In light of the teens leading the campaign for gun control now (see The Best Articles & Videos Showing How Parkland’s Teens Are Responding To Tragedy), I thought teachers would find it useful to also have resources available on the role of teens organizing for justice throughout history.
Please share additional resources – this is just the bare bones of a beginning list.
You might also be interested in:
The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History
The Best Resources For Learning About Teens In The News
The Best Posts & Articles On Building Influence & Creating Change
The Best Resources On Malala Yousafzai
The Best Posts & Articles On The Teacher & Student Protests In Colorado
THE BEST RESOURCES ON TEENS DEMANDING AN EFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Here is what I have so far:
Children have changed America before, braving fire hoses and police dogs for civil rights is from The Washington Post.
High School Students Demanding Gun Reform Join Rich History of Teen Resistance is from YES Magazine.
The Parkland Teens Are Part Of A Long Line Of Kids Who Led Social Change is from Fast Company.
Students Calling for Gun Control Can’t Vote Yet. But Age Hasn’t Stopped Young Activists in the Past is from TIME.
The Other Student Activists is by Melinda Anderson.
How Four Teenage Girls Organized This Week’s Huge Silent Protest is from Chicago Magazine.
When we organized in Ferguson, we were labeled thugs & criminals. 800 of us walked out for #MikeBrown. The media said we went about it the wrong way. All we wanted was for the police to stop killing people like us. Black youth BEEN pushing for gun reform.https://t.co/XhPzK6grNC
— Clifton Kinnie (@CliftonKinnie) February 24, 2018
Black Teens Have Been Fighting for Gun Reform for Years is from Teen Vogue.
The Children’s March tells the story of how the young people of Birmingham, Alabama, braved fire hoses and police dogs in 1963 and brought segregation to its knees. See the parallels between the Children’s March & #MarchforOurLives on @tolerance_org https://t.co/pKNCuREdgh
— Rusul الربيعي ✊🏼 (@RusulAlrubail) February 22, 2018
From Little Rock to Parkland: A Brief History of Youth Activism is from NPR
L.A. Unified commemorates 50th anniversary of Eastside walkouts, but tells students to stay in class March 14 is from The L.A. Times.
East L.A., 1968: ‘Walkout!’ The day high school students helped ignite the Chicano power movement is from The L.A. Times.
Parkland student activists should study the East L.A. Blowouts that launched a movement in California is also from The L.A. Times.
Too Young to Vote, Old Enough to Take Action: A Brief History of Powerful Youth-Led Movements is from KQED.
On today’s @hereandnow, @BackStoryRadio‘s @ndbconnolly and I talk about the long history of student protest and its power to pierce through political noise.https://t.co/pMLXxWH4vF
— Joanne Freeman (@jbf1755) March 2, 2018
7 Times in History When Students Turned to Activism is from The New York Times.
One of History’s Famous Student Activists: Why I’ll Be Marching With Students https://t.co/dYjO94C3Kj via @educationweek
— Catherine Gewertz (@cgewertz) March 23, 2018
Can Teenagers Save America? They’ve Done It Before is from The NY Times.
Why Take Student Protests Seriously? Look at Linda Brown. is from Politico.
Here’s how the PBS NewsHour describes this video segment:
Fifty-five years ago, thousands of African-American children walked out of their schools and began a peaceful march in Birmingham, Alabama, to protest segregation. They were met with attack dogs and water hoses. For a new generation of students, traveling to Birmingham has made that moment in history come alive. Special correspondent Lisa Stark reports.:
What Gun Violence Protesters Can Learn From 1968’s Chicano Blowouts is from NPR.
“Power In Numbers” Is PBS Effort To Highlight Teens Organizing For Change
Why children have such powerful moral authority is from The Washington Post.
3 ways activist kids these days resemble their predecessors is from The Conversation.
The new TED-Ed lesson and video is on “The secret student resistance to Hitler.” Even though the organizers of The White Rose were college students, I’m also going to add it here:
They’ve locked themselves inside school buildings for days to protest discrimination. They’ve staged demonstrations to demand integration and more inclusive curriculums. Meet the teenagers who are fighting to improve New York City’s schools.https://t.co/JtouOt3JqP
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 5, 2019
Hong Kong high-school students formed human chains in solidarity with protesters https://t.co/SjKG9HqOHF
— Alexander (@alexanderrusso) September 10, 2019
Forgotten history: Chicano student walkouts changed Texas, but inequities remain is from NBC News.
‘I Absolutely Will Not Back Down.’ Meet the Young People at the Heart of Hong Kong’s Rebellion is from TIME.
SMITHSONIAN LAUNCHES NEW VIDEO SERIES: “YOUNG PEOPLE SHAKE UP ELECTIONS (HISTORY PROVES IT)”
‘I have a voice.’ Teens play prominent role in Black Lives Matter protests across UShttps://t.co/bj2h09WyU4
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) June 8, 2020
Teen girls organized Nashville’s largest protest. They’d never met before. https://t.co/9tAMT5j4HI
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) June 9, 2020
These Kids Are Done Waiting for Change is a New York Times column that is likely to be read in many classrooms over the next several months and beyond. It’s about a group of Nashville teenagers who are fighting against racism by, among other things, having organized a 10,000 person march to protest George Floyd’s murder.
“I need people to hear my voice.” Youth-led demonstrations after George Floyd’s death have energized a diverse group of young Americans across the U.S. https://t.co/v52o0Hn8fY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 23, 2020
Student activists want change — and they’re starting in the classroom is from Vox.
New Video On Teens Fighting School Segregation
The Power to Change the World: A Teaching Unit on Student Activism in History and Today is from The NY Times Learning Network.
A girls’ school in Iran brought a member of the IRGC-run Basij paramilitary to speak to students. The girls welcomed the speaker by taking off their headscarves & chanting “get lost, Basiji”.
Teenage girls have been at the forefront of protests for days.pic.twitter.com/kvskgB8qas
— Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) October 5, 2022
Terrific news. Statue of Barbara Johns—a Black teenager from Virginia who played historic role in opposing school segregation—will replace image of Robert E. Lee in Statuary Hall in U.S. Capitol. Now, everyone will know about her bravery & heroism. https://t.co/Wb1qNyrGNx
— Leslie Proll (@LeslieProll) January 4, 2023
59 years ago today, nearly half a million NYC students stayed out of school to protest segregation and profound inequality in their schools. Learn how, why, and what came next through a new primary source teaching collection from the #NYCCivilRightsHistory project. 🧵#OTDH pic.twitter.com/g6aNYP7lwe
— Ansley Erickson (@ATErickson) February 3, 2023
60 years ago, students joined the civil rights movement with ‘The Children’s Crusade’ is from NPR.
What Youth Activists Do That Adults Can’t https://t.co/vZ7RivFnvV #uncategorized #feedly
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) June 16, 2023
Breaking News: A judge ruled that young people in Montana have a constitutional right to a healthful environment and that regulators must be allowed to consider climate impact in a first-of-its-kind climate case. https://t.co/tnh8BMi4kY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 14, 2023
The provision is accordingly unconstitutional, the court said.
The win, experts say, could energize the environmental movement and reshape climate litigation across the country, ushering in a wave of cases aimed at advancing action on climate change. https://t.co/gm8OThMn4Q
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 14, 2023
FOUR VIDEOS ABOUT THE YOUTH-LED MONTANA LAWSUIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Youths sued Montana over climate change and won. Here’s why it matters. is from The Washington Post.
One of the first sit-ins of the Civil Rights Era happened at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City. It was staged by children, and among them was Ayanna Najuma. In our #StoryoftheWeek on NPR’s Morning Edition, she reflects on the impact of her activism → https://t.co/9tQyx2zLhx pic.twitter.com/1FEpPpu7bw
— StoryCorps (@StoryCorps) August 18, 2023
At just seven years old, she and a group of children staged one of the first sit-ins—a movement that was a cornerstone of the Civil Rights era.
Share the stories of those who valiantly advocated for civil rights, such as Ayanna Najuma → https://t.co/OJduZV2Idr#MarchonWashington— StoryCorps (@StoryCorps) August 28, 2023
Stolen Girls: The untold story of the Leesburg Stockade Girls https://t.co/RlYyv3UUj9
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) September 17, 2023
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