In May 2010, the Youth Commission presented the Bill of Rights for Children and Youth to San Jose City Council. This document was originally created by the San Mateo Youth Commission and The Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council. The San Jose Youth Commission chose to amend this document to fit the diverse needs of our city by including two additional articles. The Bill of Rights was adopted by City Council on May 18, 2010.
As a follow up project, the Youth Commission decided that it was essential to create a Bill of Responsibilities. Throughout the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the Bill of Responsibilities Ad Hoc team compiled research, Youth Commissioners and Youth Advisory Council members distributed surveys to all high schools in San Jose, and each commissioner and Y.A.C. hosted forums in their district to gain the opinions and suggestions of San Jose youth. The Bill of Responsibilities outlines what youth are responsible for in ensuring that they become healthy, educated, and active citizens in their communities. This document will be presented to San Jose City Council in June 2011 for approval. You can find a copy of the Bill of Responsibilities here.
2010-2011 Budget Proposal
With the best interest of the youth and our city at heart, the San Jose Youth Commission Budget Ad Hoc Team has made recommendations regarding the unfortunate fiscal situation of our city. These recommendations revolve around safety, collaboration, and expansion on our duties as Youth Commissioners. A copy of that budget document is located here.
4th Annual Citywide Youth Conference
On March 18, 2011, the San Jose Youth Commission hosted its 4th annual Citywide Youth Conference entitled “No Hesitation for Participation”. This event had an attendance of over 200 high school age students from all over San Jose. Interactive workshops were provided on community involvement, social advocacy through the arts, unmasking teen bullying, and teen drinking and driving. Four outstanding teens who were nominated by their peers became recipients of the Inspiring Youth Award, presented by former Youth Commission Chair Kavya Shankar and Vice-Mayor Madison Nguyen. Short speeches were also made by Armando Gomez, representative of the Mayor’s Office, and Ronan Farrow, representative from the White House. During the day teen attendees had the chance to participate in roundtables with various city officials, in a process set up by the San Jose Youth Commission that was subsequently rated number one in the nation. Following this was a presentation and feedback session on the SJ2020 Initiative and the closing the educational achievement gap. In the closing ceremony, Youth Commissioners read the 3rd annual State of the Youth Address which was recorded by KQED and aired the following Monday on NPR. Here is the link to the story that was aired http://www.kqed.org/a/kqednews/RN201103211104.
Social Host Ordinance
Within the last fiscal year, fatalities from teenage drinking and driving have been on the rise. The Social Host Ordinance is a law being presented to Council which would hold the homeowner of where an underage drinking party is taking place responsible for any consequences that may follow. Organizations like Voices United and Friday Night Live have been working with their teens councils to push the initiative, as well as Council member Nancy Pyle. Throughout the year, the Youth Advisory Councils of District 2, 5, 7, and 10 collaborated with Voices United and Friday Night Live to host forums in their respective districts to raise awareness of this issue to teens and parents. Here is the link to the memorandum regarding the Social Host Ordinance: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/mayor/goals/budget/2011_2012BD/BD31_SocialHostOrdinance.pdf
SJ 2020 Initiative
Over 2,000 students dropped out of middle and high school in the year 2006-2007. In 2009, Mayor Chuck Reed and others launched the SJ2020 Initiative with the goal for all students to test at grade level or above, and to eliminate the achievement gap by the year 2020. To do this, many organizations, including the San Jose Youth Commission, have signed on to collaborate and work with youth for the betterment of their education. The Youth Commission has helped by co-hosting a discussion at CreaTV on improvements to the education system and what support youth need to succeed. This discussion will be published later this year. If you are interested or know of an organization that would be interested in joining this effort, please contact us at sanjoseyouthcommission@gmail.com or youthcommission@sanjoseca.gov The following link has more information on SJ2020: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/mayor/goals/education/SJ2020.asp
