1996 National Youth Platform

Background

In the months leading up to the First National Youth Conventions, young people across the country responded to the following three questions:

1. What top 3 concerns do you have about America today?
2. What comments/suggestions do you have for improving your community/America?
3. What question or suggestion do you have for the Presidential Candidates?

Just prior to the San Diego and Chicago Youth Conventions, youth delegates in both cities participated in a process facilitated by the Institute of Cultural Affairs that helped them to turn these responses into the National Youth Platform.

Six main issues of concern emerged from this process. These six issues are the ones addressed through the National Youth Platform. Each issue features a three section response:

The Situation Today provides background information on the issue, how young people view the issue, and why it concerns them.

Guiding Principles gives the value base from which young people feel we should respond to the issue through.

Finally, Solutions provides specific actions that we should take to address the issue. These actions fall under the categories of Government, Business and Industry, and Individuals and Communities.

It must be noted that the range of responses received through YouthLink and the views represented by the youth delegates were incredibly varied. This Platform was built through a series of consensus-building workshops and collaborative writing sessions and does its best to represent this range of opinions and areas of consensus.

The Situation Today

It has become evident that this nation's scholastic base is continuing to erode in the face of educational budget cuts and program shutdowns. As a result, America is beginning to confront a host of problems ranging from rising illiteracy rates to skyrocketing college tuition costs. If we continue to function on this level, we will be fatefully compromising the quality of life and the economic opportunity of America's youth.

Guiding Principles

We, the youth of America, believe that each and every student in this country deserves a quality education, including access to higher education. Students should have an active role in the decision-making process concerning their education in order to be represented fairly. Parent and community support and involvement should be accepted and encouraged. Education funds should be managed so that the money goes where it belongs: in the classroom.

Solutions

Government should...

• offer tax reductions for businesses that invest in schools.
• allocate more funding for schools including arts education.
• offer more money for post-high school student loans.
• allow a representative number of students from each public school district, chosen by other students, to be voting members of the school board.
• create a more rigorous national curriculum.
• implement more life skills classes.
• lower the administrator to teacher ratio.
• implement teacher evaluation by students.

Business and Industry should...

• provide schools with professional advice on money management techniques.
• promote and advertise their available scholarships.
• invest directly in schools across the curriculum.
• donate to schools equipment they no longer need.

Individuals and Communities should...

• support education with parents taking an active role in their children's education by enforcing and assisting with homework.
• offer year-round activities after school to increase student involvement.
• create new scholarships while promoting existing ones.
• ensure that all students are aware of financial aid and standardized testing information.
• and, we, the youth, must demonstrate our respect for learning by taking more responsibility for our education.

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The Situation Today

The health and well-being of our nation is in serious danger. Medicare is threatening to go bankrupt by the year 2000. Medicaid costs are soaring, but most of the money is not providing health care to those who are officially classified as poor. Furthermore, existing sexual education programs are not working and need to be reformed.

Guiding Principles

We, the youth of America, feel that citizens should not suffer from a lack of proper health care, including preventative care. Furthermore, we feel that that sexual education must be seriously addressed to assist in the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. Topics including sex, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and AIDS awareness need to be a standard part of our school curriculum.

Solutions

Government should...

• provide matching grants for community programs which educate everyone about sexually transmitted diseases and prevention.
• mandate comprehensive health education in all schools including age appropriate sexual education dealing with physical and emotional aspects.
• create universal health coverage that focuses on preventative health care instead of just treatment in order to cut costs and save money for patients and all of us.
• increase funding for AIDS research, without which a cure will never be found.
• fund and support programs such as hospices for AIDS patients and meals-on-wheels.

Business and Industry should...

• insist that their employees have annual physicals without the risk of job loss.
• condom manufacturers should institute a "pass out condom day" with explicit instructions on the proper usage of their product on the box and package. Condoms should always be accessible in schools, theaters, night-clubs and other institutions.
• provide seminars on sexually transmitted diseases and contraceptives with a question/answer period.

Individuals and Communities should...

• encourage self-love, self-worth and self-respect in order to open the doors of success for their children.
• create community prevention programs to assist in the process of educating youth on the topics of gangs, abuse, sex, and drugs.
• volunteer to help the physically and mentally challenged.

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The Situation Today

Everywhere in America, people live in fear. Acts such as drunk driving, hate crimes, and gang warfare cause many Americans to lose pride in their communities. While some communities have initiated prevention and police involvement programs, many individuals are still not communicating with one another because of fear or hatred. Without a sense of national pride, and without dedication by each of us as individuals, peace will not be a possibility.

Guiding Principles

We, the youth of America, believe that every American has a right to live free of fear. To this end, we believe society should support opportunities for everyone, especially for youth, to contribute positively to their communities. Punishment of crimes should be fairly administered and should focus on rehabilitation as well as justice.

Solutions

Government should...

• recruit and train safety officers to take the initiative to be more involved in the community in which they serve.
• train citizens on how to effectively communicate with each other about the problems of public safety to empower each and ever person to accept the responsibility of making a positive difference in America.
• fund more community empowerment groups and programs.
• decrease funding for prison leisure activities while maintaining money for more effective rehabilitation programs including education.
• evaluate sentencing so that justice is served by increasing sentences for a given crime and mandating that a certain amount of that sentence be served, and maintain counseling for people on parole.

Business and Industry should...

• provide prevention programs within their companies, including follow-up programs, on issues such as sexual harassment, diversity, and communication.
• invest more in their communities by donating funds to programs or providing volunteers to prevention programs.
• the entertainment industry should stop glamorizing violence and portraying it as a solution to problems.

Individuals and Communities should...

• initiate more peer mentoring programs.
• open lines of communication between citizens and public officials so that problems can be dealt with before they begin.
• schools should employ a zero tolerance policy but also provide alternative programs for offenders.

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The Situation Today

Issues which have dominated political discussion recently such as crime, health care, and the economy, all seem irrelevant when faced with the destruction of our planet. Pollution, destruction of the biosphere, depletion of natural resources, disregard for the preservation of land and animals, and deforestation are great obstacles for tomorrow's generations. By the year 2000, up to one hundred species per day will become extinct. Clearly, time is no longer our ally, it has become a predator. We will no longer accept this as the future we will inherit.

Guiding Principles

We, the youth of America feel our country is obligated to safeguard the environment by protecting wildlife and the habitat of both humans and animals; conserving, reusing and recycling natural resources; stopping pollution through the strengthening and enforcing of existing environmental laws; and finally, by developing new environmentally friendly technologies. Preventing the destruction of our environment is not only an extremely sound management practice in protecting our community's quality of life but it is also potentially cost-effective.

Solutions

Government should...

• implement tax breaks for ecologically friendly/sound businesses.
• establish more revolving loan funds, (Senate Resolution 1316) to help municipalities create recycling centers, refit water purification systems and implement environmental education programs.
• lower registration costs for low-pollutant emitting machines.
• mobilize efforts to make mass transit attractive for all.
• strengthen and enforce environmental laws:
• Better inspections and stiffer penalties for violators.
• Increase regulations ensuring the longevity of endangered specials and wildlife in general.
• ensure funding for research and development of recyclable products that are attractive for industry.
• institute policy favoring need-based not greed-based land use.
• institute inmate ecological programs such as waste management and landscaping.
• mandate nation-wide recycling incentives by adding deposit fees on all recyclable materials purchased.

Business and Industry should...

• be less concerned with lobbying for weak environmental laws and more concerned with researching environmental sound methods of production.
• ensure that international ventures are environmentally responsible regardless of standards in other nations.
• make a universal effort to implement the most environmentally friendly technology available and promote research and development in cost-effective, environmentally sensitive ways to meet industry demands.

Individuals and Communities should...

• make a reasonable and conscious effort to support environmental programs such as recycling.
• work to establish an ethic of environmentalism and to educate one another about specific dangers to their environment and how to address them.
• work with business and industry to reduce pollution and promote cost-effective ecological programs.
• work together to boycott businesses that pollute air and water.
• make an effort to use public transportation whenever possible and to demand the development and expansion of public transport.

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The Situation Today

We live in a society that is all too permissive of human suffering. Hungry children, social intolerance, fear of difference, loss of trust, and lack of opportunity are but a few symptoms of our society's compassionless way of life. A lack of commitment, loyalty and trust in family relationships and the unraveling of our communities support systems reflects the bankruptcy of old values and the pressing need to establish new and viable social and personal ethics.

Guiding Principles

We, the youth of America, believe that poverty, discrimination and issues such as abortion, drugs and affirmative action should be addressed through education, legislative reform, and programs to encourage community development. Government policies must maintain a balance between the rights of individuals and social responsibility. Furthermore, given that discrimination and prejudice are based on "evidence" of things not seen, they are acquired social illnesses that can be remedied only through education and exposure to other people, lifestyles, and cultures.

Solutions

Government should...

• provide equal opportunity under the law to everyone:
• enforce already existing laws.
• provide fair representation to low income families.
• enforce laws to protect disabled citizens.
• expand the Civil Rights Act of 1968 to prohibit discrimination against someone because of their sexual orientation.

Business and Industry should...

• scrupulously abide by laws that prohibit discrimination against persons on the basis of sex, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
• restrict importation of goods manufactured by forced labor or inhuman conditions.
• designate citizens to monitor media output to avoid negative stereotyping.

Individuals and Communities should...

• encourage fundraising programs to help with humanitarian relief efforts.
• educate and celebrate diversity in every way:
• introduce mandatory classes focusing on cultural diversity.
• instill cultural awareness through celebrating cultural festivals.
• introduce foreign exchange students to present their cultural upbringings.
• educate students (with parental consent) on alternative lifestyles including homosexuality.
• educate students about different religious belief systems.

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The Situation Today

The future of our great nation is in jeopardy. Barriers within the political system hinder action to secure America's future. Realizing that every nation which fails to invest in its future has faded into mediocrity or disarray, we are committed to shifting our nations priorities to help keep America great and insure the best life possible for all citizens. It is unconscionable that the recently passed welfare bill will throw 1.9 million children into poverty. Acts such as these only reinforce our belief that the US government is willing to sacrifice the young and the weak to maintain the status quo and appease the powerful.

Guiding Principles

We, the youth of America, believe that our government must minimize the federal deficit and balance the budget; it is we, after all, who will inherit the interest. We feel that taxes should be reformed in order to help stabilize the economy. However, none of this should come at the cost of our country's disadvantaged.

Solutions

Government should...

• mandate that all governmental organizations dealing with youth concerns have youth representatives present at all meetings.
• allocate taxes paid by people under age 18 toward youth related programs.
• tax capital gains as income.
• consolidate and coordinate redundant programs.
• maintain a strong and technologically advanced military program to ensure our national safety while cutting unnecessary and inefficient spending.
• defend against all state-sponsored military aggression against the US or its interests.
• give priority to foreign countries with democratic governments when providing US assistance or military aid.
• purchase goods and establish contracts competitively.
• put a cap on campaign spending.
• establish a national minimum income scale. As under the current system, benefits would be provided to non-working individuals and families. However, individuals who find work that pays below the minimum income scale would receive subsidized benefits to bring them up to scale. They would continue to receive subsidy for 2 to 3 years to allow them to save a percentage of their income and upgrade their job skills.

Business and Industry should...

• stop shipping jobs overseas.
• provide training programs for those on welfare.

Individuals and Communities should...

• be allowed to do community service in their field of expertise if they are unable to pay their taxes.
• provide child care for low income and welfare families so they can go into job training or continue schooling.

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