The War on Youth in the Age of Fascist Politics

Photograph Source: David Schott – CC BY 2.0

BY HENRY GIROUX-MAY 13, 2022

Youth Under Siege 

One of the most important registers in measuring the democratic health of a society can be found in how it treats its youth. By any current standard, which includes the quality of public schools to laws that protect the health and well-being of young people, the United States is failing miserably. Youth, especially youth of color, are not only viewed as a liability, much of their behavior is also being increasingly criminalized.  When young people are relentlessly and ruthlessly subject to forces that commodify them, criminalize, punish them, and deem them unworthy of receiving a critical and meaningful education, it bodes ill for the nation as a whole.  Of course, this attack on youth is not new.

The War on Youth by Thavam Ratna