
“Climate Arsonist”: How the Trump Administration Impacted the Environment
By Raya El-Hajjar, age 13 “It’ll start getting cooler...you just watch,” President Trump said as he sat in a news briefing in Sacramento, California. It was September 2020, at the height of the California wildfires. A picture of burning trees was displayed on his...

Personal Report: The Challenges of Educating During a Pandemic
By Arnay Agarwal, Age 12 & IndyKids Staff Teachers are great problem solvers, but the coronavirus pandemic has presented challenges unlike any other. From technical glitches to exposing the socioeconomic inequities of education to dealing with overstretched...

IndyTeens: The Deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd Spark Protests Similar to the Civil Rights Movement
By Carlos Prates Tavares, age 16 On May 26, after the death of George Floyd, protests against police brutality and racism sparked across the country. These protests are reminiscent of the civil rights movement, bearing uncanny resemblances as well as differences....

IndyTeens Op-Ed: From Columbus to Netanyahu
By Raya El Hajjar, age 13 Everyone knows the year 1492. It is the year that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America. From then on, Indigenous land was continuously taken, while the Native peoples were displaced or restricted to reservations. Now the remaining Native...

IndyTeens: Devastated Wuhan Hit by Heavy Floods
By Dayanara Hernandez, age 15 Originally published, July 2020 Heavy rains and flooding over late May and June in southern and central China have displaced over 2 million people, and at least 141 people are dead or missing. This is the worst flooding to hit the country...

IndyTeens: Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis Worsens as COVID-19 Strains War-Torn Country
By Ishaan Horwith, age 13 The humanitarian crisis in Yemen, a country already devastated by an ongoing civil war, has worsened dramatically since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, increasing the demand for aid and crippling an already struggling healthcare system....

IndyTeens: Amazon Fires Fueled by Human Greed
By Sophia Reilly, age 12 The Amazon is burning. Brazil is facing not only a pandemic but an environmental disaster as well. The number of fires in the Amazon rainforest has risen over the last year due to legal and illegal deforestation. According to Brazil’s space...

IndyTeens: Fast Fashion Amid a Pandemic of Human Rights and Environmental Violations
By Luca Pang, age 16 What is fast fashion? If you’re unfamiliar with the term, fast fashion refers to cheap clothing which is rapidly produced by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends. Many people are still unaware of the true social and environmental...

IndyTeens OP-ED: Trump and the Rise of Authoritarianism
By Neva Simon, age 16 Donald Trump has repeatedly taken advantage of the American government to fit the agenda and desires of his administration, like his preference to protect the economy more than people during the COVID-19 crisis. But recently, he has begun taking...

IndyTeens: Trump Administration’s Recent Ruling Attacks LGBTQ+ Community
By Sabat Ali, age 14 As the global pandemic continues to worsen, access to healthcare providers is crucial to staying healthy and safe. However, President Trump’s recent measures have attempted to make it difficult for members of the transgender community to find...

IndyTeens: The Pandemic Within the Prison
By Sira Basse, age 15 The coronavirus is still a threat to the health of people worldwide. Every nation has chosen their own path in how to deal with this pandemic. Even during the times of heavy quarantine and the most precautions being taken, people of lower...

IndyTeens: Poor African American Communities Are Dying at Twice the Rate of White People Due to Environmental Racism in Their Communities
By Michael Hirschfield, age 13 Environmental racism could be a contributing factor for why Black communities have faced more serious illness and death due to COVID-19 than white people. Environmental racism is a term which refers to the disproportionate targeting of...

IndyTeens: “The Time Has Chosen Us”: The Legacy of John Lewis
By Samaira Bunburry, age 12 The Southern sun shone down upon the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. Arms locked in arms, the sound of hundreds of footsteps thumped proudly, for this was the day that voices turned into power. And leading that...

IndyTeens: Ashville, North Carolina, Approves Reparations for Black Residents
By Jessie Mitnick, age 12 Asheville, North Carolina, is acknowledging its racist actions and policies by giving reparations to its Black community. On July 14, the Asheville City Council voted unanimously to provide reparations and apologize for their engagement in...

IndyTeens Op-Ed: “Tu Lucha Es Mi Lucha,” — Your Struggle Is My Struggle
By Lucia Mejia Cárdenas, age 12 To understand the complicated and messy subject that is the relationship between Latinx movements and Black movements, it is essential to first understand that racism and colorism in the Latinx community very much exists. Lighter skin...

The Americans with Disabilities Act Turns 30
By Jet Watling, age 11 This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There are 61 million people with disabilities in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), many of whom have benefited...