Stay Solid: A Radical Handbook for Youth

Essay in: Stay Solid: A Radical Handbook for Youth

It ain’t easy being a kid these days. For the first time in generations, today’s teens have worse prospects ahead of them than their parents did, and the pressure to toe the line and be a success is heavier than ever…and so is the temptation to just give up. But there are things in the world worth fighting for!

This scrapbook-style collection of essays, excerpts, explanations, and images pushes back against a culture that relentlessly demands that kids give up their best ideals, abandon their hopes, forget their ethical objections to dominant life, soothe their rage, and accept their fates. From dealing with the cops to dealing with your peers, from school and community to drugs and sex, from race and class to money and mental health, Stay Solid! provides essential support for radically inclined teens who believe that it’s possible for all of us to hang on to our values and build a life we believe in.

Compiled and edited by radical urbanist and educator Matt Hern, with the assistance of the youth community at Vancouver’s Purple Thistle Centre, Stay Solid! is for kids everywhere, and for anyone who considers themselves an ally—parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, relatives, and beyond.