Guilty Until Proven Innocent
by student
Our group is looking at Wrongful Incarceration, Stop and Frisk, and the Justice System as a whole. The Justice System is flawed, people are sent to jail for crimes they did not commit, Stop and Frisk targets mainly African American men, and the entire trial system tries to force the accused to plead guilty. We…
Poverty Has No Face
by student
Our social justice group took interest in poverty because of the sympathy we feel for the homeless men and women we see every day on the streets. We want to make a visible difference and broadcast the message that there are many types of homeless people, and they are not to be generalized into the…
Corporate Earth
by student
We are five passionate 8th graders who are excited to make a change in the world. We are working to stop corporate pollution and irresponsibility locally and globally. We want to raise awareness about the climate changes have the potential to wipe us out. We are fighting against environmental racism corporate exploitation, working with community grassroots non-profits and…
Power Of Women Ending Rape
by student
We are a group of five 8th Grade girls, focusing on sex trafficking and all acts of sexual violence for our Social Justice Project. From going on various field works and interviews we have gained an abundance of knowledge on this topic. As a group we want to bring to light the epidemic that has…
Young Guns
by student
We are a social justice group that is focused on helping rid the United States of gun violence. We are doing this by raising awareness and educating people about this important issue. We are also doing anything we can to help pass bills and laws that prevent gun violence. We are reaching out to senators…
LGBTQ: All About Pride
by student
The LGBTQ community has suffered throughout many years so we are trying to raise awareness and learn as much about the struggles and progress of this society as we can. We have been interviewing numerous organization founders, directors and staff about how they keep a safe environment for LGBT youth and what they provide for…
Sock Out Homelessness
by student
We are a group of four eighth graders who attend LREI: Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin High School. Our social justice group is interested in issues involving homelessness, one of the biggest problems that people in cities throughout the the United States faces. In New York City alone, for example, more than 60,000…
Girls Just Like Us
by student
Hi, we’re Girls Just LIke Us, an eighth grade group from LREI fighting to get respect for women in the media. Women and girls are misrepresented in advertisements, commercials, movies, and more. The media sets unrealistic and unfair standards for girls of our generation. These standards can make girls feel uncomfortable with their bodies, and make their self esteem drop drastically. Not…
Unthanked Heroes
by student
Our justice group took interest in veterans affairs when it became clear to us that veterans come home completely alienated and conflicted by war, and aren’t then given adequate health care. This information came to us through news paper articles and close friends and family who have served in wars. Our group goal is to…
An Interview with Jessica Wolff
by student
On March 8th, our group spoke to one of the members at Campaign for Educational Equity named Jessica Wolff. The Campaign for Educational Equity is an organization that helps impoverished children to get the same/equal services as more privileged children. Jessica says that “this country does public education pretty well, but where our country serves…
Volunteering at Coalition for the Homeless Food Van
by student
On March 7th, the Child Poverty had the amazing opportunity to go volunteer with the Coalition for the Homeless van program. Coalition for the Homeless sends multiple vans to all five boroughs to give out food to people living in poverty who can’t afford to buy meals. These trucks are full of soups, oranges, milk,…
An Interview with Bonnie Greaves
by student
On March 6th, my group and I talked to a woman named Bonnie Greaves who is a volunteer at the Citizens’ Committee for Children. This organization’s goal is to “educate and mobilize New Yorkers to make the city a better place for children”. This organization doesn’t help children directly, but they promote solutions to make…
Volunteer Work at Room To Grow
by student
On February 23, the Child Poverty Group had the opportunity to volunteer at an amazing organization called Room to Grow. Room to Grow is an organization that provides clothing (from sizes 0 months to 5 years) and toys to families who can’t afford to buy them. Multiple families depend on Room to Grow to help…
Playing Squash At Street Squash!
by student
On February 22nd, my group and I went to Street Squash an organization that tutors and teaches squash to children from 6th to 12th grade. My group sat in on a sixth grade class to see how it worked. They were reading a popular book, City of Embers. It is about a slightly corrupt society…
Producer Lauren Mucciolo Came to Speak With Us About Her Movie!
by student
On February 11th, the Child Poverty group had guest speaker Lauren Mucciolo come speak with our grade. Lauren Mucciolo is the producer of an amazing documentary called “Poor Kids”. This documentary aired on PBS Frontline about a month ago that takes place in the eyes of three kids who have lived in poverty almost all…
Women Moving Millions Communtity Update Call Sit-In
by student
At 2:45 February 5th, we arrived at the main headquarters of Women Moving Millions. Women Moving Millions is a worldwide organization that works to reach out to women in order to help them succeed in business and to help found companies with women CEO’s. WMM is also world wide organization supporting women in business in the…
Youth Demand: Not Sometime
by student
Youth Demand End Gun Violence. We are four eighth graders from New York who are trying to end gun violence in America. We need to speak up because this is our future and we do not want to grow up in a place of death and chaos. End gun violence now!! Sign our petition: http://signon.org/sign/youth-demand-e… Follow…
Youth Demand: Now
by student
Youth Demand End Gun Violence. We are four eighth graders from New York who are trying to end gun violence in America. We need to speak up because this is our future and we do not want to grow up in a place of death and chaos. End gun violence now!! Sign our petition: http://signon.org/sign/youth-demand-e… Follow…
Youth Demand: Youth Is
by student
Youth Demand End Gun Violence. We are four eighth graders from New York who are trying to end gun violence in America. We need to speak up because this is our future and we do not want to grow up in a place of death and chaos. End gun violence now. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemandVoice and…
Youth Demand: End
by student
Youth Demand End Gun Violence. We are four eighth graders from New York who are trying to end gun violence in America. We need to speak up because this is our future and we do not want to grow up in a place of death and chaos. End gun violence now. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemandVoice and…
Interview at District Attorney’s Office
by student
By Julia N. Last Wednesday at 11AM we visited the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office for an interview with three employees in the Crime Prevention Division. Sadie’s contact, Frank Laghezza, let us speak with him along with his colleagues, Mary Hughes and Teri Fabi, about their work. Mary Hughes is the Confidential Assistant District Attorney. She…
Poems
by student
Housing Plus Solutions-The Drew House
by student
By Sadie On January 24th, my social justice group visited an ATI which stands for Alternative to Incarceration. This ATI was a place where mothers can serve jail/prison time but they don’t have to be separated from their children. It is part of Housing Plus Solutions and is the only program in the country of…
Follow Us on Facebook
by student
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/YouthDemandEndGunViolence?bookmark_t=page
Follow Us on Twitter
by student
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemandVoice
View our Youtube Page
by student
View our YouTube page: www.youtube.com/youthdemand
Sign our petition
by student
Click here. PETITION STATEMENT: We, today’s youth, demand a ban on assault weapons, an increase in microstamping, an end to the loopholes in existing gun laws, and tighter gun registration requirements. By doing so we will be saving lives like yours and mine.
Juvenile In Justice Art Exhibit
by student
By Julia N. Today we went to the a gallery with Richard Ross’ exhibit called “Juvenile In Justice.” We say many graphic pictures of the conditions that these youths have to live in. It was disgusting and moving to see the cells and read the quotes from the people who were photographed. All of the…
New Projects!
by student
Yesterday, January 15th, my Social Justice Group (No Sugar Added) went to visit Wat-aah! again about upcoming projects. Right now we are going to start researching on energy and sports drinks. Each one of us are going to research an energy/sports drink. I am going to research RedBull, Isiah Monster, Bella Gatorade, Sofia Mellow and…
Tour of Boys Town Facilities
by student
Jerry’s Question at the UN
by student
Jerry’s Question
FLOW: For Love Of Water
by student
On, Thursday, January 10, and Friday January 11, my social Justice Group and I watched FLOW, For Love Of Water. To start, it is an amazing movie and I recommend you to watch it, you will learn a lot. Next, the movie is about water, and how we should be using it for a resource…
Emotional Creatures Play
by student
For our fourth fieldwork, we saw one of the last showings of the play Emotional Creature, which focuses on the issues of young women, both here and around the world. We saw it on January 10th, 2013 at the Signature Theater. The play showed snippets from the lives of various young women, from America to…
Emotional Creature Performance
by student
On January 10th, my group and the other Women’s Rights group went to a broadway performance called “Emotional Creature”. Emotional Creature was about the broad topic of a teenage girls life, and showing the audience many different scenarios of what girls go through. We saw scenarios of rape, physical abuse, body image/eating disorders, boys, hormones…
Child Poverty: Break the Cycle PSA
by student
Starve Out Hunger PSA
by student
New York City-The Safest City in America
by student
Our teacher, Sarah sent us this article about how more police on the streets reduces crime. Read the article to find out more! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/police-have-done-more-than-prisons-to-cut-crime-in-new-york.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
Steve Liss Interview
by student
On Tuesday December 4 , my social justice group and I had a video conference with the chairman of American Poverty, Steve Liss. We discussed what American Poverty does to help impoverished families and people by protests and rallies along with artwork andphotographs of first hand poverty that they put on exhibit. We discussed when…
Showing the Class A Movie On Child Poverty Called “Poor Kids”
by student
On December 21, my group and I completed our third fieldwork as we embarked on our social justice project (child poverty). We decided to give our fellow classmates the inside scoop on what child poverty really is and how many children it can effect by showing them a very moving documentary. This emotional film was…
Interview with Denise Hinds & Nicole Boisvert from Good Shepherd services – Friday, December 21st
by student
By Lucy On Friday, December 21st our group went on our third field work. Even though we were missing one of our group members, we tried our best to get all we could out of this trip. So far this was one of our more successful fieldworks. Our goal was to learn more about foster…
Interview with Judge Clark Richardson and Lawyers for Children
by student
People Met: Judge Clark Richardson and Three social workers from Lawyers For Children Date: December 19, 2012 Author: Jessica Our second fieldwork was a very interesting and intriguing experience for myself and my group. We sat down at Manhattan family court to view various different child abuse/neglect cases. The goal of this fieldwork was to…
Fieldwork #3: Interview w/ Juan De La Cruz (12/5/12)
by student
On December 5, 2012, my group and I went to an interview with Juan Dei La Cruz. Mr. Cruz is the director of the food branch of Coalition for the Homeless. My group and I took the subway to 129 Fulton St. to meet with the director. We asked him questions we had prepared before, and recorded…
Interview with Amber Hollibaugh, CEO of Queers for Economic Justice, Fieldwork 5
by student
This is the recording of the interview our group conducted with Amber Hollibaugh, CEO of Queers for Economic Justice: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8vK2I3Y7cbjWTI2MV95N08tbk0/edit?usp=sharing On Thursday, December 13, my group, the LGBTQ Group, interviewed Amber Hollibaugh, the executive director of Queers for Economic Justice (QEJ). QEJ formed during the Clinton administration to stand up for poor LGBTQ people. QEJ…
Interview with Patricia McCormick
by student
On December 13th, my group and I had a 30 minute interview with the author of Sold, Cut and Never Fall Down, Patricia McCormick. Sold is book about a poor girl who is stuck struggling from Sexual Abuse in India. Our main focus was on the novel Sold and how sexual trafficking connects to Domestic…
Clifton Budd and DeMaria Law Firm Interview
by student
On Wednesday, December 12, we went to visit the Clifton Budd and DeMaria, LLP Law Firm at 420 Lexington Ave, Suite 420. We left Little Red at 9:30 and my mom drove us there by car. Our interview starts at 10:00. We get there five minutes early and go up. We wait for him and…
Written Interview with Nick Lictata-Teacher at Rikers Island
by student
By Sadie Q: In your opinion, what is the best way to prevent youth incarceration ? A: The best way to improve youth incarceration is to give kids more options in life. Whether it be educational opportunities or job opportunities, if a youth has no option but to join a gang, he will. If he…
Viewing of Ken Burns’ “Central Park Five”
by student
By Julia N. On December 12, at around 5 o’clock in the evening, we went to Lauren’s house to watch Ken Burns’ documentary on the Central Park Five. The Central Park Five were a group of boys (four black, one Latino) who were arrested for the rape and severe attack of a white female jogger…
Interview with Carol Granum from STEPS
by student
On December 12th my group and I had an Interview with Carol Granum. Carol, leads the program STEPS. STEPS is a program for teen domestic violence offenders. STEPS is an alternative rather than going to jail. The program has existed for 25 years. The students are STEPS are expected to come to class once a…
St. John’s Bread and Life 12/11/12
by student
Last week, we went to St. John’s Bread and Life. On the way there, we got a little bit lost because we did not have clear directions telling us how to get there. When we finally got off the train, a man and a woman who seemed to be married were asking people for directions.…
Interview With Colin Goddard, Virgin Tech Shooting Survivor
by student
On December 10th 2012 my gun violence group and I Skyped a survivor of the Virginia Tech Shooting, who is working with the Brady Campaign, Colin Goddard. The ultimate goal of this fieldwork was to hear his story if possible, as well as learning from someone from the Brady Campaign and getting as much information…
Field Work #3 Blog Post-Court Case
by student
On December 6, my group and I went to the Criminal Court in Brooklyn, to view domestic violence court dates. We sat in the jury box and observed the cases at hand. I learned that if a defender in a domestic violence case does not plead guilty to a domestic violence action they have to…
Interview with Elizabeth Webster from The Innocence Project
by student
On Wednesday December 5th my group conducted an interview with Elizabeth Webster. Liz works in the communications department at The Innocence Project. The Innocence Project was the organization that I had decided to take charge of for our projects. Towards the beginning of the year I started doing research on the Innocence Project. My first…
Housing Works – Charles King, December 5, 2012
by student
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8vK2I3Y7cbjUkFielRBd1l4M0E/edit?usp=sharing This is a recording of Charles King’s talk-in with the grade on December 5, 2012. On December 5th, 2012, Charles King the CEO and cofounder of Housing Works came to the eighth grade. He had talked about his experiences growing up, how HIV/AIDS has an effect on his life, about Housing Works, and how…
Interview with Marianna Houston, founder of ITLP (International Theatre and Literacy Project)
by student
On December 3rd my group and I interviewed Marianna Houston, founder of ITLP (International Theater and Literacy Project). She explained to us many interesting things about good ways and not as good ways to make a difference. If you go over to a impoverished society and give out hundreds of dollars maybe people will get…
Interview with Jordyn Lexton on Drive Change
by student
By Julia N. On Monday, December 3 we (the youth incarceration group) interviewed Jordyn Lexton on her new organization called Drive Change. Ms. Lexton is a former English teacher at Rikers Island. She became interested in the topic of youth incarceration while taking a theater class during her senior year at Wesleyan. The class was…
Osman Canales came to our school to talk to the students
by student
Interview with the Third Wave Foundation’s Andrea Flynn
by student
On Thursday november 29th we interviewed Andrea Flynn, a chair member of the Third Wave foundation. The Third Wave Foundation was founded by Dawn Martin, Rebecca Walker, Amy Richards and Katharine Gun. The Third Wave Foundation earned its name form the three waves of feminism. The first wave was in the early 1900’s when women…
Interview with Michelle Kaminsky and Farah Rodriguez
by student
On Thursday, November 29 my group and I went to the DA’s office in Brooklyn. We interviewed multiple people and what their job is at the office. First we met with Michelle Kaminsky who is a domestic violence attorney. We had worked with Michelle before and had another discussion with her. One person we interviewed…
Go Project Tour!
by student
On Saturday my Poverty Social Justice Group and I embarked on a field work to LREI where we would work with the Go Project. We mainly went there for a orientation to the organization so we can learn more about what they do. We listened in on some classes and i particularly listened to a…
Volunteer Work with the Coalition for the Homeless 11/20/12
by student
Amanda Moretti my fellow class mates mom recommended a field work for my group and I with a organization called the coalition for the homeless. She has worked with them frequently and knows the director Juan De La Cruz. We went to the location which was at the back of a church in midtown. Their…
The start of our concert project
by student
On Monday, November 19th our SJ group went to WAT-AAH again. Our goal while we were there was to When we were there Christine Widga (Director of marketing) wanted us to start our project for the concert coming up the next week. At the event our group will have a booth and have posters. All…
Long Island Wins
by student
http://www.longislandwins.com This is an organization headquartered in Long Island, who is fighting for the rights of undocumented youth immigrants in the U.S.
Interview With Michelle Kaminsky-Assistant DA in Brooklyn 11/16/12
by student
On November 16, my social justice group and I interviewed an Assistant District Attorney who deals with sexual trafficking and abuse. Her name is Michelle Kaminsky. We were able to interview about her work with cases involving sexual abuse and how it causes body image problems for girls and women. We also got a tour…
Serving Food to the Elderly at The Untied Jewish Council of the East Side (11/15/12)
by student
On Thursday, 11/15/12 my group and I went to the United Jewish Council of the East Side to serve lunch to elderly who are hungry. Once we got to the organization’s location we met up with Betsy Jacobson and she led us through the rest of the time. We started off by helping the people…
Interview With Brian Levinson And Alex Katz Mayors Against Gun-Violence, At City Hall NYC
by student
The war and gun-violence group, part of the Little Red School House eighth grade social justice program, recently went to City Hall in New York City. At City Hall we met Brian Levinson and Alex Katz, who work for Mayor Bloomberg, to discuss guns and gun laws in New York State. We came to the…
Child Abuse Field Work with CAPP
by student
On November 14, I had a social justice interview with three women who work at an organization called Prevent Child Abuse. My group asked them questions about child abuse and the organization they work for, then they put on a puppet show that they show to third graders, mostly in public schools. The goal of…
Child Poverty Group goes to the ITLP Fundraiser
by student
On Monday, November 12th my group went to a fundraiser for ITLP, the International Theatre and Literacy Project. This organization works with students in incredibly poor communities in Tanzania and South Africa. They do workshops with them to teach them playwriting. This year, the students wrote and performed a play about being heard. They had…
First Fieldwork with Wat-aah: Introduction Visit
by student
Hi, this is Sarah. On Monday, November 12th, my social justice group and I were given the opportunity to visit the Wat-aah offices. Wat-aah is a company that we have been communicating with. It was beyond exciting to visit. They focus on health and they want to prevent childhood obesity by stopping all the kids…
Cradle to Prison Pipeline-Phone Interview with Ilana Brunner
by student
By Sadie On Sunday November 11th, we had an interview scheduled to talk to Ilana Brunner who works in the Washington D.C. office of Congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott. Mr. Scott is working on a legislative called the PROMISE Act. PROMISE stands for Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education. Pennsylvania invested 60 million…
The Gender Gap Film Screening
by student
For our first fieldwork, we went to a movie screening called Women’s Voices: The Gender Gap, which was about women’s rights. It took place on October 25, 2012. It showed a movie made during the Reagan era about women’s opinions on politics and related topics, and was followed by a panel presentation that talked about…
Youth Demand
by student
We are four eighth graders from New York City who believe it is time for youth to take a stand against gun violence for the sake of our future. President Obama said Newtown could have been any town. We believe him. Kids should not be afraid to go to school, walk home alone, or lose…
Child Poverty: Break the Cycle
by student
Hello people who are viewing our blog! We are a group of eighth graders at LREI: Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School. The Child Poverty group and 36 other students in our grade are going off into the world to work on behalf of human rights. Child Poverty affects so many people…
Throwing Stones at the Glass Ceiling
by student
8th Grade Social Justice Group Fighting For Gender Equality In The Work Space And Elsewhere. Hello! We are the Gender Equality Social Justice Group. We are three group members, Isabel, Ayden, and Noah. We are 8th Graders from Little Red Schoolhouse and Elisabeth Irwin High School. Our main focus is eliminating gender inequality in the…
Immigration Nation
by student
We are eighth graders from LREI School (Little Red Schoolhouse + Elisabeth Irwin High School) in Greenwich Village, NYC. Our grade is embarking on a social justice project in which we focus on civil/human rights issues of our interest. Our group chose immigration as our topic. We are focusing on the rights of the undocumented…
No Place for Kids: Youth Incarceration in America
by student
Hello! We are the Youth Incarceration group. We are working raise awareness on the many issues that affect incriminated youths 18 and under. Some of these issue include racial profiling, inability to get jobs, and being charged as adults. New York is the only state that automatically sentences 16 year-olds as adults.
Stop The Abuse
by student
Hello all, we are the child abuse social justice group made up of five eighth graders from LREI (Little Red Elizabeth Irwin) Jessica, Lucy, Amalia, Sam and August. We chose the topic of child abuse because we felt that this topic is a huge problem in society that goes unrecognized by so many. Our group’s…
No Sugar Added
by student
Hi! We are five eighth graders in New York City from Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin High School. As a part of a year-long social justice project, our grade has been focusing on Human and Civil Rights. We have chosen to focus on health and nutrition issues. Our group’s goal, No Sugar Added,…
The Bullying Effect
by student
The Bullying Effect Group wants to teach you about how LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning) youth bullying may have an impact on LGBTQ peoples’ lives. In our society, we are expected to follow a certain characteristic depending on our biological sex. This causes people who don’t conform to these unsaid norms to be discriminated…
Love Shouldn’t Hurt – Domestic Violence Issues
by student
Hello, we are Justine, Charlotte, and Pilar and we are eighth graders at LREI in New York City. Our class this year is doing a project called Social Justice. Our group is focusing in the topic of Domestic Violence. The reason we choose this issue is because we feel strongly and we want to do…
Poverty in America
by student
We are doing our part to help end poverty for the 43 million Americans that have to suffer below the poverty line. Our group goal is to raise awareness for the poverty that is unseen by most. Other countries look at America like a plethora of wealth but that isn’t the case. Over 40 million…
Starve Out Hunger in NYC!
by student
In NYC today 1.3 million New Yorkers have to and need to rely on food pantries and soup kitchens. In NYC 400,000 people are pained from moderate or severe hunger -118,000 of them are children. We as a group want to help stop hunger, or at least cut down on the number of those starving…
Social Justice
by student
The eighth grade social justice project “Choosing to Participate” is a cornerstone of the eighth grade humanities curriculum. Through this project students study those who have stood up for justice by becoming/being active citizens themselves. Each year, our eighth grade students embark on this project to better understand and personalize the social justice issues that…
