A Guide to Starting a Youth Rights Club
From YRN
Contents |
Step by Step Club Starting Process
- Speak To Staff
- Speak to an Adminstrator
- Whether or not you like them, it pays to be be nice and polite, and if you do it in person, they will respect you.
- Speak to a teacher
- Pick one that you worked hard for and liked. Some schools require you to have a teacher sponsor.
- Speak to an Adminstrator
- Speak to Students
- Create and distribute a survey on youth rights issues
- Make flyers
- Be persistent!
- Talk to friends
- And ask them to talk to others!
Don't be put out if you only get 3 or 4 good members. The number will grow, and those who are only semi interested are important! Good luck.
(submitted by Zach Hobesh, taken from personal experiences from work with NYRA Berkeley)
How-To: Start a Youth Rights Club at School
- Drum up support: you need a staff advisor and students as members. [insert Zach's guide here]
- Talk to your counselor! They either will give you the application and time on the student council agenda or refer you to who will.
- Fill out your application and prepare a brief description of what your club will accomplish.
- Attend the student council meeting and speak for a couple minutes using the material you prepared in item three. Answer any questions and, voila!
What can a Youth Rights Club do
- Conduct voter registration drives for seniors at one's local high school.
- Conduct online and in-person study groups around various youth rights issues, political issues, current events, student law, etc.
- Organize meetings between students and elected officials.
- Organize townhall style Q&A sessions with the school board.
- Elect a shadow student government.
- Organize seminars where students are taught their civil rights when questioned, detained, or pulled over by a police officer.
- Hold group discussions on the drinking age and the relative merits of different approaches to alcohol policy.
- Organize lectures discussing what rights students have in school
- Organize study groups around youth-oriented legal issues, utilizing online law resources and mentors.
- Publish an independent student newspaper or zine
What Happens If You Are Turned Down?
- From the US Department of Justice:
"The right to form groups and associations is an aspect of a student's freedom of association. In public schools receiving federal funds, this right is protected by the Equal Access Act (EAA). Under the EAA, a high school that allows any not class-related groups to meet on its campus cannot prohibit other such groups from meeting on the basis of their religious, political, or philosophical viewpoint (schools, however may choose to close their campuses to all not class-related groups). A student group is considered not class-related if the subject matter of the group is not taught in a regularly offered class, the subject does not concern the body of courses as a whole, and participation is not required for a course and does not result in course credit. The EAA not only protects the rights of religious groups, but also protects groups such as the gay-straight alliance, a Hare Krishna chanting group, or a student socialist club. However, the law places several restrictions on meetings of student groups on school property. First, the meetings must be student-initiated. Second, school staff, including faculty sponsors may not lead, participate, control or regularly attend the meetings. Finally, the groups may only meet during non-instructional time."
- If you are in a public school and other 'not class related' clubs are allowed, contact the Student Defense Coordinator at NYRA for help.
