as contributors, and stereotypes are broken down.

- Adult levels of commitment, attachment and energy for an organization often increase when they gain an opportunity to work with youth.

- Adults gain a better understanding of young people; a fresh perspective; a bridge to other youth; enthusiasm, creativity, flexibility and pro-activeness.

How organisations and communities benefit from this:

- Involving youth is a human rights issue and it fulfills the right to be involved in decision-making and recognizes full citizenship.

- Engaging youth encourages young people to become active community members who will be more likely to vote and be engaged in the democratic process.

- Young people are given the opportunity to assume leadership roles and gain skills and practical experience leading to more effective decision-making in the future.

- Granting youth control over decisions affecting their lives builds capacity in young people to take ownership for their lives and their communities.

Having youths involved in decision making is highly important, as not only is it a human right, but it is beneficial to society as well.

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#26 - “I remember the horror when I encountered my first Hong Kong separatist abroad. I felt shock and rage—surely they shouldn’t be allowed to have such thoughts? And that’s how your mind works when your own thoughts have been controlled for too long. I remember typing out an aggressive message to the separatist but deciding against sending it. I remember seeing Free Tibet protests on the street and wanting to yell at them. I even remember fantasizing about sabotaging Ai Weiwei’s art exhibit when he toured in my city. Anything for that red-hot nationalism. In my mind, I was prepared to serve my country—and that meant violence and shouting down others.” a youth quoted.

In a global environment where the Han supremacy is being aggressively promoted by the Chinese state, it’s difficult for any dissenter to exist.

Many have tried to argue that young students from China hold diverse views but that the moderate voices are not as loud. Those moderate voices are there, but it’s not just an issue of volume but one of quantity. Journalists sometimes go on to interview a handful of Chinese students who are open-minded enough to speak to Western media, but these voices are fringe and unrepresentative of the community.

It is human nature to want to see the best in people, but the party doesn’t bring out the best in the Chinese people. Some of the most obscene comments I have seen have been from perfectly normal and gentle people to be around—after a lifetime of patriotic education and state media incitement, their minds short-circuit on contentious issues.

Nationalists are the majority—and likely to stay that way. In a global environment where Han supremacy is being aggressively promoted by the Chinese state, and where Western governments are often indifferent at best to alternatives, it’s difficult for any dissenter to exist.

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#25 - This article is about foster youths deserving the right to speak for themselves in court.

A youth in foster care spoke up about how she was not able to make decisions for herself in court and even how decisions were made for her in their absence. She was often not made aware of her court dates, and her attorney had ignored her concerns and attended her hearing without her where they discharged her form foster care without her permission, even though she had signed a board extension which allows youths to be under foster care until age 21.

Foster youths often do not have control over decisions made in court and unfortunately do not realise that they have a right to speak up about choices made for THEIR life.

As a result, Youth Fostering Change, a youth advocacy project of Juvenile Law Centre, was created to raise awareness regarding this issue. They have created recommendations to improve foster youth attendance and experience in court. For example;

1. Youths attending dependency hearings should be encouraged to engage meaningfully in court.

- this means that they should be given opportunities to voice their concerns by speaking up of having their lawyers speak on their behalf, or by sharing a written statement

2. Ensure foster youths are attending court by having agencies provide them with a mode of transport, as well as to inform the youths of their court dates

- this is to ensure that there are no barriers restricting foster youths

Foster youths should be allowed to have a right to speak for themselves in court, and to have a say in their life decisions.

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#24 - MALALA YOUSAFZAI’S SPEECH AT THE YOUTH TAKEOVER OF THE UNITED NATIONS STANDING UP FOR YOUTH RIGHTS

Malala Yousafzai is well-known for standing up for human rights, particularly women. When she was just a student, she spoke up for the rights of girls to be educated, resultin in getting shot in the head. Despite this, Malala survived and continued to stand up for human rights. In this video, she gives a speech at the Youth Takeover of the UN which took place in 2013.

In the video, you can hear her as she fights for the rights of both girls and boys to be given the right to be treated with dignity and to be given equal opportunity. This includes giving youth their freedom of speech. In addition, Malala says “We will speak for our rights and we will bring change through our voice. We must believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the world.”, showing her firm belief in the power and influence of speech.

Not only does she stand up for youth being given the opportunity to freely express their opinions, but she is also a perfect example. She has impacted change and is recognsied for her courage and compassion despite the traumatic experience of being shot in her head, giving speeches and speaking up as a youth, and therefore we should appreciate and acknowledge her efforts.

“Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing. Malala day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights” -Malala Yousafzai

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#23 - “YOUTH” is a song by canadian singer and songwriter Shawn Mendes!!!! This song also features Khalid. In the song, the singers utter words of true inspiration to the youth. They inspire them to keep their heads up and not let the horrible things unfolding in the world break them or take away their youth. Shawn and Khalid joined forces to write this song in the aftermath of two terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom – the 2017 London Bridge attack and the Manchester Arena bombing. The song’s music video was released on November 5, 2018 (a day before the 2018 U.S. midterm elections). The video was deliberately released on this date to encourage the younger generations to go out and vote on November 6. The immense power of the youth to make change is the video’s main theme. Among other things, the clip shows a number of scenes from the youth-led 2018 March for Our Lives demonstration.

As they are youths themselves, this is an example of how we can use our talents to our advantage, to help other fellow youths and assure them that we have the right to make a change in this world

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#22 - DEFEND FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS TO SUPPORT STUDENT JOURNALISTS

Due to a portion of the population not supporting free speech, with a quarter of the population wanting the president to utilise their power to shutter media outlets and nearly a third thinking that the First Amendment ‘goes too far’, university students are not given the chance to freely express their views, thus affecting student journalists, as they must ensure that what they publish is appropriate instead of publishing what they truly believe.

In addition, given the chance to fully exercise freedom of speech is crucial to the students having the ability to navigate media once they complete their schooling years. With the lack of experience, students are bound to face problems when dealing with social media.

To solve this issue, policymakers in Virginia and Nebraska have put in effort to ensure that student journalists enjoy the full protection of the First Amendment and are able to exercise freedom in their writing to widen their horizon, enabling them to learn more and in the long run, ‘ensure that all students on those campuses graduate with awareness of what it means to be part if a free and independent press’.

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#21 - Fifteen kids from a dozen countries, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, recently brought a formal complaint to the United Nations and are arguing that climate change violates children’s rights as guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a global agreement.

By petitioning the U.N. on behalf of the world’s children, the youths action made history. But it’s not the first time that kids have turned to this international accord in pursuit of social change.

The convention formally recognizes children as people with universal human rights and specific rights because of their age. It reflects a shift away from seeing children entirely as the possessions of their parents to treating them as individuals with equal rights and their own interests.

Many countries have taken action to promote children’s rights and well-being based in part on its mandate. For example, South Africa recently became the 57th country to prohibit corporal punishment – any act intended to cause pain or discomfort, such as paddling and spanking – in all settings, including schools and homes.

In Ireland, a 2012 constitutional amendment gave kids the right to be heard in custody hearings and other court proceedings. And in Nigeria, the federal government created a children’s parliament and incorporated the perspectives of minors when drafting that country’s Children’s Rights Act.

President Bill Clinton signed this convention in 1995. But the U.S. Congress has never ratified this accord.

In fact, the U.S. is the only country that has refused to embrace the world’s most-ratified human rights agreement. It has 196 signatories including all of the U.N. member states except the U.S. plus some U.N. observers and non-members, such as Palestine, the Holy See and the South Pacific territories of Cook Islands and Niue.

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#20 - The youths, despite the stigma against abortion, are taking steps to fight against the issue.

In the current environment it can be challenging not to despair about the future of abortion in the United States. However, youth activists are working every day to ensure that in the present, and in the future, this Constitutional right and needed medical service is available to all who need it.

When the Title X domestic gag rule was announced and a public comment period opened, hundreds of thousands of activists submitted comments condemning the gag rule. These comments will comprise the basis of legal challenges to the domestic gag rule and other policies.

Proactive abortion bills exist at both the federal and state levels that could expand access to abortion care for young people.

California recently passed a law requiring state universities to offer medication abortion in campus health centers – a major victory in a fight led by young people on those campuses.

The EACH Woman Act would permanently end the Hyde amendment, allowing public funding for insurance of abortion care.

The Women’s Health Protection Act would help protect abortion care by providing a safeguard against extreme abortion restrictions in the states.

Abortion storytelling (people sharing their real stories about abortion) can help dispel stigma and increase support for abortion access. Young people are leading storytelling efforts, including those of Abortion Out Loud, formerly the 1 in 3 Campaign, through which over a thousand young people on college campuses have held events to counter abortion stigma.

Many grassroots efforts to connect individuals with needed abortion care exist, including clinic escort programs; volunteer abortion doulas who help navigate the process and experience of abortion; abortion funds through which individuals may donate to those who can’t afford abortion care; and efforts to decriminalize self-managed abortion and stop the prosecution of those who have obtained medication abortion outside the medical system.

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#19 - Young people have the right to protect their health and plan their futures. That includes decisions about pregnancy and parenting. Yet young people face many barriers to reproductive health care, including inadequate sex education and lack of access to contraception. When it comes to abortion care, we live in an increasingly hostile climate, with access to abortion services shrinking for many. Young people face even more legal restrictions to abortion than adults.

Young people face a bewildering array of restrictions to getting abortion care. In fact, anti-abortion extremists in Congress and in states around the nation attempt to push hundreds of restrictions through each year, openly stating they wish to overturn Roe vs. Wade and end legal abortion in the United States. Restrictions impact young people especially, for a number of reasons: their periods may be irregular, so it takes longer to suspect they are pregnant; they have lower income, making cost a barrier; and they are less able to take time off from work or school and travel the long distance many must go to seek abortion care. Immigrants and people of color face even greater barriers.

Laws and policies which impede young people’s access to abortion care include: Parental involvement laws, Title x domestic gag rules, The Hyde amendment and other state level restrictions that prevent the youths of today from seeking proper abortion.

Abortion stigma” can be defined as negative cultural attitudes toward abortion, and an environment that promotes shame and silence around abortion. It is the implication that abortion is a moral error rather than a health care need, and that someone who has one has made a mistake or done something wrong.

Anti-abortion activists stop at nothing in their attempts to end legal abortion. From highly inflammatory rhetoric, to racist tactics, to aggressive protestors, the anti-abortion movement shows little compassion for those who need abortion care. Their actions cause patients to experience fear and emotional pain, but not to change their minds about abortion.

In 2019, President Trump (and many other lawmakers) made inaccurate and highly inflammatory statements about abortion that occurs later in pregnancy. This level of heightened rhetoric from the highest office in the nation only served to embolden anti-abortion extremists and to propagate stigma.

A small number of cities currently choose to designate themselves “abortion sanctuary cities” claiming abortion was not permitted within their borders; since these cties have no provider and the resolution is non-enforceable, the gesture is symbolic, intended to shame and embarrass people who need abortion care.

Since 1997 there have been dozens of attacks on abortion providers and clinics; in 2017, violence doubled from the previous year – driven by a cultural environment that teaches that abortion providers are criminals who need punishment.

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#18 - There has been many forced child labour cases around the world. However, the children are helpless and unable to seek help from the outside. They have to take such measures like sewing "DEGRADING SWEATSHOP CONDITIONS" onto clothes tags in order to cry out for help. This shows the need for freedom of speech, especially in less developed countries, where youths are forced to work labour intensive jobs.

However, all hope is not lost. Youths in developed countries can help those in less developed countries by being their voices. We can and we should not be afraid to step up for them since it is only fair that they have a meaningful and enjoyable youth as well.

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#17 - WHY IS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION SO IMPORTANT TO YOUTH? (from an 18 year old’s point of view!)

Although Steph Tan is young, she wants to be heard as an individual and be given the chance to express her ideas and opinions to adults so that she can earn their respect and would thus be allowed to contribute in decision-makings and discussions. This also helps build her self confidence and sense of achievement, thus building her character.

Apart from personal benefits, Steph Tan feels that freedom of necessary of youth is necessary for ensuring that a family remains united, as when her parents consider and listen to what she says, she feels that she has a bigger role in the family, and she also feels that they trust and value her opinion.

However, Steph Tan feels that the freedom of speech for youth is most important because it gives them a voice and a chance to stand up for what they believe in, rather than pretending that you agree.

Hence, Steph Tan feels that the freedom of expression is extremely important to youth like her as it gives them a greater sense of self worth and allow their voices to be heard.

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#16 freedom of speech is important to all people, especially the youths, so here are some views of freedom of speech from the youth in the world now:

“Freedom of speech is one of, if not the most essential first amendment right in the running of a successful democracy. Freedom of speech is what allows for debate and what, along with freedom of the press, allows for the transfer of information, and is also the most powerful right for affecting social and political change.”

— Aeddon, Providence

“Freedom of speech is an important right because a person’s voice is sometimes all that person has. To take away a person’s thoughts and opinions is to diminish their values and strip their life away.”

— Yessenia, Rhode Island

these are the views of some students opinions on freedom of speech, showing that america is giving the youths of their country a chance to voice out their opinion.

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#15 - In Singapore, the government has announced that they want to give youths more power to shape the future of the country, under a new initiate that will allow them to highlight the issues that they feel strongly for and to propose solutions. A panel would be given to allow youths to help articulate a youth vision for the Republic in 2025 and create an action plan to achieve it. The appointed youth leaders for the various sectors and organisation will engage peers in developing the SG Youth in Action plan. Moreover, opportunities will also be created for young people to provide policy recommendations and create partnership projects with the government and other stakeholders.

If these youths had not been given the right to a freedom of speech, this would definitely be unlikely to happen. Youths are given the right to have a say in the political issues regarding the government and allowed youths to also speak up on societal issues, which is deemed to be very crucial and significant in today’s world. Moreover, by appointing youth leaders, it will definitely give these youths and opportunity to lead and hone leadership skills. Giving every youth a fair chance and equal opportunity to grow through the implementation of rights, will definitely allow for them to shape the future and be more ready to become leaders of the world.

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#14 - Climate change will have the greatest effect on youths than the other current generations. Therefore, youths are the ones who will give their all to improve the current situation. It is only fair that youths are given the right to fight for what will affect them. Take Greta Thunberg. In 2018, the 15-year-old from Sweden sparked a global movement of school-age students demanding greater action from governments to fight climate change. Now millions are marching to demonstrate their support.