Youth in several Afghan cities resist Taliban; young Colombians become “First Liners” in resistance actions; high school students march in Los Gatos, Calif., and Ninnekah, Okla., to protest schools’ negligence regarding sexual abuse and harassment.
Youth in Action
Youth in Action: July-August 2021
June 29, 2021On June 4, the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, thousands of Chinese students protested a government plan to merge private colleges with vocational schools; rural youth in eSwatini demonstrated on June 19 for the right of the people to vote for their own prime minister; and several high school graduates spoke out at graduation for an end to anti-Asian racism, the right to give your speech, not the principal’s, and for pride at being the first in your family to graduate.
Youth in Action: May-June 2021
May 8, 2021Young climate activists prepare for the next UN climate change conference, COP26; the French Senate’s reactionary vote to dissolve the National Union of Students of France; youth protest a Japanese plan to dump more than 1 million tons of irradiated water from the Fukushima reactor site into the ocean; and more than 60,000 schoolchildren in Japan signed a “Stop Extreme School Rules” petition.
Youth in action, March-April 2021
March 11, 2021Young people in Tunisian streets call for jobs and relief from rising food prices; Kavi Vu and friends challenge rampant disinformation on Vietnamese language Facebook pages; 1,000 students at Columbia University withhold tuition, demanding 10% reduction in tuition, a reduction in campus police, and fossil fuel divestment.
Youth in Action: January-February 2021
January 31, 2021Massive youth demonstrations oppose military rule in Thailand and dictatorship of their schools; students at Bogazici University in Istanbul march to oppose Prof. Melih Bulu’s elevation to rector by Turkey’s President Erdoğan; and rural Pakistani youth pedal 100 miles in protest of a rise in the price of flour.
Youth in Action: November-December 2020
November 27, 2020Youth and others in several places in Nigeria protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who rape, extort, and otherwise abuse youth; residential advisors at several big name universities are striking over COVID-19 related issues; and students at Hong Kong Polytechnic University creatively used hundreds of padlocks hanging on a bridge to spell: “Save the 12,” referring to 12 Hong Kong youth abducted from a boat who are now being held in mainland China.
Youth in action: September-October 2020
August 29, 2020Starbucks barista fired for demanding that police also wear masks in the store; California State University in Los Angeles students rally in support of hiring organizer Melina Abdullah as Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies; Dallas, Ga., high school student suspended and threatened by classmates for taking a picture of a crowded school hallway and posting it on social media.
Youth in action, July-August 2020
July 1, 2020Girls fight dress codes in Israel; mostly young high school women speak out and plan mass demonstrations against police abuse that arose after the murder of George Floyd.
Youth in action: May-June 2020
May 3, 2020Dominican-American youth protest in New York City; Emma Theofelus, 23, Namibia’s youngest cabinet member; and Sudanese dancers, DJs, and musicians performing in public after a popular women’s and youth movement toppled the regime of al-Bashir and its “morality police.”
Youth in action, March-April 2020
March 17, 2020Youth in action column on the Valentine’s Day’s Fridays 4 Future and Climate Strike protests, and the student group Teens Take Charge’s actions against segregation in New York schools.
Youth in Action, January-February 2020
January 21, 2020The students’ strike at Syracuse University; the attacks of pro-Iran militias against demonstrations in Nasiriya, Iran, and the U.S. Youth Climate Strike.
Youth in Action, November-December 2019
November 4, 2019Youth in Action column on protests by Papuan students in Jakarta; an appeal by youth to “Save DACA in the Supreme Court now!” during the Sept. 12 presidential debate in Houston, and the national student strike for the climate on Sept. 20 in Miami Beach, Florida.
Youth in Action, Sept.-Oct. 2019
July 17, 2019Moroccan medical students boycott their exams; boys in a New Zealand rugby team’s solidarity for the team’s one girl; and a high school senior makes a documentary film about the protest against a U.S. Navy base on Okinawa.
Youth in Action, July-August 2019
June 26, 2019Students protest in Brazil; students protest in Spain; and a sit-in at Princeton University’s Title IX administration against the way the university adjudicates reports of sexual assault.
Youth in Action, March-April 2019
March 10, 2019School students in Oakland, Calif. support striking teachers; Belgian environment minister resigns after attacking Strike 4 Climate Action; high school students walk out in Vancouver, Canada, protesting tar sands; medical students’ direct action at Gandaki Medical College in Pokhara, Nepal, against tuition theft.
Youth in Action: January-February 2019
January 26, 2019Peking University Marxist Society students protest to support their detained club president; student workers at Grinnell College vote to be represented by a union; and a movement against climate change started by three Australian high school girls has spread to students in Japan, the UK, U.S. and Belgium.
Youth in Action: November-December 2018
December 14, 2018Yale Law School students sit in to protest the rush to confirm Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court; three Australian eighth-graders boycott school over plan to open coal mines on indigenous land overlooking the Great Barrier Reef; and California high school students attend school board meetings en masse to demand the right of 16-18 year olds to vote in school board elections.
Youth in Action, September-October 2018
September 20, 2018University of North Carolina students and workers bring down statue of generic Confederate soldier; Swedish pro-asylum student Elin Errson prevents deportation of Afghan refugee; Iraqi youth and women protest unemployment, electricity shortages and lack of clean water.
Youth in Action, July-August 2018
July 25, 2018Youth in action column on a student demonstration in Delhi, India; a student rally against the alt-Right at Michigan State University, and revolt in Nicaragua headed by students.
Youth In Action: Students in India protest tainted test
June 11, 2018Nearly 1,000 college-age youth jammed the street in front of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) in Delhi when official questions to exams were found on social media on Feb. 28.
Youth in Action, July-August 2017
July 6, 2017Youth in action in Bayonne High School in New Jersey, Independence, Mo., Venice High School in Calif., Vernon Township High School in New Jersey and in Charlotte, N.C.
Youth in Action, March-April 2017
March 17, 2017March-April 2017 Youth in Action column, including reports on youth activities in Minneapolis, New York City, Kerala (India) and Tehran.
Youth in Action, January-February 2017
February 3, 2017Student journalists at the University of Kentucky targeted for publicizing a professor’s sexual misconduct towards a student; protests against racism at Cornell University; Maryland middle school students’ creative protest against sexist dress codes; Fees Must Fall Movement in South Africa continues shutting down Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Youth in Action: November-December 2016
November 30, 2016International look at youth activism including the Fees Must Fall movement in South Africa; students at Boston College rallying against an anti-gay atmosphere; the CDC leaving out Transgender students in a survey on suicide; and Native American youth protesting polluted water in the Klamath Strait Drain in Oregon.
Youth In Action: September-October 2016
September 17, 2016A look at youth activism including factory workers protest the murder of child laborer Sagar Barman; women’s skateboard team Las Brujas finds creative ways to fight male domination in the sport of skateboarding; Helena High School students supporting Kaitlyn Juvik in her right to choose not to wear a bra; and activists who protested two years ago in Hong Kong for freer elections are sentenced and vow to continue the struggle.
Youth in Action, September-October 2015
September 6, 2015A roundup of youth activism worldwide including hunger striking students at Tufts Univ., students at Rio Grand High School protesting standardized tests, students in Puerto Rico marching against the government cutting education, and more.