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Youth in the NewsVolume 3, Number 4, February 16-29, 2008 Contents
STATE WATCH
LEGAL
RESEARCH
GOVERNMENT
ARTICLES NATIONWIDE The Columbia Training School - pleasant on the outside, austere on the inside - has been home to 37 of the most troubled young women in Mississippi. If some of those girls and their advocates are to be believed, it is also a cruel and frightening place. The school has been sued twice in the past four years. One suit brought by the U.S. Justice Department, which the state settled in 2005, claimed detainees were thrown naked in to cells and forced to eat their own vomit. The second one, brought by eight girls last year, said they were subjected to "horrendous physical and sexual abuse." Several of the detainees said they were shackled for 12 hours a day. These are harsh and disturbing charges - and, in the end, they were among the reasons why state officials announced in February that they will close Columbia. But they aren't uncommon. Across the country, in state after state, child advocates have deplored the conditions under which young offenders are housed - conditions that include sexual and physical abuse and even deaths in restraints. The U.S. Justice Department has filed lawsuits against facilities in 11 states for supervision that is either abusive or harmfully lax and shoddy. Still, a lack of oversight and nationally accepted standards of tracking abuse make it difficult to know exactly how many youngsters have been assaulted or neglected. The Associated Press contacted each state agency that oversees juvenile correction centers and asked for information on the number of deaths as well as the number of allegations and confirmed cases of physical, sexual and emotional abuse by staff members since Jan. 1, 2004. According to the survey, more than 13,000 claims of abuse were identified in juvenile correction centers around the country from 2004 through 2007 - a remarkable total, given that the total population of detainees was about 46,000 at the time the states were surveyed in 2007. Just 1,343 of those claims of abuse identified by the AP were confirmed by various authorities. Of 1,140 claims of sexual abuse, 143 were confirmed by investigators. Experts say only a fraction of the allegations are ever confirmed. These are some of the most troubled young people in the country and some will make up stories. But in other cases, the youth are pressured not to report abuse; often, no one believes them anyway. Undoubtedly, juvenile correction facilities and their programs benefit many of the youth who experience them by offering substance abuse programs, educational courses and mental health counseling. And for many troubled youth, the facilities are the last hope to straighten out problems that could eventually lead them to suicide, prison or other institutions. Still, advocates for the detainees contend that abuse by guards remains a major problem and that authorities aren't doing enough to address the situation. In 2004, the U.S. Justice Department uncovered 2,821 allegations of sexual abuse by juvenile correction staffers. The government study included 194 private facilities, which likely accounts for the higher numbers than the AP found. But some experts say the true number of sexual incidents is likely even higher. Some youth view sexual relationships with staff members as consensual, not as adults in positions of authority abusing their power. Sue Burrell, an attorney for the Youth Law Center in San Francisco, recalls investigating sexual encounters between female staff and male inmates at a juvenile facility in Florida. "One of the boys I interviewed said he didn't think it was fair that his roommate had a relationship with one of the staffers and he didn't." Other abuse is physical, and often sadistic. For boys at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility, authority came in the person of 50-year-old Gilbert Hicks, and he wielded that authority emphatically. Hicks was convicted of sexual assault in October 2005 after he "grabbed, squeezed and twisted" a boy's testicles, according to a federal lawsuit. When the boy sought medical attention 10 days later because of pain and swelling, Hicks, who had worked at the facility for 24 years, taunted him by asking: "What, you want me to squeeze your (genitals) again?" Hicks allegedly abused two other boys the same way. His sentence? Five years probation and 90 days in jail to be served on weekends. What sets the case apart from many others is the successful conviction. Often such cases come down to the word of a guard against that of a teenager with a long criminal record, the primary reason that so few charges of abuse are confirmed and prosecuted, child advocates say. While it is likely that incarcerated youth make false allegations of mistreatment against their guards, there are cases of abuse not being reported because "many children are afraid of what would happen if they snitch on staff," said Mark Soler, executive director of the Center for Children's Law and Policy in Washington D.C. The worst physical confrontations can end in death. At least five juveniles died after being forcibly placed in restraints in facilities run by state agencies or private facilities with government contracts since Jan. 1, 2004. The use of restraint techniques and devices and their too-aggressive application have long been controversial and came under intense scrutiny last year after the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson. A grainy video taken at a Florida boot camp in January 2006 shows several guards striking the teen while restraining him. Six guards and a nurse were acquitted Oct. 12 of manslaughter charges after defense attorneys argued that the guards used acceptable tactics. In Maryland, 17-year-old Isaiah Simmons lost consciousness and died after he was held to the floor face down at a privately owned facility that was contracted by the state. Prosecutors say the staff waited 41 minutes after the boy was unresponsive to call for help. Scott Rolle, an attorney for one of the counselors, had said the men were only trying to prevent Simmons from hurting himself or someone else. A judge dismissed misdemeanor charges against five counselors; the state has appealed. Other restraint-related deaths were three boys - 17, 15 and 13 - in facilities in Tennessee, New York and Georgia, respectively. At least 24 others in juvenile correction centers died since 2004 from suicide and natural causes or preexisting medical conditions. Supervision does not have to be abusive to be problematic. The absence of supervision creates its own misery. Advocates say sex among detainees is also a major problem in some facilities, a claim backed by government findings. A U.S. Department of Justice report described sex at the Plainfield Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana as "rampant." And sometimes suicidal youth or those who want to harm themselves in other ways don't get the personal attention they need. Mississippi's juvenile correction centers have been under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor since 2005 as part of the settlement to end the lawsuit filed by the federal government. But a 15-year-old girl on suicide watch at Columbia Training School used a toe nail and the sharpened cap off a tube of toothpaste to carve the words "HATE ME" backward in her forearm. The girl also said she was shackled 12 hours a day, and forced to wear leg restraints to classes, meals and other activities. Another 15-year-old girl who spent time in Columbia told the AP she was twice groped by a male guard. She said she reported the abuse. "They told me I was lying," she said with tears streaming down her face. "They told me that I was wrong for reporting it, that I shouldn't have brought it up." Columbia sits atop a 2,200-acre campus with a manicured lawn that stretches out beneath the shade of oak trees. From a distance, the red-brick buildings and pastoral grounds could pass for those of a boarding school. Indeed, administrators pointed proudly to the fact that 90% of the girls got their general education diploma. "We are giving them skills that they will take well into adulthood," insisted Richard Harris, a deputy administrator with the Mississippi Department of Human Services - a few weeks before the state announced it was closing Columbia "due to issues ranging from adequate staffing to quality of care, and the desire to most efficiently spend taxpayer dollars." While officials in many states complain that funding can be a major challenge - salaries for guards in Mississippi's juvenile facilities start at $18,000 a year - it will take more than cash to fix the problems. "What could be done to minimize or reduce these problems?" asked Melissa Sickmund, with the Pittsburgh-based National Center for Juvenile Justice. "Training. Oversight." Columbia had about 120 staff members and a $5.8 million budget and at times housed only a few dozen girls. At that rate, it costs about $598 a day to house a girl, according to a study by Timothy J. Roche, an expert consultant hired by the state. There are success stories. Nancy Molever, an Arizona Juvenile Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said it would have been difficult to improve conditions there - or meet recommendations made by the federal government - without a willingness "to change the culture of the agency" that oversees the juvenile facilities. Arizona recently emerged from a lawsuit the Justice Department filed after three youngsters committed suicide. Arizona invested $8 million to $10 million in facility improvements and increased the starting annual salary of youth correctional officers to over $30,000, Molever said. The state has also been weeding out employees slow to conform to the new rules, Molever said, but the downside is more employee turnover, which is already a problem nationwide. Officials in Missouri, which has one of the most highly regarded juvenile correction systems in the country, agree that it takes more than money to run a safe facility. "It's just a different approach that we take. It's a treatment approach," said Ana Margarita Compain-Romero, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Social Services. "In other states, they take a more punitive approach, more like corrections."
INDIANA ISU students are working to educate the community on hate crimes and help the state create hate crime laws after a noose was hung on campus near Hines Hall on Oct. 25. During a campus-wide meeting called immediately following the noose incident, ISU Public Safety announced that it, along with the Terre Haute Police Department and FBI, would be involved in the investigation. Students attending the meeting discussed ways in which they could prevent something like this from happening again. Because Indiana has no hate crime legislation, the hanging of a noose is not a crime. There are, however, federal hate crime statutes, so if the person is caught, he or she could be punished by a federal court. Ebony Roberts, president of ISU's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said, "Student leaders worked vigorously to try to come to a solution, but it was very difficult to do because of the lack of evidence." Instead, she said, they are focusing on education to prevent happenings like this. During International Education Week in November, ISU's NAACP hosted a Bury the Hate ceremony. Rather than burying the words, students met at the fountain and burned hateful words. Roberts said she hopes to organize a larger event in the same vein for Human Rights Day in December. "We have been working hand in hand with the Terre Haute NAACP Adult Branch to get hate crime laws in Indiana passed," Roberts said. "We are one of four states who do not have hate crime laws, and we're working hard to change that." Roberts said she has been sitting in on the Terre Haute NAACP meetings to help create hate crime legislation to present to the state. She also serves as the Indiana Conference Youth & College Division State president and has been working with groups around the state to help change the laws. In addition to hosting events such as Bury the Hate, Roberts said ISU's NAACP would also like to educate students about "why nooses and lynching are so offensive." An ISU honors class is also seeking to educate on hate crimes this semester by creating a "town hall" type of meeting next month. Linda Maule, an associate professor of political science, is trying to help her students learn about hate crimes and legislation in a general honors seminar called Citizenship and Civility. Maule said the students have been tasked with creating a town hall project, so it will be completely organized and produced by the students. Kristen Oliver, a junior political science major and member of the honors seminar, said the groups of students is still in the preliminary stages of developing the town hall meeting, which will focus on hate crimes and hate crime legislation in Indiana and surrounding areas. The class is broken into three groups: event planning, communication/publicity and research. Oliver said she is part of the event-planning group, and they are "trying to get professors, community members, maybe some lawyers and the mayor to attend and present information." The goal is to educate people and give everyone a chance to discuss different opinions about what qualifies as a hate crime and what hate crime legislation would entail, Oliver said. Roberts encourages people to write to their representatives so they will know how important this legislation is to the residents of this state. Student Government Association President-elect Michael Scott Jr., said he also hopes to incorporate this kind of education at ISU because the university is the most diverse campus in Indiana. "Diversity training is something that's really lacking," he said. Scott said he would like to have seen more workshops involving education directly after the noose incident, but still thinks it's important now.
ALCOHOLIC ENERGY DRINKS The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), an alcohol-industry watchdog, is seeking a court injunction banning Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing Company from selling alcoholic energy drinks, contending that the products appeal to underage drinkers and lack government approval for their mix of ingredients. CSPI wrote to both brewers and stated that the lawsuits would allege that drinks like Anheuser-Busch's Tilt and Bud Extra and Miller's Sparks -- which the group refers to as "alcospeed" -- are "adulterated products" and that the companies have engaged in "acts and practices that are both unfair and deceptive" in marketing the products. The group will seek a permanent injunction to prevent the companies "from manufacturing and offering for sale any alcoholic beverage that contains caffeine, guarana, or any other stimulant, or taurine, ginseng, or any other ingredient that is not generally recognized as safe for use in alcoholic beverages," as well as prohibiting Anheuser-Busch and Miller from making claims about the energy-boosting attributes of the products or their ability to counteract the effects of alcohol. CSPI also said it plans to ask the courts to require the companies to disgorge all profits from the sales of these products, which would then be placed in a charitable fund. Feb. 28 letters to Anheuser-Busch president and CEO August Busch IV and Miller president and CEO Tom Long offers a 30-day period to discuss settlement of the case. "Short of decorating these cans with Hannah Montana or Spiderman, it's hard to see how you could do a better job of marketing alcospeed to young people than Anheuser-Busch and Miller are doing," said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner. "The cans are virtually indistinguishable from several nonalcoholic energy drinks that are heavily marketed to young people. They have a sugary taste, and colors that make it look more like Mountain Dew or Orange Crush than regular beer. It's a recipe for disaster and the companies should be held accountable." Francine L. Katz, Anheuser-Busch vice president of communications and consumer affairs, said in a statement that the company was being "improperly singled out by CSPI as a publicity generating tactic" and that Tilt and Bud Extra have been approved by federal regulators. A Miller spokesperson also said that Sparks has been cleared by regulators and marketed responsibly. Recent research has shown that mixing alcohol and energy drinks can make drinkers feel more alert, but does nothing to prevent intoxication. Researcher Mary Claire O'Brien and colleagues at Wake Forest University School of Medicine who surveyed students found that those who mixed alcohol and energy drinks tended to drink more heavily and have more drinking-related problems. "Energy drinks mask the symptoms of drunkenness -- but not the drunkenness itself," said O'Brien. "Students may feel that they are 'ok to drive' when physically they are actually intoxicated." A group of 16 state attorneys general also is investigating the marketing and sale of alcoholic energy drinks, including subpoenaing company documents. Thirty state AGs last year called on the Bush administration to crack down on marketing of alcoholic energy drinks. An earlier investigation by AGs and complaints by CSPI and others led Anheuser-Busch to withdraw another alcoholic energy drink, Spykes, last year.
VOTING Since the 2000 elections, the number of young Americans going to the polls has increased steadily. This year is no different: In some states, double and triple the number of voters younger than 30 have turned out for primaries, compared with 2006. But another trend is also emerging: the widening voting gap between youth enrolled in college and their non-student peers. Young voters have been heralded as the new power voting bloc for decades. Presidential campaigns from that of George McGovern to those of Bill Clinton and John Kerry have welcomed their enthusiasm into the fold, with varying degrees of success. This year, exit polls show that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is the favorite of the under-30 set. Tiondra Bolden, a 21-year-old student at the University of North Texas, is typical of the hundreds of young people often seen dancing and cheering in the rafters of Obama events. She says Obama speaks to young voters in a way they can relate to. "It's sort of like, 'Oh! We understand now,' " Bolden says during a recent Obama rally in Dallas. Bolden says Obama inspires young people to think for themselves, rather than simply following their parents' political choices. "I can think about what I'm doing when I go to the polls," she says. "I know what they stand for, and [he] makes it more relatable to me." Activism Strong on Campus In some areas, colleges and universities have been the centers of support for Obama. Exit polls show that 80 percent of the voters younger than 30 who went to the polls on Super Tuesday attended college. At schools like the University of Texas in Austin, the election is on everyone's mind, says Cyan Manuel, an economics major. "Basically, if you walk around the campus, people are alive with politics," Manuel says. "Before, it was kind of dead. A lot of people are getting more interested in politics." UT Austin hosted the Democratic debate last week, but Manuel wasn't in the audience. She was at the Texas Union Ballroom, across campus, where she watched the debate on a movie theater-size screen, with live music, food and the enthusiasm of a sporting event. The Non-College Experience But travel outside of the Austin political bubble, and it's not clear that this enthusiasm is spilling off campus. John Peterson is a 26-year-old skateboard seller who is volunteering his time at an Obama campaign call center. He finds convincing some of his own friends to be a challenge. "A lot of them aren't very politically active, and I'm trying to get them down to vote," he says. Many young people who aren't enrolled in college are busy starting careers, he says; they "don't have the time to get out and vote, and they don't want to make the time." Peterson's friends are more the norm than he is, says Peter Levine of CIRCLE - the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. "It's harder to reach young people who have left school," Levine says. "People who are not going to college - they don't congregate as much. They are online somewhat less, and there are fewer institutions to reach them through." A new study from CIRCLE found that while 1 in 4 eligible college students in Super Tuesday states went to the polls, the numbers were more like 1 in 14 for non-college youth. Levine says unlike in previous generations, non-college youth today are less likely to be involved in unions or social clubs that encourage political engagement. "You got your civics education in groups like NAACP or Knights of Columbus, but you also got connected to political institutions - so, literally, the candidate would come to the meeting," Levine says. "If you don't congregate with other people, it's much harder for candidates to reach out to you." Sense of Helplessness Among Non-College Youth And non-college youth are less likely to believe that their vote matters, according to CIRCLE's research. James Cooper, 25, is a good example. Cooper works at a perfume kiosk at a downtown San Antonio mall. He says he's never been to a political event or had a campaign reach out for his vote. "I feel like it doesn't matter," Cooper says, adding, "I hear a lot about the last election with Bush and feel like there's no control - I say we have no control." Although online videos and campaign Web sites are among the major sources of election news for young voters, their friends are their No. 1 source of information. So researchers say the widening class divide between college students and their working peers cannot be ignored. It starts in high school, where there are disparities in civics education, and can carry on into a young adult's working life.
DISCONNECTED Some teenagers slip through the cracks. Not everyone graduates. No everyone goes on the college, the work force or the military. They go home and remain idle. And these teenagers aren’t living in urban ghettos. They are living in the nation’s heartland, Small towns and rural areas, school districts that are by necessity small in numbers, but large in one-to-one contacts. Teachers and students and school administrators know each other. Still, there’s a disturbing trend developing, according to a watch-dog group. A new fact sheet from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire finds that young adults (18-24) living in rural areas are more likely to be idle - not in school, the labor force, or the Armed Forces - than their urban counterparts. Among rural high school dropouts and racial-ethnic minorities, rates of idleness are even more pronounced. ”The transition to adulthood has become more difficult for recent cohorts of American youth; today’s economy demands more education for youth to achieve economic independence. Idle youth are not gaining the education or work experience they need and their route to adulthood will likely be longer, more difficult, and may have fewer rewards,” says Anastasia Snyder, who co-authored the fact sheet with Diane McLaughlin. “Idleness among youth is a serious problem that affects the likelihood of their future success as productive adults.” Snyder is associate professor of human development and family science at Ohio State University; McLaughlin is associate professor of rural sociology and demography at Penn State University. Using 2006 Current Population Survey data, the fact sheet finds that 12 percent of rural youth are idle, compared to 10 percent of urban youth. Among high school dropouts, rates rise dramatically: In both rural and urban areas, three times as many high school dropouts are idle compared to their peers who graduated. In rural areas, rates of idleness rise sharply for high school dropouts who are non-Hispanic blacks (50 percent), from low-income families (49 percent) or from the Northeast (45 percent). Rates of idleness among racial-ethnic minorities in rural areas are particularly high: 17 percent of rural blacks are idle, compared to 14 percent of urban blacks; 19 percent of rural Hispanics are idle (15 percent of urban Hispanics); and 23 percent of “other” racial groups, such as American Indians, in rural areas are idle, more than double the 10 percent of urban youth in this racial-ethnic category. Before parents, school officials and teachers start to feel a pounding in their chests followed by guilt feelings, stop, take a deep breath and consider how the Hayfield Independent School District is meeting the challenge. Answer: head-on. And because the district boasts such a high graduation rate, it begs the question, “Where did the Carsey Institute collect such data? Obviously not among the proud school districts in southeastern Minnesota. “Over the past three years, at Hayfield High School, our dropout rate has been zero and our graduation rate has been at 99,” said Ron Evjen, superintendent. “We also have a 100 percent graduation rate of all of our minority students.” Hayfield’s principal and guidance counselor, don’t track graduates’ performances after commencement. They are busy enough ensuring each student achieves to their maximum en route to a high school diploma. They all said dropouts aren’t ignored, because the district has a plan in place to prevent that from happening. “Opportunities available to students who do not meet our graduation requirements by the end of their senior year include the following,” Evjen said before listing the options:
“At this point in time, we do not formally track student activity beyond their graduation date,” the superintendent admitted. However, a 99 percent graduation rate and all those programs to help prevent dropping out suggested idleness is not a problem here.
TRAUMA Childhood abuse or physical violence in young adulthood greatly raises the odds of someone starting to smoke by their early 20s, a large study suggested Tuesday. Smokers often find their habit relaxing, "and this may be how they cope with the trauma," says study leader Bernard Fuemmeler, a pediatric psychologist at Duke University Medical Center. "Survivors of traumatic experiences will say they just want to get back to normal. But for some it's like having a broken leg - you can't just go on and pretend it never happened," he says. "You need to get help or there will be bad effects." Fuemmeler and co-author Miguel Roberts followed more than 15,000 young people from age 15 to about 22. They found a link between reports of childhood sexual or physical abuse and regular smoking that begins in the teen years. Exposure to a physical assault in the past year - either witnessing it or being a victim - nearly doubled the odds of a young adult starting to smoke within a year. And violence in any relationships - pushing, slapping, kicking - also raised the risk for becoming a smoker soon after. The report will be published in the March issue of Journal of Adolescent Health. Post-traumatic stress from violent incidents correlates with all kinds of addictions, such as drinking, drug abuse and gambling, says G. Alan Marlatt, a psychologist and director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at University of Washington in Seattle. The study's results suggest that doctors need to pay more attention to teenagers and young adults who have had such traumas, says Walter Rosenfeld, a physician at Goryeb Children's Hospital in Morristown, N.J. It's normal for adolescents to experiment with smoking or drinking, he says, but if young people are experimenting and have had a lot of stress in their lives, they may need help. There's other evidence that young people who become "light, social smokers" at college often develop into dedicated smokers within a few years, says Michael Resnick, director of the Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Center at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. "Traumatic experiences in adolescence bubble up in all kinds of ways, often self-destructive and health-jeopardizing," Resnick says. More than 80% of smokers start before age 18, federal government data show. About 20% of adults smoke, down from 40% two decades ago, Marlatt says. But the rate among college students hasn't dropped that much, he says.
CALIFORNIA Prompted by the fatal classroom shooting of an Oxnard student that prosecutors allege was a hate crime, a state legislator Monday announced plans to introduce a bill to expand diversity education in California schools. Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes, said his bill would supplement existing criminal statutes regarding crimes against victims based on their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. "My bill is focusing on [hate crime] prevention," Eng said after a news conference at his El Monte district office. "We already have bills on the books about proper punishment; mine will focus on dealing with hatred in a school setting." Eng hopes to create a pilot program by allocating up to $150,000 to establish a diversity and sensitivity curriculum at a few school districts. The pilot program would serve as a model to be used to develop lesson plans statewide. Prosecutors said Lawrence King, 15, was shot Feb. 12 by classmate Brandon McInerney, 14, in front of other students at E.O. Green Junior High School. McInerney was charged last week with premeditated murder with a special allegation of a hate crime. He will be tried as an adult. He remains in custody at Ventura County Juvenile Hall and faces up to 50 years to life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors have declined to discuss the motive in the case. But several students said that King had argued with other boys, including McInerney, the day before the shooting in a dispute concerning King's sexual orientation. Students said King had recently revealed that he was gay and had begun wearing makeup and feminine accessories with his school uniform. On Saturday, more than 1,000 students and parents staged a peace march in Oxnard to pay tribute to King. Supporters of Eng's bill said they hope that the notoriety of the case may help get legislation passed in 2008. "Race and religion are more readily acknowledged as unacceptable reasons for treating someone in a negative way, but when you talk about sexual orientation it's more commonly seen that there will be fear, harassment and, oftentimes, violence," said Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. "All students need to feel like they're safe," Toma said. Eng said his bill would help develop a procedure for teachers and administrators to notify counselors or law enforcement when they learn of student harassment that suggests a potential hate crime. "We need to look at protocols to make sure that students are protected from violence," Eng said. "Current law requires teachers, physicians and counselors to report possible sexual impropriety with youth, but we don't have protocols dealing with hate crimes that could possibly result in violence," Eng said. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), California's first openly gay legislator, helped pass a state law nine years ago that banned discrimination against and harassment of gay students. Kuehl, whose district includes Oxnard, said Monday that numerous programs exist to teach faculty and students about celebrating differences among students and embracing tolerance and diversity. If Eng's bill helps get such programs adopted statewide, then schools may become safer, Kuehl said.
COLORADO OK, here's how a bill really becomes a law. Five students from Southwest Colorado got an up-close civics lesson Monday when they drove to Denver and successfully lobbied the House Education Committee to set up a state Youth Advisory Council. The five - along with students from Cortez and Pagosa Springs who couldn't make it to Denver - have been working with Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, since last year on House Bill 1157. They came up with a plan to create a 44-member youth commission to advise the Legislature on anything affecting young people, including education, jobs, health, public safety and driver's licenses. "I wanted to actually make a difference, rather than doing the things student government usually does, like dances and social events," said Rachel Sauer, a senior at Durango High School and the daughter of Randy and Vez Sauer. But it takes more than a good idea to pass a bill. The students already knew their basic civics lessons: The bill starts in a committee and has to pass through both the House and Senate. On Monday, they learned what happens behind the scenes - the last-minute strategy sessions, the question of money and the importance of schmoozing with the man who will ultimately sign or veto their bill, Gov. Bill Ritter. So at lunch, they met with the Colorado Children's Campaign and the group's head lobbyist, Lindsay Neil. She told the students not to be afraid of the legislators. "They're just regular people, just like we are. I think being yourself is the most important," Neil said. Three of the students were planning to testify, along with Tanya Kuoni of Gateway High School in Aurora. But they all prepared similar testimony, and that's a sure way to get on legislators' nerves. So Roberts and Neil quickly helped the students re-arrange their presentation. Roberts asked Aaron Thompson, an Ignacio junior, to talk about the bill's importance for small schools. It was hard to improvise, Thompson said after the hearing. "My mind kind of froze. It's kind of intimidating to be in front of all those extremely successful people," said Thompson, son of Wayne and Carol Thompson. But if he was nervous, it didn't show to the 13 members of the Education Committee. As he sat in the middle of a U-shaped table with legislators surrounding him, he told them how many of his classmates feel like they can't affect their state because they are so far away. The youth council will help get them involved, he said. Several legislators questioned the age requirements the students put into the bill. The council will be open to Coloradans age 14 to 19. "Fourteen is when a lot of youth start caring about the world they're living in," said Claire Carver, a Durango High School junior and the daughter of Bill and Karen Carver. Their questions answered, the Education Committee members voted 13-0 to approve the bill and send it on to the Appropriations Committee. That's a dreaded step for lawmakers, Roberts told the students, because bills that go to that committee have a "fiscal note." Fiscal notes are printed on pink paper and signal the lawmakers that a bill will cost money. Legislators are much more likely to OK something that's free. Roberts will take the bill from here and advocate for it in the Appropriations Committee and the full House. If it survives, it will go to the Senate, where it has an influential sponsor in Sue Windels, the chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee. But the students had one last stop Monday, at the first-floor office of Gov. Bill Ritter. During introductions, Roberts learned that Ritter graduated from Gateway High School, the same school as one of her witnesses. Score one point in the schmoozing department. And Ritter revealed that he once served on a youth advisory council for the city of Aurora. Score two points. But when Roberts asked whether Ritter will support the bill, Ritter had one question. "What's the fiscal note?" "$8,472," Roberts said. "Yes," Ritter replied. "You always have to ask what something costs, because there are a lot of good ideas." But $8,472 is a tiny sum in a multi-billion-dollar budget. Sauer asked the governor if the council really will make a difference. "The most honest answer," Ritter said, "is to say it's going to be a function of how much kids are willing to participate in the political process." If everyone ages 18 to 25 voted, politicians would pay a lot more attention, he said. Ritter said he supports youth councils only if they are more than a "hood ornament" for the Legislature. It's important for people of all ages to participate at all levels of government, he said. "Participation translates into political action," Ritter told the students. "The thing you should fight against is when someone says it doesn't matter who gets elected."
NEW HAMPSHIRE The N.H. State Senate recently voted, 17-6, in favor of a legislation that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in federal and state primaries if they turn 18 before the next general election. The bill, known as Senate Bill 436, is now on its way to the House of Representatives. According to Senator Deb Reynolds, a co-sponsor of the bill, it originated with a request by the Legislative Youth Advisory Council. Reynolds' son, James Conklin, 16, of Plymouth, is a member of the council that comprises 19 people between the ages of 15 and 22. The members of the group have been appointed by the Senate, House and President. They provide input on matters affecting youths. Reynolds said they have been expressing their support of the legislation and explained that, even when people turn 18 in college, it can be difficult to vote. Having the vote will help young adults prepare for the future, she said. "Nine other states have similar laws," said Reynolds. "Youth will have more involvement and their voice is important." Reynolds said on Friday that she had breakfast with Newfound Area students and teachers and, at the breakfast, there was excitement over the new bill. She said that the great thing about the legislation is that it will allow more young adults to get involved with government. Reynolds noted that 17-year-olds can enlist in the armed services and, while they would not be put into combat, they could still get badly injured in training. If that can happen, people of that age should be able to get involved in the voting system, she said. "We commend the efforts of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council for moving this issue forward in New Hampshire and agree that it is an appropriate step in encouraging our young people to become more engaged in politics," said Sen. Jacalyn Cilley, D-Barrington, who serves on that committee. The council also includes Mikayla Foster, the 16-year-old daughter of Sen. Joseph Foster, who also helped to sponsor the legislation. "My motivation is to bring young people into the process early on and to enhance our democracy," Foster said. He said that students who are encouraged to register to vote while still in high school are more likely to stay involved in the election process once they go to college. Otherwise, many students wait until well after they graduate before they register to vote. Mikayla Foster was among the young people who testified at a hearing before the Senate Election Law and Internal Affairs Committee. She argued the legislation would encourage younger voters to look closely at the primary candidates and get engaged in the process leading up to the general election. The committee voted unanimously to recommend passage of the bill to the full Senate. "If passed, this will extend to these young adults in a way that has never been offered in New Hampshire," said Reynolds. "This is really about allowing young adults to participate in democracy. They'll have the ability to weigh in on issues."
MICHIGAN State Sen. Cameron Brown, R-Sturgis, introduced legislation last week that will allow 16-year-olds to preregister to vote when they get their driver's license. According to Brown, the proposed law would allow teens to give all the necessary information to the secretary of state when they get their licenses, and the secretary of state then would send the information to the local clerks on teens' 18th birthdays, allowing them to be automatically registered to vote and added to the qualified voter file. "Making it easier for young people to register to vote will stimulate interest and increase the chances that they will become regular, lifelong participants in our democracy," Brown said in a news release. "With each election, the youth of our state have their future at stake. We should seize this opportunity to encourage their participation in greater numbers." Alyssa Hall, a 13-year-old student at Lakeview Middle School, said she already is thinking about voting, and the new law would make it easier for her and her peers to participate in elections without having to make a return trip to the secretary of state's office. "I wouldn't want to go back," she said. "(Preregistration) would take less time, and you wouldn't have to travel around to register to vote. It wouldn't take as much energy." Kristi Hall, Alyssa's mom, said she thinks the measure will increase voter participation in the 18- to 24-year-old crowd. "You talk to people who are close to that age, 18 or 19, and you ask them if they voted, a lot of them say they never registered," she said. "I think they're very important. Everyone is important to the process and should have a voice." According to the U.S. Census Bureau, citizens between the ages of 18 and 24 routinely register and vote at lower rates than any other age groups. In the 2004 presidential election, approximately 58 percent of Americans younger than 24 were registered, while only 47 percent actually voted. In that same election, nearly 80 percent of Americans from 65 to 74 years were registered, with 73 percent voting. State Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer, D-Bedford Township, said he intends to cosponsor the bill, which he called "common sense legislation." "I think it's a fabulous idea. We need to remove as many impediments to participating in the voting process as possible," he said. "Making it easier for young people to register will directly result in more young people voting and participating in the voting process." Brown said his proposal will be referred to a Senate committee next week, and Schauer said the measure could take a couple of months before reaching Gov. Jennifer Granholm's desk to be signed into law.
MISSOURI A bill that would ban an emerging fad in intoxication - alcohol vaporizers - will be up for discussion in the Missouri Senate within the next week, according to Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Clay County. Alcohol vaporizers are also often referred to as AWOL, which stands for alcohol without liquid, machines. Ridgeway said she proposed the legislation after a group of young people in her district brought the issue to her attention. Youth In Action, the group that initiated the process, are high school students from three counties in the Kansas City area concerned with the culture surrounding substance abuse, particularly involving minors, according to Vicky Ward, the group’s coordinator and prevention and wellness manager for Tri-County Mental Health Services in Kansas City. Youth In Action travels to national conferences and talks with other students about substance abuse issues. “They began to explore and research (the use of AWOL machines) and certainly the health risks that are involved with it,” Ward said. “So that became, three years ago, a priority issue for them.” A similar bill involving the banning of vaporizers was introduced in the Senate last year, but didn’t get out of committee. “That first year I testified for it, there was no opposition,” Ward said. “I think it was a matter of they can only send so many out of committee and this wasn’t the priority for them.” Even though there is not a plethora of documented issues directly naming to the AWOL machines, Ward said she believes it is because those incidents go without recognition in incident reports. “It’s probably going to come across as an alcohol poisoning, and not ever mention the vehicle from which the alcohol entered the system,” Ward said. AWOL machines operate by pouring any liquor of choice into a chamber in the machine. Once the machine is turned on, oxygen is infused, producing a mist. The user then inhales the mist to consume the alcohol. This inhalation practice can have devastating health effects, according to Ward. “What happens when you use the AWOL, and you simply inhale the vaporized alcohol with the oxygen, it bypasses your natural filtering organs, straight to the bloodstream and the brain,” Ward said. “So, it doesn’t take a biologist to figure out that that can’t possibly be good for you.” The popularity of vaporizers among youth is easy to understand as the machines are marketed as a calorie- and hangover-free method to get intoxicated quickly, but the perks are largely false according to Ward. “They’re trying to capitalize, obviously, on kids who are concerned about not gaining weight at the same time,” Ward said. “And hangovers are caused by the effects of ethanol on the body and a fairly toxic substance called ethaldehyde. While some of this may be left behind during AWOL’s vaporization process, many other factors that contribute to hangovers would still occur whether ingested or inhaled.” The use of vaporizers has garnered national attention and awareness in recent years according to Alicia Ozenberger, project director for Missouri’s Youth/Adult Alliance. Ozenburger said 22 states, most of them in the Midwest, have already banned vaporizers. In Missouri, Ozenberger said the presence of vaporizers has begun to make its mark. MU Police Capt. Brian Weimer said he was unaware of any AWOL use at MU. Despite the low profile of vaporizers at present, Ridgeway is convinced that legislation is a necessary method of prevention. “As far as I’ve heard, they are minimally used at this point,” Ridgeway said. “But we’re just on the beginning wave of the public learning about these machines. So before it becomes an epidemic, we want to stop it in it’s tracks.”
MASSACHUSETTS Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne Bump announced Friday a $3.1 million increase in grant funding from Gov. Deval Patrick, earmarked for organizations working to help at-risk teenagers join the workforce. The grants will be made to dozens of organizations located in communities with high numbers of "at-risk" teenagers, including Lynn, Salem and Revere, through three separate grant programs offered by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development's Commonwealth Corporation and the state's Department of Youth Services. Locally, the North Shore Workforce Investment Board, located in Lynn and Salem, will receive $50,000 to fund job opportunities for 23 additional teenagers in its coverage area, while other organizations are encouraged to apply for funding through the Commonwealth Corporation. Bump announced funding increases to three existing grants offered to these organizations, including $1.1 million to the "Bridging the Opportunity Gap" grant, which provides funding for teenagers returning to their home communities after time spent in the custody of the Department of Youth Services. Additionally, $1.34 million has been added to the "Pathways to Success by 21" grant, which provides money to top coalitions of local youth-serving organizations and service dollars to reconnect older youth to education and career pathways. The programs focus on easing the transition into the workforce for at-risk teenagers, and educating those teens on the negative repercussions of dropping out of school. Finally, Patrick has set aside $689,000 to expand the "Youth Works" summer jobs program to include year-round employment opportunities. In all, the money will fund 12 pilot programs for 332 teenagers. "This funding represents Governor Patrick's commitment to our youth and to raising the hops and skills of young people in the Commonwealth by giving them the opportunity to work and to earn," said Bump. "We know that the single greatest predictor of holding a job as an adult is holding a job as a teenager, and that is why we must do everything possible now to put our youth on a path that will lead to academic success and greater lifetime earnings." In addition to these grants, Patrick has also included a $2.5 million increase in youth jobs funding in his fiscal 2009 proposed budget, up from $6.7 million last year. Statewide, the percentage of teens in the labor force has declined dramatically from 57 percent in 1999 to only 48 percent in 2006, and the employment rate of teens declined from 53 percent in 1999 to 39 percent in 2006, according to the Governor's office. Jobs are particularly important for teens, especially those in high-risk areas like Lynn where drugs and gangs could become a negative influence. State data shows that a lack of work experience as a teenager can result in fewer chances for employability and wage growth after high school, especially for those who do not attend college. "We are committed to helping ensure that youth have as many chances as they need to succeed in life," said Secretary of Health and Human Services Judy Ann Bigby. "These grants will provide at-risk youth with educational and employment opportunities that will serve them for years to come."
ILLINOIS In response to the governor's veto of valuable education dollars for agriculture classes, State Rep. Careen Gordon on Thursday passed legislation out of a House committee to reinstate funding for 4-H youth development educators. "I believe the governor made a terrible mistake when he eliminated funding for 4-H youth development educators," Gordon (D-Morris) said. "4-H is a successful and valuable educational program that greatly benefits from the service of highly trained educators who teach the skills that help build successful lives and careers." House Bill 4228 restores and increase funding eliminated by the governor to the Department of Agriculture's 4-H Youth Development Educators program. In total, Gordon's bill would appropriate $1.7 million for the program. Youth educators provide teachers and other youth education professionals with information about character education, bullying prevention, experiential education and other learning. This program also teaches drug prevention, youth nutrition, obesity prevention, technology training and sponsors food drives in many communities throughout the state. "4-H provides wonderful educational opportunities to hundreds of students and community residents," Gordon said. "It is imperative that this funding is restored and I thank the committee for its unanimous decision to support this legislation. I look for continued support in the House chamber." HB 4228 is supported by the Illinois Farm Bureau, University of Illinois Extension Partners, Illinois Beef Association, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Interstate Labor Standards Association, GrowMark, Knox County Health Department, Illinois Committee for Agricultural Education, Illinois Association of Community College Agriculture Instructors, and Illinois Association of Meat Producers.
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