r/YouthRights

title. No one has responded to the first post. I have kind of found some info ever since I first posted but I'd like to hear some other opinions... Please respond.

I've been a member on there advocating from YR and there will always be an adultist on there who disagrees with any minor freedom. That is NOT the place to ask for workarounds.

After seeing that many people are supporting and actively trying to push social media bans and age verification globally, it got me EXTREMELY mad and frustrated. I'm just venting off for the sake of this post. I am now seeing how the movement to restrict teenagers from technology has really damaged us as a society.

Global society is actively restricting technology and the digital world, trying to ban teenagers and minors from using social media and the Internet and take away active second/third spaces for younger people to have creativity and interests, as well as remove our digital freedom and privacy of everyone, both children and adults alike and force us to send our personal information to governments and companies just to know how old we are. There is also a moral panic going on over social media and smartphones being used by teenagers ever since 2022 or 2023.

Introduction to technology like social media, the Internet, and smartphones should ideally start way before 16, 18, or even 21. Just because 1. we make mistakes on social media and the Internet 2. that bad things can happen in technology and 3. the fact social media can affect our mental health do not mean we are incapable of using such technology. We teenagers are capable of using social media and smartphones; they can offer us education, connecting to other people, making friends, and exploring our interests.

I very often see that people wanting these bans/verifications tend to overlook the real positive sides of social media and phones and treat if it's why we aren't only on there. They will just say that "social media and smartphones are horrible for teen mental health, ban teens from them". Sure, social media and smartphones can affect the mental health of some teenagers, but not all of them. Many people I know that did grow up with social media/smartphones has had no problem and live fully fine today.

There are also these people often comparing social media/Internet usage to things like alcohol, nicotine, smoking, driving, gambling, etc. as an excuse to push insanely high ages on social media like 16 or even 18. Social media is fundamentally different from alcohol or smoking. You see, social media is just a way for people to express their freedom of speech and hang out with others. Alcohol and smoking are substances that can actually kill and harm the human body. Gambling can actually drain finance. Social media is none of that. The problem is not social media/smartphones themselves, it's what people are on there.

Then, they will use the fact that "minors have less developed brains and are less mature" as an excuse to not let them on social media. Being younger does not automatically mean less mature. We are all bound to make mistakes on social media and the Internet. Mistakes using technology at 12-24 are expected primarily because of how we're conditioned and our actual brain development that effects our maturity. It has little to do with the inherent usage of technology themselves.

They also act like if there's a massive difference between a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old on social media and try to not let the 16-year-old on social media. Actually, a 17-year-old is just as capable of using social media and smartphones as an 18-year-old, and they can be more or less mature, but that has nothing to do with social media itself.

Also, the younger adults (aged roughly 18-30) seem to be a lot worse about supporting social media bans than the 60-year olds are. They already used social media before 16/18, and yet they want social media bans on minors? That's hypocritical.

Teenagers are not like 5-7 year olds. They are more independent people. Teenagers should definitely be allowed on social media and the Internet, but it requires safeguards, just like going to public places. This was historically recognized from 2005-2021 and it wasn't until 2022 or 2023 when a new moral panic over social media and smartphones began and managed to actually become worse than the initial panic over social media during the MySpace era.

Roughly around age 13, you are still capable of using social media and smartphones, but you're naturally inclined to be inexperienced with digital literacy and online safety, primarily because you're younger and is new to these things. Everyone was a newbie to the Internet at some point in time. Because you are inexperienced, safeguards should exist in place while using the digital world. These represent your parents, friends and family, and a community that's there to teach you well.

It's very sad to see that society is actively trying to take away our digital rights and treat us like slaved citizens back in the 1800s. We as a society need to stop dehumanizing teenagers (and everyone in general) from technology. Go for digital literacy, parental guidance, and education, not ban minors from technology. That will actually solve the issues to the problems of technology, not minor-focused bans.

It is also important noting that they are trying to enforce "age verification" on us where we are all forced to give out our ID or face just to use certain services. We fear that we may get doxed, and a data breach may happen so hackers will just use our data for bad purposes. It also takes away everyone's privacy, not just teenagers or adults.

It first happened to minors with comic books, then video games. Now, it's happening with social media and smartphones. We are actively being denied digital autonomy, and actual positives are being taken away from us too. I am sick and tired of the supporters of the social media bans.

14f my parents control my computer and only give me 30 minutes of mobile screen time. My dad keeps my computer on lock like all fucking day unless I'm supposed to be doing homework. It's the weekend and they don't allow me to go outside, use neither my phone or computer and there's nothing else for me to do. I feel so restricted. I could go for a twenty minute walk and I'd be spammed with calls asking me why I'm in the town which isn't even five minutes away. They're taking my teenage life away from me and complain about how I don't have any fucking Friends. Well MAYBE just MAYBE it's because you don't let me socialise with people neither in real life outside or even via text. They just take absolutely everything and want to know everything about me when they just complain about how I could be better after I tell them. ​Genuinely, what can I do to have even just a bit more freedom? They don't care about anything besides how I am doing academically and even when I tell them how I'm doing they compare me to other figures. It's like I can never satisfy them.

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What would you change the age of consent to if you had the chance?

1. 12
2. 13
3. 14
4. 15
5. 16
6. 17
7. 18
8. 19
9. 20
10. 21

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Hi!So im currently a 16 year old with a limited screen time of 30 minutes.it gets taken on and off whenever my mother is not in the mood or feels like it(lmao) , and i mean literally.Nothing happened recently-just a day where i spent a whole day at home,having nothing to do and basically doomscrolling and doing my part-work stuff. So today morning i wake up with a notification that i have 30 minutes of screen time. (This is a copy paste message, i have one min extra lol). It's been a debate with me and her since i was around 13. It went from full trust to one hour, then again at 14 i had unlimited screen time for a while (which actually affected my grades and behaviour positively).
And now, im 16- i got my first Iphone right from the store with my mother saying that "im an adult now and i can do whatever i feel like". And not even a month after- whenever she gets mad or a minor inconvenience happens , she uses a tactic of "time off". I hate it very much, it's actually a sensitive topic, because my phone was a big part of me- (when i was 12 there was a huge issue between my family including alcohol and divorce, and i had to be the one to search for my father at nights, talk them through it and etc. So my phone was an only resource i could rely on). It's really stressing me out to the point i stopped talking to her, because she is now not only mean, but violent. When i ignore her i got hit multiple times, slapped and scratched.

Im really worried about my privacy and social life, and i believe im old enough to have unlimited screen time, anything i can do?

If these laws pass being online anonymously will be impossible, it's already hard but now it will be literally impossible to use social media without giving up all of your personal information. This means that it will be far easier to censor people, if you get banned off social media there will be no way to get back on it. That's really bad especially with how terrible AI moderation is, people have had their YouTube channels banned for child engagement even when there are no kids In the video and kids aren't even mentioned. Some of this age verification advocacy is even being funded by meta. Child protection advocacy groups are fighting against this. This isn't about safety, or protecting kids. This is an attack on freedom of speech. The Internet is also a place for community that can help kids especially abused and LGBTQ+ kids. The Internet is a safe space for many teens and there is less and less to actually do outside the house every day. The Internet can and has 100% done terrible things to kids but educating kids and their parents about online danger and having things like at home parental controls solves this. These laws will no doubt only send kids to much less safe sights where predators and other horrible people can much more easily access them. Some of the darkest shit on the Internet happens on those sights. All these laws do is take freedom and hurt kids. Please protest against this, do everything you can to fight back. If you're outside of the US it's either coming to you as well or already has so you need to fight too. Even if it passes it can be reversed, it's never too late to fight for freedom. The best way to fight is to protest. If you can't simply educate people and voice your opinion, even call your local representatives. Please we can actually stop this if we try, I'm not giving up and neither should you.

Recently I heard on X that Minimum age of 11 set for UK puberty blocker trial. Here comes my comment:

However, not only LGBT children, every children around world are in a large puberty blocker trial. But most of them are not in physical level, but in mental level.
At the age of Nell Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood claimed that children shouldn't get too much information and childhood should be block from true world. And then more and more limit continue to be set onto children. Parents are concerned about their children's early maturation, so children are expected to be naive, grow up in the most classical way. Now it's finally the time to block them away from social media.
When you requesting young people to stay naive, to be away from technology and limit their ways to get information, you are anxious about they approach the society too early. Don't you think that you are also slowing down their growth? True, it is also a puberty blocker trial. One is in physical level, one is in mental level, but they are both to keep children into childhood longer.

I’ve been seeing a guy and staying at his house the past two nights and because I live with my mom and she has my location she is furious at me.

She says I am ruining my life and she was yelling at me for like 10 minutes straight just because I’m staying over a guys house.

I live at home with her and honestly, I am considering being homeless. She pays for my car and my phone but I would rather have freedom than be yelled at my mom for staying at a guys house. I’m turning 24 next week and don’t need to be bossed around by my parents. Does anyone else have this issue as a person in their 20s? How do I handle this situation?

The Century of the Child (1900) by Ellen Key

Key was one of the first Western intellectuals to declare that the 20th century must be defined by liberating children from the authoritarian ownership of their parents.

How to Love a Child (1919) and The Child’s Right to Respect (1928) by Janusz Korczak

Korczak famously argued that children are not "people of tomorrow," they are "people today". He set up a children's parliament and a children's court in his orphanage where kids could put adults on trial for unfair treatment.

The Dialectic of Sex (1970) by Shulamith Firestone

Included for its chapter on radical youth liberation, arguing that children are hindered in their growth by adult control and economic dependence among other things.

Birthrights (1974) by Richard Farson

A foundational text of the 1970s "children's liberation" movement, the book argues that society's paternalistic approach to protecting children actually oppresses them by denying them basic civil liberties. Farson proposes a radical restructuring of society that grants minors the same legal rights and self-determination as adults.

Escape from Childhood (1974) by John Holt

Holt argues that modern childhood is a restrictive social invention that isolates children from real life, treats them as private property, and delays their natural growth.

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education (1991) by Grace Llewellyn

This is the practical handbook of the movement. It took John Holt's philosophy of unschooling and handed it directly to teenagers as an actionable blueprint for legal, educational, and personal autonomy. It empowered an entire generation of youth to liberate themselves from mandatory schooling.

The Case Against Adolescence (2007) and Teen 2.0 (2010) by Dr. Robert Epstein

​Epstein bridges the gap between historical philosophy and hard modern science. He uses cognitive testing to prove that teenagers are fully capable of adult decision-making, arguing that "adolescence" is an artificial wealth-extraction zone created by the industrial revolution to keep young adults dependent and out of the job market.

​Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex (2011) by Amy Schalet

A comparative study that examines how American and Dutch parents approach adolescent sexuality differently. Based on extensive interviews with parents and teenagers, Schalet explores why the United States views teenage sex with fear and adversarial conflict, while the Netherlands treats it with open communication and relative normalization—ultimately achieving much lower rates of teenage pregnancy.

​Give Children the Vote: On Democratizing Democracy (2021) by John Wall

​John Wall is a theorist at Rutgers who is leading the modern fight for "proxy-voting" or total elimination of disenfranchisement for youth. It takes the old 1970s dream of youth enfranchisement and updates it with contemporary human rights frameworks and legal models.

​Solidarity with Children: An Essay Against Adult Supremacy (2024) by Madeline Lane-McKinley

This is a brand-new, ultra-modern perspective of youth rights. Lane-McKinley re-examines child liberation through a modern political lens, tackling how the concept of "childhood innocence" is frequently weaponized by the political right to restrict the rights of queer and vulnerable youth while maintaining institutional control.

I pieced this together with the help of Gemini the last hour or so. Let me know if you think something should be added to it! A lot of these books are out of print, something I'm thinking of fixing starting with Farson's Birthrights which I just ordered a copy of. I'm hoping to make an ebook and audiobook version of it and would love to keep doing this with other books critical to the Youth Rights movement that need it.

WTF has happened to childrens rights for privacy? and that means posting their difficult moments online for the world to see.

Surely you guys have seen that viral video where a kid was misbehaving on the bus and a lady who's African (not saying that in a way as against African people, but because people refer to this video as African parenting) who was sitting in front of them turned around and scolded the child. And the fact that this kid is going to grow up and could possibly discover this video, is just so upsetting. Surely theres possibly comments of people making fun of the child. Havent seen any but surely there could be.

And another example. That 8 hour flight toddler having a tantrum on the plane. The fact that a guy was recording a child thats not even his is just outrageous. What is it with people these days?

Also, the prison doctor, Supernanny, Worlds strictest parents! Like, do you give thought at all that this is whats gonna happen to your kids digital footprint?! Children are not zoo animals.

Imagine being a kid whos misbehaving and you get put online and people basically make money out of you.

Non offending pedophiles are not a threat to anyone