For a little while now, I’ve thought about adding a tab to this site about a workshop I used to lead through Austin Bat Cave called “for the record.” “For the Record” focused on teaching local teens the art of opinion editorial writing/pitching, and leveraging their unique voices and experiences toward activism.
Over 1.5 cycles (in 2020, Bat Cave brought me on to lead a shorter weekend workshop centered around reproductive justice writing and cancelled the longer workshop due to COVID), I have been so inspired by how bright and creative teenagers are. The op-eds that were published through that workshop are pieces of writing I feel so proud to have been a part of.
Today, I saw a tweet that questioned why we allow older politicians to make decisions for a much younger population, a population who they are culturally out of step with and who will become the unhappy inheritors of the repercussions these decisions invite.
This tweet reminded me of an op-ed I was able to help two teens work on during the March 2019 “for the record” workshop—referencing a bill that died on the floor that year, Anderzon and Jacameron argued the voting age in Texas should be lowered to 16 and the right to vote and hold office should be revoked at 70. They were being a little tongue-in-cheek, but they really ruffled quite a few boomer feathers. I’m not sure that they didn’t mean most of it as a joke, but as I watch the United States function as a corporation and not a nation responsible for millions of lives, I really feel they were on to something.
This year has really made me think about how special Austin Bat Cave and that workshop are. I’m so proud to have been a part of this and am looking forward to a time when we can bring teens together again to brainstorm and workshop and co-edit. In the words of one student’s feedback:
I’d like to include links to some of the writing that was published through that workshop. It only makes sense to begin with Anderzon and Jacameron’s op-ed about allowing (younger) teenagers to vote and discouraging older citizens from voting:
Here is an op-ed by a student who I think the world of, ‘Lyjah—they were on to Beto O’Rouke before the rest of us:
https://www.tribtalk.org/2019/05/09/beto-orourke-wants-to-tear-down-my-house/
Another sharp student, Gaya, who came back to mentor at the reproductive justice workshop this year, wrote about Texas’ need for a more comprehensive sex education curriculum:
https://www.tribtalk.org/2019/05/09/sex-ed-should-educate-teens-about-sex-right/
The brilliant Pilar became the first ever high school student published in the University of Texas at Austin’s student run magazine, The Liberator, with her op-ed about the college admissions scandal’s impact on students of color:
Our first teen to publish with Jane’s Due Process (a Texas-based nonprofit that assists young women with the judicial process of obtaining abortions without parental consent) was Valeria. Her op-ed was so impactful, it inspired JDP to reach out to Bat Cave about co-hosting an op-ed writing workshop in February 2020 & ALL of the following pieces came out of that workshop. You can read Valeria’s powerful words about teens’ right to abortion access here:
Young People Deserve the Right to Abortion
This past February, Sahana wrote this op-Ed about the stigma of sex and sex ed curriculum:
Why is Sex a Bad Word?
Yet another amazing student, Camille, wrote this op-ed in February 2020 about the barriers teens face in their reproductive health choices:
Medically Accurate Sex Education Will Help Young People Stay Safe
Kate wrote about the sex positive experiences she had as a part of Our Whole Lives:
The Texas State Board of Education Needs To Improve Sex Education
Mars wrote a very funny op-ed about the need for more than abstinence-only sex education in Texas:
When I read these pieces of writing, I feel hopeful. These young people have such a grip on what’s happening and what needs to change. And as these op-eds demonstrate, they have thoughtful ideas on how to address it all. I can’t wait to see all the good they put into the world.
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