YFEN was born out of a colloquium on youth and censorship at the New School University on May 3, 2002 that was supported in large part by the Open Society Institute's Youth Initiatives Program. The colloquium brought together 43 advocates and scholars from the fields of free expression, sexuality education, youth journalism, and media literacy, including 10 young activists and writers, to discuss the increasing trend toward censoring young people's access to expression and information on the Internet, in art and entertainment, and in schools. Determining there was enough common ground to forge alliances, the group set about developing strategies for advancing the free expression rights of youth. For more information about the colloquium and its aftermath, click here.

Since then, YFEN has co-sponsored concurrent "Back to School Censorship" press events in New York City, Boston, and San Francisco protesting Internet filters in public schools. (Co-sponsors were the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), and Online Policy Group (OPG).) These events, held on Sept. 18, 2002, highlighted the ineffectiveness of widely used Internet filtering systems like I-Gear and Cyber Patrol; stressed filtering's infringement upon students' ability to use the Internet for research, journalism, and intellectual inquiry; and pointed out the "digital divide" that such systems create between students of different socio-economic classes. YFEN also launched a nationwide student letter-writing campaign against filtering software. Click here for a press release about the event.

One of YFEN's proudest achievements is its Young Activist Speaker's Bureau (link to Speaker's Bureau page), which presents panels at conferences and conventions throughout the United States. Past events include the National Media Reform Conference in Madison, Wisconsin; the National PTA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina; the National Media Education Conference in Baltimore, Maryland; and the Consortium on School Networking Conference in Washington, DC. To protest the clamp-down on free expression by the USA PATRIOT Act, YFEN teamed up with the New York City Bill of Rights Defense Campaign and NYCLU and held a "Patriot Act Un-Birthday Bash" for students and activists at Judson Memorial Church in October 2003.

Another one of YFEN's most successful programs is its Annual Film Contest (link to Annual Film Contest). The theme of the 2004 contest was "What do you think of the state of free speech & democracy in the United States?" The 2005 contest posed the question: "Does Free Speech Matter?"

YFEN also holds workshops on creative ways to combat censorship at schools and youth media organizations; runs a youth-run Op-Ed service; and serves as an on-line resource for students interested in their free expression rights.

Upcoming projects include the creation of a Youth Advisory Board, an evolution of the current Steering Committee. Its members would be responsible for the maintenance of a listserv and message board for discussing present youth censorship issues. They would also serve as advisors to YFEN staff and to the National Coalition Against Censorship, communicating the most pressing issues of censorship youth face today.

With 39.7 million citizens of this nation between the ages of 10 - 19, YFEN aims to fill an enormous void by becoming the first coalition of teens and adults committed to moving policy debate beyond overly reductive soundbites about presumed harm to minors and toward policies that enhance young people's access to information, critical thinking skills, ability to express their views, and participation in the political process.

YFEN Staff

Brian Pickett , Youth Program Coordinator
Claire Karpen, consultant YFEN
Stephanie Griest, consultant to YFEN




YFEN Advisory Board & Steering Committee




2006 Advisory Board

Riley Harmon, semi-finalist of the 2004 and winner of the 2005 NCAC film contest, is a young artist working with digital media. His videos and artwork have spread through national television, the internet, and art galleries. Most recently he was nominated for a Student Academy Award in the Central US region. He is currently working towards his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Media Art at the University of Oklahoma. Artwork and videos can be viewed at rileyharmon.com. 

Joe Holliday is one of the founding members of The Static Consciousness Film Group, which established underground surrealist art gallery in Los Angeles this year.  Joe was a winner in the first YFEN Film Contest, and has also judged the 2005 Contest.  He is currently working on a multitude of projects, ranging from political organizing and booking acts to perform at The Zamakibo Gallery, to producing independent films and doing performance art.

Robert Hornung is a film hobbyist and web 2.0 enthusiast who believes that education predicates the effectiveness and preservation of civil liberties. As such, you will often find him in heated debates regarding the origins of the First Amendment and other such incendiary topics. In 2005, he placed in the YFEN film scholarship contest with his submission “Today.” He is currently an undergraduate at Boston College.

Andy Musser was born in California and raised in Oregon where he was home schooled until college. Currently, he is in Colorado attending Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design where he is double majoring in 3D computer animation and children’s book illustration. When Andy graduates, he hopes to have a career creating educational animation and picture books for children. Andy enjoys writing stories that promote activism and the fight against censorship. 

Ned Resnikoff is the editor-in-chief of Blue Prints, Middletown High School’s independent student-run newspaper. In 2006 he spent seven months as a communications intern for the Ned Lamont for Senate campaign. In the past, he has written a short novel for young adults, a twenty-minute one-act play, and a short film which ended up winning third place in the NCAC’s annual film contest.

Danya Steele is a media analyst and writer living in NYC. A sought-after public speaker, Danya's done media criticism for panels at Columbia, Oxford University, National Association of Black Journalists, and others. She's worked with ad agency Duval Guillaume-NY, FOX Television, MTV, Rolling Stone, Hot 97, THE AVE Magazine, and more. At age seventeen, she was named one of Teen People Magazine's "20 Teens Who Will Change The World" for her work in youth media.

Kehinde Togun is a graduate student at Georgetown Public Policy Institute.  As a Rutgers undergrad, he co-chaired Beyond Campus, a student activist network dedicated to improving education and quality of life for children in Newark, NJ.  Kehinde is currently a senior editor at the Georgetown Public Policy Review.  He also sits on the national advisory board for Answer, Sex Ed Honestly.  Kehinde is a Nigerian native whose career aspiration is to join the fight against Africa’s HIV/AIDS pandemic.


2005 Steering Committee

Moya Bailey, activist at Spelman College and writer for Wiretap Magazine
Ann Beeson, litigation director of the ACLU's Technology & Liberty Program
Will Doherty, executive director of the Online Policy Group and media relations director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
David Greene, director of the First Amendment Project
Christopher Hunter, PhD candidate and Internet filtering expert at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania
Lawrence Rothfield, faculty director of the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago
David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
Kehinde Togun, student at Rutgers University and former writer for SEX, Etc.

YFEN Partners




» Downtown Community Television Center "believes that expanding public access to the electronic media arts invigorates our democracy. For the past thirty years we have pursued our grass-roots mission to teach people, particularly members of low-income and minority communities, to produce insightful and artistic television."
» Harlem Live is an Internet publication written, created, presented, and represented by teens in Harlem and throughout New York City. Its core purpose is "to empower youth of color to be productive, creative and thoughtful leaders who will be responsible caretakers of our future."
» Peacefire was created in August 1996 to "represent the interests of people under 18 in the debate over freedom of speech on the Internet."
» WireTap is the San Fracisco-based "independent information source by and for socially conscious youth. We showcase investigative news articles, personal essays and opinions, artwork and activism resources that challenge stereotypes, inspire creativity, foster dialogue and give young people a voice in the media."


YFEN Resources




» The Freedom Forum's First Amendment Schools "is a national initiative designed to transform how schools model and teach the rights and responsibilities of citizenship that frame civic life in our democracy."


» Radio Rookies is "a WNYC program that trains young people to use words and sounds to tell true stories about themselves, their communities and the world. Through a series of workshops, each held in a new neighborhood, Radio Rookies gives teenagers the tools to become radio journalists."



Become part of YFEN!




Filmmakers
Enter YFEN's film contest!




Writers
We are looking for passionate, articulate, activist youth between the ages of 13 and 21 to write Op-Eds about important free expression issues, which we'll run on our website and attempt to publish in other media outlets as well. We might be able to pay a small fee for each Op-Ed we use.




Artists
Express Yourself! We are looking for censorship-related cartoons and other artwork by youth between the ages of 13 and 21 to publish on our website. We might be able to pay a small fee for each piece of art we use.




Speakers
We are looking for youth who are passionate about free speech and skilled in public speaking to become part of our Young Activist Speakers Bureau and present at conferences, colloquiums, and panels nationwide.




Partners
We are also looking to broaden our network of partnering organizations. If you are a media literacy organization, youth publication, advocacy organization, or student group committed to defending the free expression rights of youth, please drop us a line.




Contact Us:




Brian Pickett
The Youth Free Expression Network
c/o The National Coalition Against Censorship
275 Seventh Avenue, 15th Floor
New York, New York 10001
Telephone: 212.807.6222 x 22
Fax: 212.807.6245
Email: brian@ncac.org





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