Teen Advocacy

Age Discrimation

A few ways teens are discriminated against:

- Can't drive

- Can't chose where they want to live

- Can't get passports

- Can't leave the country

- Can't choose where they study, what they study or how they study

- Can't choose who they have relationships with

- Can't choose what clothes to wear

- Can't choose when they get up in the morning or go to bed at night

- Don't have rights to a trial

- Don't have rights to an attorney or anyone to help defend them

- No laws restricting lenghts of punishement in their homes

- Almost no laws restricting types of punishment

- Can't get a library card (Steff's story)

- Can't vote

- Can't get bank accounts

- Don't have the right to privacy.

- Not able to work as volunteer counselors (Darren's story)

 

 


Darren's story

Darren told me he wanted to learn about counseling so he could help people. I suggested he talk to the Samaratins in England since they use volunteer counselors. He did and they told him he had to be 18.

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Steff's story

When Steff was 14, suicidal and self-harming, her parents were trying to stop her from using the Internet So she tried to use the computer at her local library in England. She was told she had to have a library card, but to get one she had to have her parent's permission if she was under 18.