ACLU 8th Annual “Youth Social Justice Forum” Gives Voice to MPS High School Students
On Wednesday, November 28th, I spent the day talking with high school students at the ACLU’s 8th “Youth Social Justice Forum.” Attended by over 400 high school students, subjects included-
- police oversight
- racism
- gay rights
- student rights
- bullying
- voting
- MPS
In a workshop on the Y.E.S. “Student Bill of Rights” discussion was lively with both praise and criticism of MPS schools and classrooms.
Many students spoke of good teachers that care about them and go the extra mile to help them succeed. At the same time there was a theme describing some teachers that was universally agreed on by students. One MPS student, whom I asked to write out his views, said-
“I’m a student that takes pride in my education at school and everywhere else. So I have a great interest in anyone who wants to teach me. Throughout my entire high school career I have noticed educators that are not teaching students to the best of their ability. I call them ‘textbook teachers.’ These are teachers that rely on textbooks to do their job for them. They say ‘read these pages, answer these questions.’ They just give us book work.”
It became clear to me through the course of the discussion that students want teachers to work hard at teaching all students, whatever their learning style. They want teacher to “know them a person.” They “want and expect better.”
Students felt that some teachers are already there but all teachers need to be on board.
There was universal criticism of cafeteria food.
To get a picture of a day of great activities, view the following:
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| http://aclu-wi.org/community-education/youth-social-justice-forum |
Join us in Milwaukee for the 13th annual Youth Social Justice Forum!
On Wednesday, November 28 the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation will join our community partners in sponsoring a daylong event to teach high school students to celebrate and exercise their rights and protect their liberties. The event is free to participating high schools and will be held at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
Click here to join the Youth Social Justice live blog
The Youth Social Justice Forum program uses realistic role-play, hands-on workshops and hot topics from the news about the rights of young people. Students will learn about new media, public art, civics and government and will be offered a chance to discuss racial profiling, bullying, LGBT rights and other topics relevant to youth rights and responsibilities. Participants will also have an opportunity to learn about restorative justice and peace circles.
To directly experience what it is like to vote, students will participate in a mock election using actual voting machines supplied by the City of Milwaukee Election Commission. This year the election topic will be police-community relations in the City of Milwaukee. Given recent events in Milwaukee, the discussion of race, racial profiling and police relations will be overarching themes throughout the 24 workshops.
Workshops include:
Know Your Rights - Facilitated by Urban Underground
Censoring the City: Hip Hop, Graffiti and the First Amendment - Facilitated by TRUE Skool
Free Speech and T-Shirt Painting - Facilitated by Milwaukee artist Kari Garon
Political Cartooning and Art - Facilitated by Milwaukee artist Devin Trudell and Milwaukee Public Theatre Artists
Student Privacy: Searches, Consent and Your Rights
Poetry, Politics and Power - Facilitated by local poets and spoken word artists
Out of the Closets and Into the Classroom
Creating Audio PSAs - Facilitated by staff of 88.9 Radio Milwaukee
Bullying vs. The First Amendment
Artificial Intelligence: Illusions, Oppressions and "isms" - YWCA & students of Transition High School
Student Bill of Rights - Facilitated by Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), League of Young Voters and others
Shared Power, Shared Voice: the Circle Way - Facilitated by Peer Solutions and MPS students
Special thanks to community partners including:
ACLU Student Alliance at Alliance High School
ACLU Student Alliance at Alverno College
ACLU Student Alliance and Amnesty International at Rufus King HS
ACLU Student Alliance at UW-Milwaukee
City of Milwaukee Election Commission
MPS Partnership for the Arts and Humanities
Milwaukee Public Theatre
NAACP
TRUE Skool, Public Allies
UWM Cultures and Communities
UWM Peck School of the Arts
Urban Underground
and the YWCA of Greater Milwaukee
Applications: please email Emilio De Torre, Youth and Program Director at edetorre@aclu-wi.org or call (414) 305-8569 by November 18th if your school is interested in participating or download an application form. Space is limited and registration will be on a "first come first served" basis. Lunch will be provided through UWM's catering services.