Help spread the word about my latest book, Ending Discrimination Against Young People. You can share this post, or the webpage, or the Amazon.com page with your friends, family, and colleagues. You can also interview me for your blog, write an article about the book, or line me up with any of your contacts toContinue reading “Share the Word!”
Tag Archives: social change
We Are Limitless
I grew up around alchoholics, gamblers, cheaters, and liars. People who sold their souls and materials to serve their vanity, egos, narcissism, and greed were always around my house, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, sobering up and trying to move on with their lives. In all my different work with young people, I have beenContinue reading “We Are Limitless”
Strategies for Social Change
Following are different strategies I have identified for social change led by and with young people. These strategies can be approached individually, but are often entwined as they show different aspects of social change. Note that these are broad strategic frameworks for understanding social change; they aren’t necessarily specific activities or methodologies. I might exploreContinue reading “Strategies for Social Change”
Eaten By The System
“This is the threat to our lives. We all face it. We all operate in our society in relation to a system. Now is the system going to eat you up and relieve you of your humanity or are you going to be able to use the system to human purposes? …If the person doesn’tContinue reading “Eaten By The System”
Empowerment and Engagement
My friend Lori works with youth in the Midwest. She recently asked me, “In the scheme of things, how do we motivate the youth to be empowered rather than entitled?” Dangerously, I’ll suggest that motivation comes through our own experience and example more than anything else. We have to actively demonstrate to young people ourContinue reading “Empowerment and Engagement”
Youth Hyperbole of the Day
Two murders by two sets of teens within a week in two towns somewhere in America: Get ready for the onslaught of generalizations, hyperbole, and overall negative news about the state of youth today. Once again, we’ll see the media overhype these particular situations to serve their own purposes. In reality, young people murder youngContinue reading “Youth Hyperbole of the Day”
Stop Attacking Youth!
Another day, another article slamming young people for not being activists. This one comes from the Left, effectively making its author a fremeny to youth activists today. (He joins these hallowed ranks with Todd Gitlin, among others.) This well-meaning, but poorly informed narrative generally leaves readers with the following points: There isn’t any/enough youth activismContinue reading “Stop Attacking Youth!”
Fight to Free…
Fighting to free the world and struggling to free yourself are not independent; you need to do one in order to do the other. Buried somewhere out there in the world is the belief that people who are working to make the world a better place are somehow being ultimately selfless, acting only in theContinue reading “Fight to Free…”
New Approaches to Youth Action
In my own restlessness, I find myself craving something different these days. I’m increasingly dissatisfied with isolated experiences of “youth-led” activity that is seeded and driven by adults. I have come to see that the majority of this work is largely disingenuous and ultimately incapacitating for the young people who participate in these activities. IContinue reading “New Approaches to Youth Action”
GO TEAM YOUTH! Towards a Future Beyond Boosterism
This morning I read a story about a 14-year-old named Jacob Barnett who might be smarter than Einstein. As I watched it, I had the thought of sharing his story with others. However, I’m generally reluctant to do that. As I’ve written in the past about Michelle Obama and Taylor Wilson, I think adults who areContinue reading “GO TEAM YOUTH! Towards a Future Beyond Boosterism”
