The Big Gray Cloud
By Erika Klein
Young People's Press
"These feelings, which plagued me through a rough adolescence, are a consequence of the abuse I suffered as a child. From the age of four to six, I was physically abused. When I was eight years old, the sexual abuse began. It lasted until I was 13."
The Old Bastard
By Arleen*
Young People's Press
My underwear had somehow come off and the old man was touching me. His cold, rough hands were touching my body in an area where only my mother and close relatives had when bathing me. But this was very different. I was not taking a bath. I was completely alone and this stranger was hurting me.
Fleeing Gerald
"I think now how easy it would have been to put a bullet through that bastard's head; never to have the memories haunt us; never to have him standing behind me in line at Zellers, calmly whistling a tune; never to have him show up on the doorstep when I was home alone; never to have my mother experience the nightmares and the seizures that were a result of too many shots to the head."
By Aurore*
Young People's Press
Cutting: Self-injury by Teens
By Vanessa Lyn Mann
Young People's Press
"Well," I stammered, "I told you what I've been through, and you know things have been really... pure hell for me. Well, I cut. Last night, I cut my wrists."
Squeegee Kids and the Homeless:
"Hey, bum, why don't you get a job?" shouts an irate motorist, head tilted out of the car window.
Listening to degrading comments like this is all part of a day's work for Ryan* and his street friend, Scott*.
Ryan and Scott are squeegee kids. And they're part of a growing contingent of similarly employed young people on Toronto's streets.
Give Them a Break
By Hijal De Sarkar
Young People's Press
We Don't Give A Damn
"We party until the music, drugs and booze are gone - or until we've passed out. Then we phone home and ask to sleep over at a friend's house. Sometimes we get there, sometimes we don't. It really doesn't matter one way or the other, as long as we have our fun. The night is considered a success if we manage to avoid the intervention of suspicious parents or the police."
By Andrea Ebenstiner
Young People's Press
"I have always looked away from drugs. In my opinion, drugs are for the weak. They are for those who can't handle life and its magical beauty. Drugs are simply a substitute for those who can't handle the real world. Can you handle it?"
Just Say No
By Katie Bruce
Young People's Press
Youth Mentoring Fights Youth Violence
"A lot of people come from broken families, where the dad beats up the mom, and there's a lot of family violence. So they're brought up with it and it's like the only way that they know how to deal with a problem," he says. "A lot of criminals I met when I was in jail come from families where there's no encouragement given to the kids…and they seem to use the negative examples they got as an excuse for their own violent behaviour."
By Ezra Houser
Young People's Press
Violence Likely Begins at Home
By Negin Chelehmalzadeh
Young People's Press
Students should feel safe in school, not fearful. Yet nearly every week I hear more horrifying stories about teen violence, about students being swarmed, held hostage or even killed by fellow classmates.
High School Can be Hell for Gay Teens
"I have this recurring nightmare. As I walk down the hall, I see a crowd of students circling what seems to be my locker. Bewildered, I get closer. Someone has scrawled 'FAG' in felt pen on the locker door. My classmates start giving me strange, scary looks and I know my life will never be the same again."
By Winston Ma
Young People's Press
Young & Gay
There was an outpouring of response to the Young People's Press article, "School can be hell for gay teens", after it was published in The Toronto Star, October 5, 1999. What follows are excerpts from the many letters and e-mails received.
