National Youth Rights Association
Encyclopedia
The National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) is the largest youth-led civil rights organization in the United States
promoting youth rights
, with approximately ten thousand members. NYRA proposes lessening and removing various legal restrictions that are imposed on young people but not adults, for example, the voting age
, drinking age, curfew
s and mandatory school attendance
; and other issues like emancipation of minors
and easier process of adoption
to other families. NYRA also favors easier access to legal emancipation for young people and greater respect for student rights.
in 1991, with the creation of the Y-Rights listserv mailing list. Two members of that original Internet presence, Matthew Walcoff and Matt Herman, began a non-profit organization out of that mailing list known as ASFAR
. Not too long after ASFAR was founded, a Rockville, Maryland
high school student began a youth rights group called YouthSpeak. At the same time, a third youth from Canada, Joshua Gilbert, was starting a youth rights organization for his country, the Canadian Youth Rights Association (CYRA). Walcoff, Hein and Gilbert all met through ASFAR, and decided to start a non-profit corporation to help unify the youth rights movement, which at that point consisted of almost a dozen different groups around North America and the world.
non-profit public benefit corporation with intention to lead the Youth Rights political movement in the United States. It was formed by the original founders of ASFAR because of the desire to create a moderate, pragmatic organization in the Youth Rights Movement.
NYRA's current Executive Director is Alex Koroknay-Palicz
has overseen the organization since 2000. As its key spokesman he has been featured on CNN
, Fox News, PBS, The New York Times
, Los Angeles Times
, The Christian Science Monitor
, as well as many others, on youth rights issues such as the voting and drinking ages.
2005 was a significant year for NYRA. In late March, several NYRA members traveled to Vermont in support of a bill lowering the drinking age to 18. They visited numerous colleges and signed up over 2000 new supporters. They participated in a debate at the Vermont state house, and the event was significantly covered by the media. Meanwhile in Washington state, a new chapter in Olympia, Washington
, testified in support of a state constitutional amendment to lower the state's voting age to sixteen. From February to August 2006, President Adam King led a local campaign to add a nonvoting student adviser onto the Buncombe County (N.C.) Board of Education. His project had the support of the Asheville Citizen-Times
and over 60 faculty members and administrators at his high school. However, in August, the Board of Education rejected his proposal citing that they already had sufficient student input. During his campaign, King made several appearances in the media.
By 2006, NYRA's main area of focus was expanding its local chapters. Chapters had increased fivefold between 2003 and 2006. In 2006, the Board of Directors formally established that chapters are separate legal entities. The chapter formation division saw a major restructure near the end of 2006. Previously, the division was divided into five regions with one person assigned to that region. However, the division's management decided to utilize a national pool of representatives working with all intents throughout the nation. In December 2006, NYRA received its first substantial grant from the Babson Foundation. And in January 2007, it began renting an office from Common Cause
in downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2008, the organizations changed its slogan from "the last civil rights movement", in reference to the youth rights movement, to "live free, start young."
In 2009, NYRA began to take prominent legal action and assert itself as a force for youth and students in jurisprudence
. The organization filed its first joint amicus curiae brief in Safford v. Redding
, a student rights case brought before the United States Supreme Court, its President published an opinion opposing the Barr et al. v. Lafon case in the award-winning University of Pittsburgh School of Law journal "the Jurist", and a local chapter filed a lawsuit against the city of West Palm Beach, Florida, in an effort to repeal its curfew, a case which is still ongoing.
NYRA co-sponsored the First Annual National Youth Rights Day which occurred on April 14, 2010. Robert Epstein
wrote The Young Person's Bill of Rights for this event.
It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, including Samantha Godwin, Eric Goldstein, Chris Hardy, Nigel Jones, Usiel Phoenix, Keith Mandell, Katrina Moncure, Kathleen Nicole o'Neal, and Jeffrey Nadel. Its officers include Usiel Phoenix as President, Jeffrey Nadel as Vice President, and Katrina Moncure as Secretary.
NYRA also maintains an influential Advisory Board, including Scarlett Swerdlow of Students for Sensible Drug Policy
; Kevin Keenan of American Civil Liberties Union
-San Diego; Adam Fletcher
of The Freechild Project; Dr. Robert Epstein
, author of The Case Against Adolescence; Dr. David J. Hanson
of Potsdam University
; activist Bennett Haselton
of Peacefire
; Grace Llewellyn
, author of the Teenage Liberation Handbook; Dr. Mike A. Males
, author of Framing Youth and of University of California, Santa Cruz
; Dr. Roderic B. Park of University of Colorado
; Nadine Strossen
of the American Civil Liberties Union
, and; Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H, of the American Council on Science.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
promoting youth rights
Youth rights
Youth rights refers to a set of philosophies intended to enhance civil rights for young people. They are a response to the oppression of young people, with advocates challenging ephebiphobia, adultism and ageism through youth participation, youth/adult partnerships, and promoting, ultimately,...
, with approximately ten thousand members. NYRA proposes lessening and removing various legal restrictions that are imposed on young people but not adults, for example, the voting age
Voting age
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election.The vast majority of countries in the world have established a voting age. Most governments consider that those of any age lower than the chosen threshold lack the necessary...
, drinking age, curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
s and mandatory school attendance
Compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all persons.-Antiquity to Medieval Era:Although Plato's The Republic is credited with having popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought, every parent in Judea since Moses's Covenant with...
; and other issues like emancipation of minors
Emancipation of minors
An emancipated minor is a minor who is allowed to conduct a business or any other occupation on their own behalf or for their own account outside the influence of a parent or guardian. The minor will then have full contractual capacity to conclude contract with regard to the business. Whether...
and easier process of adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
to other families. NYRA also favors easier access to legal emancipation for young people and greater respect for student rights.
Youth rights movement
The youth rights movement first utilized the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
in 1991, with the creation of the Y-Rights listserv mailing list. Two members of that original Internet presence, Matthew Walcoff and Matt Herman, began a non-profit organization out of that mailing list known as ASFAR
Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions
Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions, also known as ASFAR Youth Liberation, is an organization dedicated to increasing the rights of youth under American law...
. Not too long after ASFAR was founded, a Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
high school student began a youth rights group called YouthSpeak. At the same time, a third youth from Canada, Joshua Gilbert, was starting a youth rights organization for his country, the Canadian Youth Rights Association (CYRA). Walcoff, Hein and Gilbert all met through ASFAR, and decided to start a non-profit corporation to help unify the youth rights movement, which at that point consisted of almost a dozen different groups around North America and the world.
Forming NYRA
By June 1998, NYRA was incorporated as a MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
non-profit public benefit corporation with intention to lead the Youth Rights political movement in the United States. It was formed by the original founders of ASFAR because of the desire to create a moderate, pragmatic organization in the Youth Rights Movement.
NYRA's current Executive Director is Alex Koroknay-Palicz
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
Alex Koroknay-Palicz is an American activist in Washington, D.C. He is currently the executive director of the National Youth Rights Association.-Biography:Koroknay-Palicz was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and grew up in Holland, Michigan...
has overseen the organization since 2000. As its key spokesman he has been featured on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox News, PBS, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
, as well as many others, on youth rights issues such as the voting and drinking ages.
2005 was a significant year for NYRA. In late March, several NYRA members traveled to Vermont in support of a bill lowering the drinking age to 18. They visited numerous colleges and signed up over 2000 new supporters. They participated in a debate at the Vermont state house, and the event was significantly covered by the media. Meanwhile in Washington state, a new chapter in Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, testified in support of a state constitutional amendment to lower the state's voting age to sixteen. From February to August 2006, President Adam King led a local campaign to add a nonvoting student adviser onto the Buncombe County (N.C.) Board of Education. His project had the support of the Asheville Citizen-Times
Asheville Citizen-Times
The Asheville Citizen-Times is the major daily newspaper of Asheville, North Carolina. It was formed in 1991 as a result of a merger of the morning Asheville Citizen and the afternoon Asheville Times. It is owned by Gannett.-History:...
and over 60 faculty members and administrators at his high school. However, in August, the Board of Education rejected his proposal citing that they already had sufficient student input. During his campaign, King made several appearances in the media.
By 2006, NYRA's main area of focus was expanding its local chapters. Chapters had increased fivefold between 2003 and 2006. In 2006, the Board of Directors formally established that chapters are separate legal entities. The chapter formation division saw a major restructure near the end of 2006. Previously, the division was divided into five regions with one person assigned to that region. However, the division's management decided to utilize a national pool of representatives working with all intents throughout the nation. In December 2006, NYRA received its first substantial grant from the Babson Foundation. And in January 2007, it began renting an office from Common Cause
Common Cause
Common Cause is a self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit lobby and advocacy organization. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican former cabinet secretary under Lyndon Johnson, as a "citizens' lobby" with a mission focused on making U.S. political institutions more open and...
in downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2008, the organizations changed its slogan from "the last civil rights movement", in reference to the youth rights movement, to "live free, start young."
In 2009, NYRA began to take prominent legal action and assert itself as a force for youth and students in jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
. The organization filed its first joint amicus curiae brief in Safford v. Redding
Safford Unified School District v. Redding
Safford Unified School District v. Redding, 557 U.S. __ , was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. It held that a strip search of a middle schooler violated the Fourth Amendment where the school lacked reasons to suspect either that the drugs presented a danger or that they...
, a student rights case brought before the United States Supreme Court, its President published an opinion opposing the Barr et al. v. Lafon case in the award-winning University of Pittsburgh School of Law journal "the Jurist", and a local chapter filed a lawsuit against the city of West Palm Beach, Florida, in an effort to repeal its curfew, a case which is still ongoing.
NYRA co-sponsored the First Annual National Youth Rights Day which occurred on April 14, 2010. Robert Epstein
Robert Epstein
Robert Epstein Ph.D. is an American psychologist, researcher, writer, and media professional whose primary contributions have been in the areas of creativity, artificial intelligence, peace, adolescence, and interpersonal relationships...
wrote The Young Person's Bill of Rights for this event.
Governance
NYRA is a 501(c)(3) organization registered as a nonprofit corporation in Maryland.It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, including Samantha Godwin, Eric Goldstein, Chris Hardy, Nigel Jones, Usiel Phoenix, Keith Mandell, Katrina Moncure, Kathleen Nicole o'Neal, and Jeffrey Nadel. Its officers include Usiel Phoenix as President, Jeffrey Nadel as Vice President, and Katrina Moncure as Secretary.
NYRA also maintains an influential Advisory Board, including Scarlett Swerdlow of Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international non-profit advocacy and education organization based in Washington D.C., with offices in both Washington D.C. and San Francisco, CA...
; Kevin Keenan of American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
-San Diego; Adam Fletcher
Adam Fletcher (activist)
Adam Fletcher is a leading advocate, author, motivational speaker, and educator focused on youth voice and student engagement, recognized for founding The Freechild Project. His work centers on youth studies, critical thinking and the development of democratic society, and has been acknowledged as...
of The Freechild Project; Dr. Robert Epstein
Robert Epstein
Robert Epstein Ph.D. is an American psychologist, researcher, writer, and media professional whose primary contributions have been in the areas of creativity, artificial intelligence, peace, adolescence, and interpersonal relationships...
, author of The Case Against Adolescence; Dr. David J. Hanson
David J. Hanson
David Justin Hanson is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the State University of New York in Potsdam, New York. He has researched the subject of alcohol and drinking for over 30 years, beginning with his PhD dissertation investigation, and has written widely on the subject.Hanson is often...
of Potsdam University
State University of New York at Potsdam
The State University of New York at Potsdam, also known as SUNY Potsdam, or, colloquially, Potsdam, is a public university located in the Village of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York. Founded in 1816, it is among the 50 oldest colleges in the United States...
; activist Bennett Haselton
Bennett Haselton
Bennett Haselton is the American founder of Circumventor.com and Peacefire.org, two U.S.-based websites dedicated to combating Internet censorship. Peacefire.org is focused on documenting flaws in commercial Internet blocking programs...
of Peacefire
Peacefire
Peacefire is a U.S.-based website, with a registered address in Bellevue, Washington, dedicated to "preserving First Amendment rights for Internet users, particularly those younger than 18". It was founded in August 1996 by Bennett Haselton, who still runs it...
; Grace Llewellyn
Grace Llewellyn
Grace Llewellyn is an American educator, author, and publisher. Her work in the fields of youth liberation, unschooling and homeschooling is widely-regarded. She is the founder of and founder/director of .-Biography:...
, author of the Teenage Liberation Handbook; Dr. Mike A. Males
Mike A. Males
Mike A. Males is an American sociologist who is senior researcher for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, San Francisco, and content director for the online information service on youth issues...
, author of Framing Youth and of University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
; Dr. Roderic B. Park of University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
; Nadine Strossen
Nadine Strossen
Nadine Strossen was president of the American Civil Liberties Union from February 1991 to October 2008. She was the first woman and the youngest person to ever lead the ACLU. A professor at New York Law School, Professor Strossen sits on the Council on Foreign Relations...
of the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, and; Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H, of the American Council on Science.
External links
- Official Website
- Youth Rights Network
- Age of Reason, NYRA's official blog
- NYRA forums