Letter From The Editor

My hope was and is that there could be an online publication written by teens and read by teens that served as a communal space for teens to be able to talk to each other. As a middle school teacher, I saw the ways in which teens continue to isolate and feel disconnected from each other even though they are inches away from individual containers of emotional support within each person. This is not to say that everyone of these containers would get along, but rather that with all the qualms of teenage years and the frustration that comes with them, there is hope; a light at the end of tunnel, rather, waiting to be explored.

This website is the building of that tunnel, the opening of the window only noticed after the devastating closing of a door that you thought was your only way in and out, the hand of an internet nobody reaching out only to aid you and for no reason other than human compassion.

Here’s to a terrible idea with good intentions.

Sony World Photography Awards 2024 – Youth

Sony World Photography runs a competition every year for six months from June to January. These are the photos that won last year. Which one is your favorite?

My hope is to make readers and potential submitters more aware of writing and photography contests that they can submit to and I was personally impressed that all of these winning photos were all taken by photographers under the age of 19.

An Interesting Excerpt From A 1976 Guide For Teens

https://www.tumblr.com/govpubsfinds/750292891896872960/published-in-1976-by-the-us-dept-of-health

Why Can’t We Begin Later?

We are all familiar with the tired trope of people starting their New Year’s Resolutions in January and then abandoning them before the month ends, but I do think that at some point it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy in a cultural sense. Posting about or sharing with loved ones your intentions for the month often is seen as cringeworthy or performative as it’s gotten to a point where even stating them earnestly is difficult without feeling shame or regret afterwards.

Your aunt is going to work on losing weight.
Your uncle is going to start working on turning the garage into a mancave.
Your nephew is going to get his grades up before the semester ends.

Recently, I’ve decided to make some changes (one of which you are reading right now) and it’s refreshing to be posting this on Sunday, May 12th, 2024. It’s an innocuous day and one that bears no significance on the world as we know it. I get to decide when I start over, when to try something new, when I am ready to embark on new ventures, and there’s something very refreshing in that feeling.

This week, I’m looking for submissions about starting something new at an unexpected time. Submissions can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art, or whatever other type of expression you can think of.