Reading Time: 4 minutes Making plans in case something happens to you unexpectedly or you die is not just for older adults. You’re turning 18. It’s time to celebrate! But it’s also time to face the responsibilities of adulthood. And one of those responsibilities is planning for the unexpected. Maybe you’ve heard your parents or grandparents talk about their […]
BenchPress 39-5: Private Use Doesn’t Apply
Reading Time: < 1 minute Two Edmonton men were acquitted of offences of making and possessing child pornography because the trial judge accepted that the material, involving two runaway teenage girls, was made for the men’s private use. The Supreme Court of Canada ordered new trials for the men, ruling that s. 153 of the Criminal Code, which makes sexual […]
New Employment Law Resources for Alberta Youth
Reading Time: < 1 minute Many new Canadians are unfamiliar with the legislation that protects them in the workplace. Research indicates that immigrants with limited English speaking abilities often turn to their children to act as intermediaries to pass on information, including legal information. By developing resources for youth, the youth will learn about human rights law and then will […]
Viewpoint 39-4: Ten Years – A Look Back At Bullying
Reading Time: 3 minutes What were you doing in 2005? I can easily recall what I was trying to accomplish. I was a grade 9 student at Bathurst High School at the time, trying to get the courage to do something that no one ever thought I would do – come forward as a sixteen-year-old teenager who endured years […]
Transgender youth: Everyday items, everyday rights
Reading Time: 5 minutes The public bathroom can be a major source of anxiety for transgender youth. Using a public restroom may result in their status being discovered. If they identify as transgender and have not yet revealed their identity, they may feel like an imposter. Worse yet, trans teens may be subject to ridicule, abuse or assault, physical […]
Mitigating Children’s Involvement in Maritime Piracy
Reading Time: 10 minutes Observations by the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative Introduction Recently, the Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare Centre (CFMWC) had the honour of hosting the prestigious Multilateral XII Wargame, an annual event that convenes representatives from eight of the western hemisphere’s most potent navies. In the past, game scenarios have sought to replicate the catastrophic conditions […]
One Edmonton Youth in Conflict with the Law: A Case Study
Reading Time: 4 minutes We have all been there at one point in time: young, insecure, and impressionable. You would do anything to fit in: wear the right clothes; listen to the proper music; dislike the right people and share the same opinions as all the cool kids. But what if the cool kids were the RCMP acting as […]
International Charter on Prevention of FASD
Reading Time: 7 minutes The First International Conference on Prevention of FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) was held in Edmonton, Canada from September 23 to 25, 2013. The following Charter was endorsed and adopted by the delegates at the meeting, who included about 700 people from 35 countries around the world; senior government officials, scholars and policy makers, parents […]
Age of Criminal Responsibility: An illusive dilemma
Reading Time: 6 minutes If we, as adults, reflect back on our youth, there is probably not one of us who can say we didn’t commit some type of infraction for which we could have been held accountable under the former welfare-oriented Juvenile Delinquency Act (JDA) – in effect from 1908 until 1984 – or the more legalistic approach of the […]
Unpaid Interns have Little Protection under the Law
Reading Time: 6 minutes Imagine spending years in university, only to graduate and find out that in order to secure a job, you would have to work an undetermined amount of time for free. At the end of the internship, there will be no assurance of employment; instead, you can chalk it up to getting some good experience and, […]