Youth Communication

Youth Communication Youth Communication (YC) amplifies youth stories and empowers young people to achieve their goals.

This week’s story is scary and heartbreaking. The writer is a 17-year-old high school student whose family escaped war i...
09/22/2026

This week’s story is scary and heartbreaking. The writer is a 17-year-old high school student whose family escaped war in the Ukraine. Since 2022, she has lived here in safety with her parents and little sister under Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The war still rages, but TPS protection is scheduled to end for all Ukrainians on October 19, 2026.

In perhaps an ironic tribute to the American education system, the writer recently took an excellent course on immigration, treatment of refugees, and citizenship issues. As a refugee and as a TPS beneficiary—along with tens of thousands of Haitians, Venezuelans, Salvadorans, and others—she writes, “Learning all this history feels a little surreal, as I’m also living in it, waiting to hear if our TPS status will be renewed or if TPS will even continue.”

📚 Bring More Stories to Life ✍️
$125 covers a teen writer’s stipend for each published story! You just read what change in action looks like — a young person finding their voice and shaping how we see the world. At YC, your support turns experiences into impact. 💯

Click the link in bio to visit YOUTHCOMM.ORG/YCTEEN/ and continue reading 🗞️📣

YC writer Ariana is a fan of both Homer and director Christopher Nolan. She connects to the enduring story as a Ukrainia...
08/17/2026

YC writer Ariana is a fan of both Homer and director Christopher Nolan. She connects to the enduring story as a Ukrainian refugee who also longs for home. Part of what she loves about Greek mythology is that “it captures the unfairness of life. Gods and goddesses are petty and random and use humans as pawns in their struggles, not unlike dictators in real life.”

Read her thoughtful and witty review that goes beyond the hot takes and celebrates the timeless pleasure of great storytelling on youthcomm.org 📖

07/01/2026

☀️ July 1st marks the start of a new summer reading season. 📖

We asked some of our YCteen Magazine and Represent Magazine writers what they’re planning to read this summer, and their lists range from nonfiction and self-improvement to fiction, horror, and comfort reads. 📚✨

At Youth Communication, reading and writing go together. Writing is a pathway to self-discovery and connection, helping young people turn lived experience into stories that build confidence, belonging, and wellbeing. ❤️🤍

Now we are curious.

What are you reading this summer? 👀

🔗 YOUTHCOMM.ORG/YCTEEN
🔗 YOUTHCOMM.ORG/REPRESENT

🚨 This Thursday is the final Respect for All PD session of the spring, and only a few spots remain ‼️📚 THE EXPERTS ARE I...
06/01/2026

🚨 This Thursday is the final Respect for All PD session of the spring, and only a few spots remain ‼️

📚 THE EXPERTS ARE IN THE ROOM: Centering Youth Voice in Culturally Responsive Education
🗓️ Thursday, June 4 | 9–11 AM (virtual)

Culturally responsive education is strongest when grounded in the voices of young people. In this session, educators will engage with powerful, true teen-written stories from Youth Communication writers and use “mirrors and windows” to better understand both themselves and their students. 💯

Through reflection and discussion, participants will deepen their understanding of how youth voice strengthens belonging, engagement, and academic success. 🙌

Thank you to everyone who joined us this spring for Youth Communication’s Respect for All professional development series, in partnership with the NYC Public Schools Office of Safety and Youth Development (OSYD). ❤️🤍

🔗 YOUTHCOMM.ORG/RESPECTFORALL

➡️ Free | Virtual | 2 CTLE credits per session
➡️ Funded by OSYD | NYCPS staff only

📚 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be terribly isolating for teens. This week’s story is by a teen who broke thro...
05/31/2026

📚 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be terribly isolating for teens. This week’s story is by a teen who broke through that isolation and found a therapist with whom she could talk about her swirling thoughts and racing heart. Zaria got a diagnosis, which comforted her in one way, but also worried her: “Realizing how common it was made me doubt whether it could be cured.” 🗣️🧠

Zaria’s story breaks down how therapy worked for her. To prepare for sessions, she wrote down each day’s challenges and “good things too, like when I made a friend.” She recounts the conversations with her therapist that helped her reveal some of her most guilty thoughts and also reckons with the need to keep pushing. “I didn’t want to talk to others about my feelings. I just wanted to be more social and less anxious. I knew my wish was unrealistic, and that avoiding communicating my feelings would only delay the growth I wanted.” ✍️

The story ends with Zaria focusing more on playing the guitar. “I noticed that when I played I wasn’t worried or battling my own imagination.” This discovery is a delightful addition to all the insights she shares. We hope readers benefit from her introspection, her honesty, and her comfort in music. 🎼🎶

✨ Bring More Stories to Life ✨
$125 covers a teen writer’s stipend for each published story! You just read what change in action looks like — a young person finding their voice and shaping how we see the world. At YC, your support turns experiences into impact. 💯

Click the link in bio to visit YOUTHCOMM.ORG/YCTEEN/ and continue reading 🗞️📣🌟

05/29/2026

“I don’t want AI to do my thinking for me.” ✍️

That sentence sparked one of the most powerful conversations happening among our Spring 2026 YC writers right now. 📚📝✨

As AI becomes more present in classrooms, creative spaces, and everyday life, our writers are pushing back against the idea that technology should replace curiosity, imagination, and human thought. They’re asking bigger questions about originality, creativity, identity, and what it means to truly have a voice in today’s world. 📣🗣️🎙️

At Youth Communication, young people don’t just learn how to write. They learn how to reflect, question, connect, and tell stories rooted in lived experience. Because when teens share their own perspectives, they create conversations and understanding that no machine can replicate.💯

More stories from our Spring 2026 writers on AI and creativity are coming soon. ❤️🤍

📖 Read YCteen Magazine Stories:
🔗 YOUTHCOMM.ORG/YCTEEN

After a year of focused, transformative work, we are saying a heartfelt thank you and farewell to our Executive Director...
05/28/2026

After a year of focused, transformative work, we are saying a heartfelt thank you and farewell to our Executive Director, Lori Rose Benson, whose last day with Youth Communication is at the end of May.

Lori came to YC at a pivotal moment. She reshaped the organization from the inside — strengthening our foundation, rightsizing for sustainability, and shepherding the vision that became YC CONNECT, our new free and open digital living library launching this August. She leaves behind something that will serve young people for generations. We are deeply grateful, and the organization is stronger for her having been here. 🌟🙌

As Lori closes this chapter, Youth Communication steps into its next one with an intergenerational leadership team we are proud to introduce:

✨ Keith Hefner, our Founder, steps into the role of Executive Director — bringing 46 years of founding vision, deep relationships, and an unwavering belief in the power of youth voice to the external work of the organization.

✨ Samantha Lilienfeld steps into the role of Managing Director — bringing nearly a decade of institutional knowledge, operational depth, and genuine care for this organization and everyone in it to the work of leading YC from within.

Different generations. Shared purpose. Exactly the kind of leadership model that reflects what YC has always valued. 💯

Thank you, Lori. And here’s to what comes next. ❤️🤍

🗣️ “My experience as a YC writer has been eye-opening. It taught me what it means to write for a real publication, stay ...
05/15/2026

🗣️ “My experience as a YC writer has been eye-opening. It taught me what it means to write for a real publication, stay committed to my story, and use my voice with purpose. My article is about how my speech impediment made me hide my voice, and how theater helped me find it again. It means a lot knowing my story could reach other young people and remind them they aren’t alone.” — Yeshaya Benknockee, current YCteen Magazine writer ✍️

For more than 46 years, Youth Communication has helped teens transform their lived experiences into powerful published stories that build empathy, connection, and understanding.

Because of supporters like you:
✨ Nearly 3,000 teen writers have participated in YC programs
✨ More than 10,000 authentic youth stories have been published
✨ More than 200,000 educators accessed YC stories and lesson materials in 2025 alone
✨ 50,000 young people were reached through YC programs and partnerships last year

These stories create a ripple effect that extends far beyond the page, reaching classrooms, counselors, youth workers, school districts, foster care agencies, social workers, therapists, and communities nationwide. 🙌

Your support helps ensure that more young people find their voice, more educators gain tools to connect with students, and more stories reach the people who need them most. 📚

Help us continue expanding the YC ripple effect. 🌊❤️🤍

🎁 YOUTHCOMM.ORG/DONATE

📚 Childhood sexual abuse is one of the hardest experiences to unravel and to heal from. This week we bring you an extrao...
05/14/2026

📚 Childhood sexual abuse is one of the hardest experiences to unravel and to heal from. This week we bring you an extraordinary story by a girl about the sexual relationship she had with a teacher when she was 12 and 13 years old and its aftermath.

🗣️ The story moves from relationship to breakup to therapy, and covers the writer’s shifting understanding of what happened. She writes, “In my eyes, he wasn’t an adult all put together…. Other adults didn’t tell me what upset them, much less ask for comfort. But he did, and that gave me a feeling of power. My parents and some other teachers hit me, whereas he told me, ‘Nobody’s ever loved me like you do.’” ✍️

The writer is 16 now, and the story ends with a shift. “Partly from therapy, partly from writing about it, and partly from being in a public high school out of my community, I’m not as sure as I used to be that it was a love that’s OK.” We hope this story helps survivors accept their own healing process and helps those who care for them better understand that survivors may see gray areas as they move through that process.

✨ Bring More Stories to Life ✨
$125 covers a teen writer’s stipend for each published story! You just read what change in action looks like — a young person finding their voice and shaping how we see the world. At YC, your support turns experiences into impact. 💯

Click the link in bio to visit YOUTHCOMM.ORG/YCTEEN/ and continue reading 🗞️📣🌟

05/14/2026

🗣️ “That’s why I’m always going to trick you to make you think I’m talking about the student, but then it’s gonna come back to you because you as educators have to be able to identify your own development in your own space.”— Terrence Coffie, YC Education Trainer ✨

The most impactful professional development does more than offer strategies. It invites us to reflect on who we are, what we bring into our classrooms, and how our own experiences shape the way we support young people. 💯

That is the core of Youth Communication’s Respect for All professional development series, developed in partnership with the NYCPS Office of Safety and Youth Development (OSYD). Through powerful teen-written stories and guided reflection, NYCPS educators gain practical tools to strengthen belonging and create learning environments where students feel seen, heard, and valued.

➡️ Join us for our upcoming free virtual sessions for NYCPS staff:

🌎 Welcome & Worthy: Supporting Students of Immigrant Families
🗓️ Wednesday, May 20 | 9–11 AM or 12–2 PM

📣 The Experts Are in the Room: Centering Youth Voice in Culturally Responsive Education
🗓️ Thursday, June 4 | 9–11 AM or 12–2 PM

➡️ Free | Virtual | 2 CTLE credits per session
➡️ Funded by OSYD | NYCPS staff only

Register Now. Spots fill quickly❗️
🔗 YOUTHCOMM.ORG/RESPECTFORALL

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