Stories about Youth from November, 2008
Hungary, Czech Republic: Romaphobia
The Hungarian Spectrum reports on the murder of a 14-year-old girl in a Hungarian village, which led to an anti-Roma rally. The Reference Frame is unhappy with Al Jazeera's story on discrimination against the Czech Republic's Roma children in their access to education.
Mozambique: Different views of condom use in Africa
In a country which struggles to combat AIDS, twenty million condoms are distributed every year. Considering that at least 4 million Mozambican men are sexually active from a population of 17.4 million inhabitants, this makes a personal allowance of five condoms for the whole year. Surprisingly, kids are the most faithful users of them.
Cuba: Youth Activist Jailed
Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense highlights the plight of a Cuban youth activist who “was sentenced this week to 3 years in prison for ‘offenses against authority.'”
Ukraine: Daily Posts on Street Children
A whole month of posts and photos featuring street children in Ukraine – at Scenes From the Sidewalk. Some highlights: a photo report on a visit to a Ukrainian jail; photos of Ukrainian street kids from six years ago – here and here; the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures from the...
Egypt: Locking Al Azhar students in the dark ages!
Al Azhar English Training Center is funded through a partnership agreement between Al Azhar University, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Global Opportunities Fund and the British Council. The Center was supposed to provide English Language courses in its first semester to 125 students from various disciplines until Ali Laban, a Muslim Brotherhood deputy, decided otherwise. One enraged instructor speaks up on Facebook.
Egypt: 550 Boys Arrested on Suspicion of Harassing Girls
“Egyptian police announced last Wednesday that they had arrested 550 boys in Cairo on suspicion of sexually harassing schoolgirls. The police reportedly focused their raids on Internet cafes near schools,” writes Elijah Zarwan, from Egypt.
Egypt: Police officers banned off university campus
In a historic court ruling, police are now banned from patrolling Cairo University's campus. Instead, the university will have to deploy civilian personal as security guards. Bloggers, who linked police recklessness and use of excessive force to the order, welcomed the ruling with guarded optimism.
Is Secularism the answer to Egypt's Sectarianism?
Egypt has always been known as an Islamic country where Muslims, Christians, and Jews peacefully co-existed. Today this is no longer the case. Is secularism the solution? Following is an outline of the discussion taking place on Egyptian blogs today.
Saudi Arabia: Age of adulthood is now 18
Crossroads Arabia reports on legislation that has just been passed in Saudi Arabia – opposed by some religious scholars – raising the age of adulthood from 15 to 18.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Thanksgiving
“America is so full of contradictions! For even as our extended family sits down to eat our Thanksgiving dinner, there are many in our neighborhood who are now facing foreclosure and with barely anything to be cheerful about this year”: Jamaican diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp is thankful for his children...
Sudan: Darfur and the Orphans of Mygoma
Sudanese bloggers on illegitimate children, Obama's victory, and the Muslim and Arab hypocrisy in regards to the Darfur conflict.
Angola: Children as young as 6 face accusations of witchcraft
Children as young as six years old have been accused of witchcraft and abandoned, mistreated, tortured and even killed in Angola, where such accusations are deemed valid. Clara Onofre investigates this practice advised by members of illegal churches and seemingly not related to local peoples' historical traditions.
Searching for blogs in Myanmar
There are several sites that provide a list of blogs in Myanmar. Myanmar Blog Directory contains an alphabetical listing of blogs. Sharbar offers a list of blogs according to category.
Myanmar: Social networking site
Myanmar Space is a new social networking site for Myanmar speaking people all over the world. There is a chat room, photo and video upload, forum, polls. There is also a blog section where members can post articles.
Afghanistan: Afghan Justice
Patrick Frost reports that the Afghan government has arrested 10 suspects in the Nov. 12 female student and teacher acid attack.
Egypt: 89% of Youth Support Internet Censorship Law
Eighty-nine per cent of Egyptian young men and women surveyed recently stated that they are in favour of an Internet censorship law. Bloggers Times shares the most recent statistics on Egyptian internet users in this post, translated by Marwa Rakha from Arabic.
Saudi Arabia: A Lesson in Buckling Up
Saudi blogger Ahmed Omar BaAbood is proud of his handiwork. He has taught his daughter Joori the importance of safety and buckling up and is collecting the dividends today.
Japan: Employment promised and then revoked
Using the excuse of financial instability, new graduates in Japan, after being hired initially, are finding that unofficial promises of employment are then being revoked, a trend that blogger Akinori Nakamura [中村昭典] uses as a starting point for making observations on recent changes in the Japanese employment system. Nakamura-san compares...
Jamaica: Austism Speaks
“In Jamaica, the word ‘Autism’ is just now becoming a familar word. Years ago, having a child that was ‘different’ can warrant just titles as, ‘baffon’ or ‘Lagga Head'”: A Fe Me Page Dis Iyah is pleased that autistic children are finally beginning to get the help they need.
Jamaica, Barbados, T&T: Bolt is Athlete of the Year
Jamaican Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt has been chosen as the International Athletic Foundation's ‘Athlete of the Year'; regional bloggers congratulate him.
China and Japan: Paper Schools at Earthquake Zone
Ayana from Pingmag reports on a Japanese student project for building temporary school buildings out of cardboard papers at Chengdu.
