What rights do young people have in a democratic society?

In what ways do young people of color conceptualize their rights?

These questions inspire and guide a multi-year project to support the Research Collaborative on Youth Activism, an interdisciplinary network of researchers who study and work collaboratively with young people in their schools and communities, to conduct a collaborative action research project which will produce a Youth Bill of Rights.

The Youth Bill of Rights will serve both as an assessment tool to examine the extent to which five local communities (Oakland, CA, New York, Tucson, AZ, Denver, CO, Chicago, IL) support young people's rights as well as provide a common framework for youth activists around the country to articulate their collective work.

The first phase of the project involved several teams of researchers and youth to discuss key questions regarding youth rights and to develop a draft bill of rights document. The second, phase of the project will refine the draft bill of rights by engaging a broader constituency of youth through regional youth community meetings. The third phase of the project will develop a website where youth evaluate their schools, cities and states policies regarding the extent to which their rights are supported.

Visit the RCYA website.