by Leah Reis-Dennis, Amplify Front Page Blogger

I am a freshman at Harvard University, where, despite the presence of enormous individual student ambition and drive, it’s pretty much impossible to incite enthusiasm from any large-ish group about anything besides upcoming exams.  It's hard to imagine mobilizing students to spend time and energy making their voices and anger heard over the recent Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the House healthcare bill (or even provoking their anger in the first place). 

So, you can imagine my surprise when, after receiving an email message from Gina Glantz and Kim Gandy (two fellows at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics and experienced political and advocacy aficionados), I showed up to a “Stop Stupak Emergency Planning Meeting” to find a room packed with students: law students, humanities graduate students, graduate government school students, college students, and, notably, a large contingent of freshmen. 

 “Yes!” I thought. “Students care about reproductive health care, women’s right to choose, and the knowledge that women’s health care is health care. We understand that no one plans an unplanned pregnancy, something that both private and public insurance plans will be forced to cast aside if the Stupak amendment makes it into the final version of the healthcare bill. “

by Emily Bridges, Director of Public Information Services

 An independent expert panel recommended comprehensive sex ed programs, finding that they help reduce risky sexual behavior, unprotected sex, and STIs.

"There is sufficient evidence that comprehensive risk reduction efforts are effective," said Randy Elder of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"At long last, evidence and common sense have returned to public health policy," said James Wagoner of Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based group. "The task force report endorses the comprehensive approach to prevention that includes condoms and birth control. We should be spending taxpayer dollars only on evidence-based programs."
 

Yet incredibly, some legislators still believe taxpayer dollars should be spent on failed, harmful programs!  Congress is still deciding whether or not to continue funding for abstinence-only programs.  Let your Senator know that you won't stand for this waste of money.

By William, Advocates for Youth intern and peer educator

What happens when Advocates for Youth gets together 120+ young people from the US, Nigeria, Jamaica and Ethiopia? You get a INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MOVEMENT! But not just any ISM, but one that centers on comprehensive sexual education and sexual health rights. September 10-14th students embarked upon L’Enfant Plaza Hotel to learn tactics that they could take back to their respective campuses and communities. Our purpose was to learn how to become an effective educator on young people’s sexual health rights, as well as lobby to pass the Real Act. As an intern and member of Youth Resource (AFY online peer education resource team) I was blessed, humbled and honored to not only attend Urban Retreat 2009 but also a inside/outside perspective to this conference.

I would have to say that hard core prep for UR09 started about 3 months ago. Since then I had the chance to see all the magic and hard work the staff here put into making this conference a HUGE success. From travel to hotel arrangements, from food to late night activities the whole thing began to come together. We had early meetings and late afternoon meetings; we had travel to Costco and travel to Staples to make sure that ALL of our young people were well taken care of. Over all I feel that the staff executed all aspects of UR09 to completion and made sure that all the concerns and needs of the participants were met.

By Kate Stewart

“Activism is not something I do…it is part of who I am.” 
- Kate Michelman, Advocates for Youth’s  2009 Urban Retreat

Advocates for Youth recently held its 10th  Annual Urban Retreat in which 118 young activists from around the country as well as from Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Jamaica gathered in Washington D.C. for four days of training and workshops.  During the introductions of the retreat, I listened to the mostly high school and college students talk about their lives and what they are doing in their own communities.  As much as I tried to put into words the experience, I could only get out on paper –  WOW, amazing, terrific, courageous, outstanding. As I tried to craft these superlatives into full sentences, my words paled in comparison to what I was hearing and seeing. These young people are not only energetic and articulate but strongly passionate about their beliefs and the work they are undertaking in their communities.  I got the sense that I was witnessing just the beginning of their long lives of activism.

So, it was fitting that on the last day, during the closing session, they got to hear from Kate Michelman, another activists who has spent a lifetime of tireless work in support of women’s rights. As I listened to Kate speak about her own life, I was finally able to describe what I was seeing and hearing from the youth activists. These young people were not just activists, but activism defines who they are.

I started thinking of my own daughters and how in their own ways they also illustrate this point.