Social Change Led By and With Young People

Everyday the media reports another catastrophe caused by young people:

"Youth crime rates skyrocket."

"Student shoots classmate, then self."

"Survey shows more children failing."

What are we left to do? Many young people and adults are tricked into believing what a lot of society says: youth are failures, kids are a burden, and young people are hopeless. But a growing number of people aren't listening to that hype any more.

In communities around the world, young people are taking action to create change. Often, they are working in the light of Margaret Meads' words, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world - Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

These groups are challenging long-held beliefs about the roles of children and the purpose of youth; they are emboldening their families, their teachers, and their brothers and sisters to make a difference, too.

How are young people making that change? Since 2001 The Freechild Project has set out to answer that question, and a few more:

• What do young people care about?

• Do the actions of children and youth make a difference?

• How are they doing it?

• Who cares?

This website was created to pose those questions to the public, and to ask YOU to answer them. Throughout The Freechild Project website you will find stories of young people working in communities to make a difference, like this one:

Those are real numbers, and that is a real story. The Freechild Project website features the issues addressed by young people like Eric and organizations like PSU. PSU primarily focuses on school change; other groups address environmental awareness, social justice, nonviolence and peace, youth rights, and community growth, among dozens of topics at The Freechild Project website.

We also feature the actions young people are using to create social change. PSU engages in community organizing; other groups use participatory action research, community youth involvement, youth-created media, and service learning. There are more than 30 different approaches listed on Freechild.

In the last five years we have seen incredible progress in our own work and among our allies around the world. Many youth-led and youth-driven groups have grown in membership and stature; others have deepened their analyses and altered their approaches. Schools, youth-serving programs, and the communities where action is happening are slowing starting to change. More youth and more adults are saying, "We want to engage... we want to change." The bottom line? Young people are becoming more successful as activists, social innovators, community leaders, and wisdom-makers.

But the effort is far from over; as the cliché goes, we've actually just begun. The media still rails against young people on a regular basis; most institutions that serve young people still see engaging them as novel; and many youth and adults still say that they just do not care. As scholars Giroux & Giroux recently wrote, "The time to act is now because the stakes have never been so high and the future so dark."

The Freechild Effort

The resources on The Freechild Project website are meant to encourage you to take action. This website offers a variety of tools for young people and adults, and provides details on the issues young people care about and the actions they are taking. You can find a reading list, original Freechild publications, and resources for action.  Please take time to surf the website. Use the resources that are here. Create change.

If you have ideas, suggestions, or questions about the Freechild's website, publications, or tools, please contact us and share.

Through our collective efforts as advocates and allies, we can move toward the goal of radically-inclusive democracy around the world.