This Google Site contains a series of primary and secondary sources on how young people have fought to have their voices heard and to make change, even without the power of the vote.

Each page consists of a contextual paragraph that provides background information for the document(s) and excerpts from one or more primary documents. Some of the documents have been edited for length. As you analyze the documents, consider both the original source and its author’s point of view. The companion Google Form contains questions about the documents.

The Documents

Document A: 26^th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, 1971

Document B: “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” 1989

Document C: Loom and Spindle or Life Among the Early Mill Girls by Harriet Hanson Robinson, 1898

Document D: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 1969

Document E: “Mass. Teens Inch Closer to Lowering the Voting Age to 17,” ABC News, April 18, 2012

Document F: Representative Ayanna Pressley’s Remarks on Lowering the Voting Age, March 7, 2019

Document G: “Photos: In Boston, ‘March for our Lives’ Protesters Cry Out Against Gun Violence,” WBUR, March 24, 2018

Document H: “Time Person of the Year: Greta Thunberg,” Time Magazine, 2019