Youth & Students Bill of Rights

By the Young Communist League

This article was reprinted from the May 2, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

**Youth and Students Bill of Rights ** (Reprinted from the May 2, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. May be reprinted or reposted with PWW credit. For subscription information see below)

These are the main points of the first draft of the YCL's Youth and Students Bill of Rights, to be finalized at the YCL 6th National Convention, June 5-7, 1998 Temple U., Philly. This Bill of Rights is a vision of a future worth fighting for; it will be a key part of the YCL Convention. Please read the draft and discuss it with other youths in your school and neighborhood. Feel free to bring it to your organizations to read, make suggestions and endorse. We invite all to use it in creating a broad progressive agenda to change the atmosphere for struggle on a national level.

Be it resolved that all youth and students are entitled to the following:

The right to a job at a livable wage with union protection; affirmative action with goals and timetables for hiring and promotion. Paycheck to paycheck unemployment compensation, including for first-time job seekers. Reducing the workday to 6 hours and raising the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour.

The right to free, quality education from nursery to university. This includes multi-cultural, multi-lingual curriculums. Non-racist and non-sexist education must be guaranteed. Free breakfast and lunch programs for all public schools. Stipends for full-time college students.

The right to full equality regardless of race, nationality, sex, religion or sexual orientation. Special measures must be taken to overcome the years of racist discrimination against African Americans, Latinos and other racially and nationally oppressed peoples. Full funding to rebuild the neighborhood in these communities. Federal laws with goals and timetables to desegregate housing and schools. Affirmative action with goals and timetables for jobs and education.

The right to quality, affordable housing. Every person and family must be guaranteed a home. Massive federal funding for building and renovating public housing. Federal rent control laws for privately owned buildings.

The right to free, quality health-care. Every individual must have universal access from birth to old age to medical care, including abortion, birth control, HIV and AIDS care, prescriptions and other medical necessities. This should be federally financed and administered by a single payer. No one can be turned away from any hospital because of lack of insurance.

The right to recreation, cultural and sports activities. The city, state and federal governments can build and rebuild community, state and national parks and forests. Youth centers and parks for every community with full access to pools, fields and other sports and recreational activities. Regular community and city-wide concerts, dances and theater to put young musicians, writers, actors and other artists to work and provide inexpensive performances for the communities.

The right to live in environmentally safe, drug and crime free communities. Make corporations pay for the billions of dollars worth of toxic clean-up that they caused. Shut down CIA and army airfields that fly in billions of dollars worth of cocaine and heroine. Civilian anti-corruption committees should be set up to oversee police and law enforcement corruption.

Constitutional rights guaranteed to people of all ages. This includes high school students whose constitutional rights have been limited by Supreme Court decisions.