By Grace Stevens, age 12
You have to be at least 16 to get a job in the United States… right? It turns out that in the past five years, there has been a 70% increase in the number of children illegally employed by companies, according to the Department of Labor, and at least 10 states have introduced or passed laws rolling back child labor protections in the past two years.
With youth that are hyperconnected to the internet and media, not only do we feel the impacts of climate change where we live, but we see natural disasters all over the world online. This is bringing to light one of the more unnoticed effects of climate change: anxiety among young people.
This summer, at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women (UAI) in Brooklyn, teen girls full of ideas and action participated in Occupy Summer School, a three-week course on how to stage an effective protest.
When students and young people have organized and demanded change, the outcomes have been tremendous. The voices of youth have had a special role in creating positive changes in revolutionary movements from the 20th century through today.
