NEWSLETTER NO. 13
28 June 2001
A June ritual for so many and this year it was joyfully mine: several
hours sitting in the hot sun for my son's high school graduation.
With a mother's mixed emotions of pride, change and separation but a
sense of confidence in not only my own son but in a generation that I
know so well, I begin this newsletter for the future. This class,
the first of the Third Millennium to graduate high school is a
defining one. Some, like my son, were old enough to vote in last
November's election and continued to do so in this Spring's more
local ones. Others will soon be there.
In less than a year and one-half from now, the 2002 congressional
elections will be held. In less than a year from now will be the
primary elections where competing candidates will see who will
ultimately be the party candidate for that November. The jostling
has already begun.
These "mid-term" federal elections - often forgotten with fewer
voters (as if we can afford any fewer voters!) - will be a battle.
An almost balanced Senate with every seat worth fighting for by the
political strategists. Strong concerns for our progress, for
education, environment, equity and opportunity, and global
interaction. And many gubernatorial and state and local candidates
up for grabs. It is incumbent upon all of us to stay and/or become
involved.
From the graduation speech of Lina Swislocki at El Cerrito
High School in the San Francisco Bay Area (Lina is going on to UCLA
in the fall):
You who are the first graduates of our new millennium - from high
school, from college, from your last life experience - are joining a
strong and powerful rank of young voters and activists and while
college or job workloads will be heavy, know that you are in charge.
My congratulations, hopes and strong sense of confidence are with you.
Barbara Ehrenreich, the political essayist and social critic says:
"There is a difference, the true seditionist would argue, between a
revolution and a gesture of macho defiance. Gestures are cheap. They
feel good, they blow off some rage. But revolutions, violent or
otherwise, are made by people who have learned how to count very
slowly to ten."
Education, motivation, service, communication, electoral knowledge,
advocacy and activism - the toolkit for our democracy - is how we
count to ten. It is not just one or the other but a combination of
all. I urge you all to become the revolutionaries of whom Barbara
Ehrenreich speaks. It is simply an extension of that we do
everyday... only with a lot of consideration and thought.
And BTW - see a terrific article on graduating college seniors at
Stanford who, when faced with career solicitations from corporations,
took a pledge to investigate the social and environmental
responsiveness of businesses who seek their employment and, if
accepting a job, will ensure their employers develop or maintain that
responsiveness!
http://www.alternet.org/wiretapmag/story.html?StoryID=11020
For those new to this newsletter, I am the author of TEEN POWER
POLITICS: MAKE YOURSELF HEARD, a new issue-oriented book for young
Americans on civic and political activism. Engagement is integral to
our democracy and youth and young voters - citizens and residents
already - definitely have the voice, power, intelligence, sense of
justice, passion and energy to give the benefit of their
participation right now! My website http://www.teenpowerpolitics.com
and this newsletter provide updates on current issues along with
resources for change.
HERE'S WHAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
A. New stuff about TEEN POWER POLITICS!!!
A. NEW STUFF ABOUT TEEN POWER POLITICS!
A grand time was had at the American Library Association Annual in
San Francisco. Lots of terrific new books out and great programs
connecting libraries to democracy. I was thrilled as well to see how
many librarians were planning to add TPP to their summer reading
lists, feeling that this a perfect time not only to prepare for
formal electoral knowledge but to think about projects and activism
opportunities available in this season. Check out some of the
resources in TPP and on the website for more ideas!
B. CURRENT NEWS AND CONCERNS - Children, Family & Education Issues
1. From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, DC and based on
l999 data (most recent): 5.9 million American mothers of children
under age 19 lack HEALTH INSURANCE. This is one of every six mothers
in the United States caring for young or school-aged children and
most members of working families!
http://www.cbpp.org/5-10-01health-pr.htm
What this means: the cutoffs for working mothers are so low that many
of these mothers are also ineligible for publicly-subsidized coverage
such as Medicaid unless their incomes are far below the poverty line.
Thus there is a high risk that these mothers are not able to avail
themselves of preventive or primary care and are at risk if they
become seriously ill, often resulting in financial crises for their
families.
2. Save the Children's report, "STATE OF WORLD'S MOTHERS 2001"
(available for download at
http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/learn/sowm2001.htm or summary
at http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/learn/summary.htm) with
critical information on the status of mothers and children around the
world, especially the quality of girls' and young women's lives
today. "When mothers survive and thrive, children survive and
thrive." Their findings from 94 countries:
3. EDUCATION BILL ALERT. The current education bill in Congress (S.1
-Better Education for Students and Teachers Act - Jeffords) is
proposing more "scientific" techniques to get back to the
"basics"i.e., a "drill" approach to learning and less use of or time
for real literature. From "No Child Left Behind": "The Reading
First initiative builds ... by investing in scientifically-based
reading instruction programs in the early grades. "
http://www.ed.gov/inits/nclb/part4.html
a. The actual bill and its progress is available from Thomas.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgibin/bdquery/z?d107:s.00001: The page will
also give you the companion House bill. (BTW - for ANY bill, start
with http://thomas.loc.gov/ and put in the phrase or number and
you're there!)
3. FOSTER CARE: I recently attended the journalists' symposium,
"Youth in Peril" sponsored by The Foundation for American
Communications (FACS) & Casey Family Programs. We all know the
foster care system is incredibly complex and not working, but what
needs to be said is that it CAN be fixed! Among the highlights (more
to come):
Several sites to start you off:
C. MAKE YOURSELF HEARD! OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVOLVEMENT
1. Save the Children's "Take Action" section for ideas for the
world's children (including the U.S.).
3. The Drug Wars. Seventeen Magazine in their May issue has great
links on education and activism concerning the war on drugs
(http://www.seventeen.com/index2.html?page=/reality/world/2001/05/09/drug_war/index.html&cat=reality&subs=world
- May issue).
D. YOUTH ACTIVISM
1. As we speak about the power of the written word and the
availability of resources for learning, here are two recent articles
by youth making serious change on their issues and letting others
know about it through their words!
2. At a "book signing" in my hometown, creative booksellers arranged
for me to be with three incredible high school students from three
diverse schools in the area who each are working for change. I loved
being with them, hope to do more "signings" in this manner... after
all, am I not writing about the incredible intelligence,
perceptivity, power and success of youth????? .
3. From the Envirocitizen email alert list:
E. SEVERAL RESOURCES, ARTICLES &BOOKS I AM READING
a. I try to check in on a lot of publications - not as regularly as I
would like. "The Weekly Standard" is conservative and thoughtful,
with respected contributors and considered views that do not always
stay with one political stance. http://www.weeklystandard.com/
Check out TEEN POWER POLITICS: MAKE YOURSELF HEARD and its companion
website, http://www.teenpowerpolitics.com. TPP was written as a guide
and a tool for activism. If ever that tool was needed, it is now.
Again, please let me know of a concern or activity you would like me
to tell others about. And send this on to others and suggest that
they e-mail me if they would like to be added to this list (or if
they wish to be removed).
Thanks for taking the time to read this! If you received this twice,
please let me know as I refine my list.
Sara Jane Boyers
"What I do want to talk about is change. ... since we've been at
El Cerrito ... we've changed principals {&} administrators ....
We've lost and added members to our class. Hong Kong changed hands.
America changed presidents. Everyone on the Gregorian calendar
changed centuries and millennia.
But, perhaps most importantly, we've changed. We've gone
from tiny, scared freshmen to well prepared seniors. ... We've
changed our hairstyles, our clothes, our classes, our underwear, our
friends, our significant others, our priorities. ...
For the last twelve years people have told us what to do, how
to do it, and when to do it by. Now it is time for us to understand
that what we do is our choice. We have developed the tools we will
need, we have the skills to fall back on. So whether we choose to
put our energies to piecing together war torn countries, or
perfecting extreme scooter riding is entirely up to us.
...the world is our oyster (whatever that means) and though
some of us may get pearls while others are left with only smelly
fish, the important thing is that we get to open the shell. We are
standing on the brink of a new life, faced with limitless
opportunity. No matter where we're headed, what our plans are for
next year, this is our chance to make it our own. It's our turn now
to make something more of the world than what we were given. "
B. Current News & Concerns.
C. Make Yourself Heard! Opportunities for Involvement
D. Youth Activism
E. Resource Articles That I Am Reading
Ironically although health care for the children is getting much
better, the availability of funds for mothers is not. Learn here
about "FamilyCare" legislation introduced in Congress to reverse this
trend and lend your support if it seems right.
a. Safe motherhood programs and practices and education for women are
the most essential programs for well being.
b. Gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS continues to undermine efforts to
improve women and girls' lives.
c. national wealth alone does not guarantee the health and well-being of
mothers and children.
Many classroom teachers, librarians and others are strongly
opposed to this approach, knowing from experience with a diverse
group of students that the actual act of reading supports substantial
learning and critical thinking for life. As well, there are many
other provisions of this proposed legislation being contested by many
diverse organizations, indicating that there is much within this bill
that we should care and learn about before it passes without our
scrutiny.
b. To contact your representatives: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and
http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm
c. An explanatory article in Sunday's Newsday by Gerald Coles, "
CULTURE WATCH Bush's 'Scientific' Vision: A Nation of Rote Readers"
http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/books/sunday/nd4143.htm
Coles concludes, " In the days remaining before the final bill is
drafted, the concept of "scientifically based" instruction should be
deleted from the legislation. This will allow funding for other
programs in which educators at the local level can combine their
study of reading research, knowledge of effective teaching practices
and understanding of students to arrive at the best way to teach
reading for each individual student. "
a. Dr. Daniel Siegel's lecture and his book, THE DEVELOPING MIND:
TOWARD A NEUROBIOLOGY OF INTERPERSONAL EXPERIENCE ((l999, Guilford):
eloquent in examining the essentiality of interaction and attachment
for a child's development. For many of the children in foster care
or in the criminal justice system, the nurturing and interaction was
never there. The good news: even, as in the case of one incredible
young women participant who was in 17 different foster homes and with
14 case workers, there is ALWAYS a time to enter into that
interaction.
b. From one of the young people, now 23, and out of foster care, "It
is a fantasy to think that there is always a 'mentor' for those who
have made it through. Those who have are the lucky and the strongest
ones." We must do more than just rely on the few and support all who
are in this system without their own choice.
c. More good news: The youth in or just out of the system who are
making change themselves and those others who are helping to ensure
that quality care becomes the norm and that effective transitional
programs are available when a child is "emancipated" from the system.
d. The best news: that we can all get more involved. For those of
you in school, perhaps this is a good topic for a research paper into
the American system! Foster care concerns our nation's mental health
and resources, individual liberty, education, and most of the other
issues of democracy.
Benton Foundation's Connect for Kids site, "Children and Foster Care"
http://www.connectforkids.org/content1552/content.htm
Casey Family Programs http://www.casey.org , especially their "Youth
In Transition" Pages
http://www.casey.org/cnc/youth_in_transition_facts.htm
Children's Defense Fund, Child Welfare & Mental Health Division
http://www.childrensdefense.org/safe-start.htm
The California Youth Connection http://www.calyouthconn.org/, an
extremely effective "advocacy/youth leadership organization for
current and former foster youth," making policy and other changes in
the way foster and emancipated youth are treated and considered in
all aspects of their lives.
http://www.savethechildren.org/takeaction.shtml
2. Inspire yourselves and others to read and review books! Ideas
from librarians on a listserv I love (YALSA Book).
a. The TeenPeople book club, at http://www.teenpeoplebookclub.com
b. Amazon.com - someone review TPP!!! I'd love it!
c. Teen Ink (creative writing and review or CDs, books, movies and colleges).
http://www.teenink.com
d. Teen Voices http://www.teenvoices.com/submit.html
e. Think about writing reviews for your local school, library or
community paper.
f. Start your own review site.
Read their article and check out their descriptions of
sites simply listed here:
http://www.Whitehousedrugpolicy.org (Office of National Drug Control
Policy) facts and stats
http://www.Drcnet.org (Drug Reform Coordination Network): Links more
than 10,000 activists
http://www.Famm.org (Families Against Mandatory Minimums: people with
low-level involvement in drug crimes but high jail sentences.
http://www.Raiseyourvoice.com (Coalition for HEA Reform): campaigning
to change the section of the 1999 Higher Education Act that denies
federal financial aid to students with drug offenses on their records.
http://www.Ssdp.org (Students for a Sensible Drug Policy): promoting
discussion of alternative solutions to drug problems and to involve
teens in the political process.
http://www.Crimepolicy.org (Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy):
reports on areas of crime such as juvenile violence, drug courts, and
the relationship between imprisonment and crime rates.
a. April Choate's in Connect for Kids: A Williamette University
student, a former foster care child, she has worked with others to
bring the issues of adoption and foster care to her entire campus and
community.
http://www.connectforkids.org/content1552/content_show.htm?attrib_id=315&doc_id=54469.
b. Salon.com's article "Censorship High" by a Southern California
high school senior
(http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/06/14/net_filtering/index.html)
on his school's web-filtering system and why it doesn't work for
anyone, students and teachers alike. Check out also the Letters to
the Editor.
Something we should all work on in each of our communities:
getting together these activists and issues, across geographic and
school lines. Each gains from what the other is doing. Think of the
power of youth periodic forums for exchange of ideas and coalition
building!
"In April, a committee of the Maine State legislature reviewed
legislation that would have prevented students from voting in their
college towns. ... This bill followed a trend of officials from Maine
towns ... harassing students atthe polls and preventing them from voting on Election Day. But students at
Bowdoin College were ready to fight this time around! They sent 150 letters in
support of the bill's defeat to the co-chairpeople of the committee and
collected 175 signatures for a petition sent to Representative Schneider of
Durham, the sponsor of the legislation. They then marched on the state house
to protest the legislation during a committee work session. The students won
acknowledgment from the committee reviewing the bill, which was subsequently
defeated with a unanimous vote after only minutes of discussion."
College students, check carefully the differing voter
registration rules if in another state and ensure that your rights
are not diminished.
b. Barbara Ehrenreich's NICKEL AND DIMED (Metropolitan Books), an
account of the two years the author spent working around the country
as a waitress, Wal-Mart clerk, and maid to see if others (and she)
could live in this country with the jobs always available but that no
one really wants or will pay for. Read Salon.com's book review
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2001/05/09/poor/index.html
c. Email news summaries from Grist Magazine
http://www.gristmagazine.com. The Daily Grist (or you can sign up
for the Weekly Grist), "offers environmental news summaries from
around the globe, served up with a touch of humor."
d. The League of Conservation Voters http://www.lcv.org/ serves as a
watchdog on our administration and Congress on environmental issues,
keeping them "accountable" to the public for their actions. Their
most recent online report "Bush and the Environment: A Citizen's
Guide to the First 100 Days" is designed to give the public an
objective tool by which to measure the Bush administration's
environmental commitment and approach. Whether you agree or not, use
this well-researched report as your basic guide.
http://www.lcv.org/presidential/100-days/index.html
e. E-News, The National Environmental Wire for Students
http://www.envirocitizen.org/news/index.asp, full of great student
activism and other stories, including great environmental data at
http://www.Scorecard.org/.
sjboyers@teenpowerpolitics.com
http://www.teenpowerpolitics.com
TEEN POWER POLITICS: MAKE YOURSELF HEARD A Millbrook
Press/Twenty-First Century Book ISBN: 0-7613-1391-5, paper $9.95/ISBN
0-7613-1307-9 hardcover, $25.90
© 2001 Sara Jane Boyers