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Youth politics is a category of issues which distinctly involve, affect or otherwise impact youth.

Contents 1 History 1.1 USA 1.2 Europe 1.3 Globally 2 Present 2.1 List of current youth politics issues 2.2 List of current youth politics organizations 3 See also 4 External Links 5 Related literature

With roots in the early youth activism of the Newsboys and Mother Jones' child labor protests at the turn of the 20th century, youth politics were first identified in American politics with the formation of the American Youth Congress in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 60s organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Students for a Democratic Society were closely associated with youth politics, despite the broad social statements of documents including the liberal Port Huron Statement and the conservative Sharon Statement and leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Other late-period figures associated with youth politics include Tom Hayden, Marian Wright Edelman and Bill Clinton.

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Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who perfer the illusion of security to the excitement of danger. It demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. - Robert F. Kennedy, South Africa, 6-6-1966

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Youth politics have an extensive history in Europe, as well. Free German Youth was founded in 1936 as a communist alternative to the Nazi Youth movement.

Other continents have experienced a variety of youth politics and political movements.

Between the influence of mainstream media and politicians, youth politics in the United States has been illegitimated and deprioritized{fact}. Organizations such as National Youth Rights Association and The Freechild Project continue to advocate and educate for issues that affect young people specifically, while other organizations, including Youth Service America and Advocates for Youth work for issues that affect youth directly. The children's rights movement is widely credited with keeping youth politics on the national radar{fact}, while other fledgling movements such as youth voice and youth participation have yet to gain the spotlight{fact}.

There are several issues which are deemed "youth politics" by politicians, mainstream media and other sources.

• Youth vote
• Education policy
• Healthcare
• The draft
• Youth service
• Age of candidacy
• Age of consent
• Age of majority
• Child labor laws/Right-to-work
• Corporal punishment
• Curfews
• Drinking age
• Driving age
• Emancipation of minors
• Minors and abortion
• Right to sign a Contract
• Student rights
• Voting age
• Youth participation
• Zero tolerance
• National service

There are thousands of youth politics organizations and programs around the world.

• European Liberal Youth
• International Federation of Liberal Youth
• Youth wings of political parties in Denmark
• Green Youth
• Green Youth (Sweden)
• Democratic Youth Party
• Communist Youth Movement
• Egypt Youth Party
• Christian Democratic Youth
• Youth of the Danish People's Party
• Youth of the Progress Party
• Jugendverband REBELL
• Northern Ireland Young Communist League
• European Free Alliance Youth
• Youth of the Popular Movement against EU
• Democratic youth movement
• Communist Youth of Côte d'Ivoire
• Young Ecologists
• Young Communist League of Germany
• All India Socialist Youth Council
• Young Americans for Freedom

• Youth voice
• Youth activism
• Youth empowerment
• Youth Rights
• Youth organizations
• Category:Youth model governments
• Category:Youth wings of Green parties in Europe

U-18 Movement on MySpace

• Giroux, H. (2001) "Zero Tolerance: Youth and the politics of domestic militarization, Part I," Z Magazine.