As we look back on 2011, youth unemployment in European countries like Greece and Spain  has almost reached 50 percent, according to the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, in the United States, youth unemployment (ages 16 - 25) has decreased since January 2011 from 18.1 percent to 16.8 percent. The Reuters chart above shows European youth unemployment over the past 20 years demarcated by some economic triggers, including the Lehman Brothers collapse.

This event took a toll on the global economy, but since then, unemployment for young people in Greece and Spain has increased close to ten percent every year. Since the collapse in September 2008, youth unemployment in the U.S. has increased3 percent overall.

In Greece, you can start working at the age of 15 and in Spain at the age of 16, the same as in the U.S. These numbers represent those from the minimum working age up to 25.

A recent study contradicts the notion that teenagers are “sexting” non-stop. In fact, only 9.6 percent said they had either sent or received an image that included nudity in the past year, according to the New York Times.

The survey, conducted by the Crimes Against Children Research Center (CACRC) at the University of New Hampshire, asked 1,560 children across the country about the messages they had seen, sent, and forwarded on their cell phones. Only two percent of “sexters” said they were in the pictures themselves, and the other seven percent said they were on the receiving end, and only three percent forwarded messages they received.

According to Lisa Jones at the CACRC, the researchers were not surprised by the results. She said previous studies about sexting often included 18, 19 and 20 year-olds, and while the behavior is still risky, there are no legal concerns about child pornography in this demographic. Additionally, many previous studies used a broad definition of nudity, and might have included pictures of children in bathing suits. However, law enforcement would not consider “sexy poses in bathing suits” to be sexually explicit.

Jones said that most youth are aware that sexting is potentially dangerous. However, in one third of the cases when it happens, drugs and alcohol are involved. “Sexting is like any kind of sexual risk taking, there is an element of something possibly going wrong. But it may be happening in a context where other kinds of risk taking are happening,” said Jones.

The CACRC also did a study that specifically looked at the sexting incidents that involved law enforcement agencies. They found that one-third of all sexting incidents that are brought to the police involve adult sex offenders soliciting images from children. “In a lot of the incidents that are largely publicized, the most serious element is bullying, it’s more serious than the photo itself,” said Jones.

By Rayana Godfrey

Gratitude, research psychologists have found, is an abstract concept. It requires reflecting on not only how another person has done right by you, but also how you might return the favor. Perhaps that’s not something we need experts to tell us, but it’s worth bearing in mind when considering whether gratitude might be beyond the capabilities of the teenage brain.

Take for example the popular YouTube clip “Greatest freak out ever (ORIGINAL VIDEO),” in which a teenage boy goes ballistic in his bedroom after his mom cancels his World of Warcraft account. “I'm going to run away! You'll never see me again! I swear!” he shouts, as he slams himself repeatedly into his bed, tears off his clothes and screeches like someone out of an Exorcist movie.

The California Pregnant and Parenting Youth Guide was just released by the National Partnership for Women and Families. The guide is for young people under 18 who are looking for answers to basic and complicated questions regarding being a new mother or father, or making decisions during pregnancy.

Sections in the guide include:

- Can I stay in school if I’m pregnant?

- What are the father’s rights and duties?

- What do I do if I’m homeless?

- What kind of health care should I get if I’m pregnant?

- What if I have no insurance?

The guide is presented in a question and answer format, with simple cartoon scenarios on the side. There are also resources and companion guides for healthcare providers, educators, and social workers on the website.

Diamond Bell, 18 and a new mother, previewed the site and had mixed feelings. “When I look at the page, I see the quotes and questions, but it’s not telling me why the quotes and questions are there, it’s just going straight to the answers,” she said.

Robyn Gee, Turnstyle News

The presidential campaigning has brought the debate about immigration reform into hyper focus recently. But for some, the debate is too narrow, focusing only on DREAM Act legislation when around 50 percent of undocumented youth don't finish high school, according to Pablo Paredes, founder of the organization 67 Sueños (67 Dreams). Paredes said that focusing on the DREAM Act as the main narrative in the immigration reform debate leaves out 67 percent of undocumented youth.

His group, based in the Bay Area in California, is small and he works with just seven students at Oakland public schools between the ages of 15 - 18. Four of them are undocumented, and the other three come from "mixed-status" families. Their goal is to change the immigration conversation from focusing only on the exceptionally talented immigrants who "deserve" legalization, and instead acknowledge that every undocumented young person deserves a path to legalization. In California, the DREAM Act has moved along further than any other state in the union, and just recently passed part 1 of a state DREAM Act.

Paredes and his group organized a huge public art display in San Francisco on the wall of a building in an abandoned lot and Turnstyle spoke with Paredes about the project.

Turnstyle: What does 67 Sueños stand for?

Paredes: 67 Sueños is a group that supports the radical notion that every undocumented person, whether they go to college or not, has a dream worth pursuing. We focus on youth who are not on the pathway to college, to create pathways for them to legalize.

Turnstyle: Where did the idea for the images in the mural come from? Did famous artists help?

Paredes: We gathered stories. Stories are an important way to change dialogue and legislation. We partnered with NPR’s StoryCorps. They have a project that tries to tell stories of Latinos. They were very excited to tell stories of undocumented youth especially those not on the path to college. We did 21 interviews with undocumented youth out of Oakland public high schools... Even if they have trouble in high school, they still have rights. We thought how do we get these 21, 40-minute interviews in the news, and use them as a way to launch our work? We kicked around ideas and focused on the idea of public art. Everyone likes the idea of a mural, they don’t have to pay to see it and everyone has access to it. We listened to each interview. We sat there and picked out themes, struggles, and dreams that were most common and that captured the migrant experience in these communities. We ended up with a 15-page brainstorm of stories. We gave this brainstorm to a very talented artist, Pancho Pescador. He rendered our vision and our brainstorm into a cohesive piece of art. The artist was also undocumented when he came to this country, so he’s personally connected to the issue and he works with Oakland youth. He really understood.

The Native Health Initiative (NHI) youth presentation titled “Youth Leading the Way” at the New Mexico Public Health Association’s annual conference on April 27th, 2011.
High School students will presented on their efforts to create healthier, more sustainable communities.

By Charlotte Buchen, Turnstyle News

University Of Karachi: Pakistani College Students Speak from Turnstyle Video on Vimeo.

Amidst all the media frenzy since the death of Osama Bin Laden over two weeks ago, some voices have been missing. We believe they are important voices - those of Pakistani youth. Pakistan is a nation of young people: over 60% of the population is under the age of 25.

What is on the mind of some of these young people after the special forces attack that killed Bin Laden? As the ground shifts under the already teetering relationship between the US and Pakistan, we headed to Karachi University to ask some questions of the students there: What was your reaction to the death of Bin Laden? Do you think anyone in Pakistan's government or Army know about Bin Laden's whereabouts? What does this mean for the security situation of the region? What will be the implications for Pakistan and for their future?

American lawmakers are probing for answers, but so are Pakistanis. We found a hugely diverse range of viewpoints. Watch the video to hear what they said.

In the face of a national epidemic of childhood obesity, a collection of federal agencies has been working for two years now to come up with a set of voluntary guidelines that would restrict what foods can be marketed to kids. Food companies and marketing groups rejected a set of proposed guidelines last year, and the government has repeatedly postponed releasing new ones

Media sources including National Public Radio are asking about the impact of Osama bin Laden’s death on young people - who grew up in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Youth Radio spotlighted the perspectives of three American young people and their thoughts on the death of Bin Laden- but what about the Pakistani youth living in this country? Can they openly voice their opinions?

Sunaina Maira is a Professor of Asian American Studies at UC Davis and does research specifically on South Asian youth culture and politics. She’s written books on this issue including her most recent which was called “Missing: Youth Citizenship and Empire After 9/11.” The book is a study of South Asian youth in New England looking at how the War on Terror influenced their understandings of national and racial identity.

Maira says Pakistani youth in America are caught in a tough dichotomy. “There’s this idea that you’re either for the terrorists or against them - this is an American notion that’s very rigid.  It has spread and permeated young people."

Maira says that has a chilling effect. “The young people that I work with are probably so scared about sharing what they really think. If you have a Muslim name and you dare to challenge the official narrative, the FBI is probably going to come knocking at your door or put a GPS device on your car,” said Maira.

Maira also did field work in Lahore, Pakistan looking at youth organizing and the emerging progressive culture in Pakistan. She is very worried that the voices of young Pakistanis are not being heard in today’s debate about the War on Terror. “The young Pakistanis I saw were really concerned about the impact of fundamentalism on their society, but on the other hand, young Pakistanis have to struggle with power cuts, unemployment, and rising fanaticism that makes their lives constricted and confined. The Pakistani state routinely crushes youth activism," she said.

A group of young people graced the stage yesterday at a three-day event called the Grad Nation Summit, which began this week in Washington D.C. The goal of the summit is to promote President Obama’s goal of having a 90 percent national high school graduation rate by 2020.
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