Anyone who has worked on their high school newspaper knows there often comes a time when the newspaper’s commitment to the First Amendment butts heads with the school’s administration. In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped into that classic battle with its decision that allows public school officials to impose limitations on what is published in school-sponsored student publications. High school journalists have another word for it: censorship.

Out of that decision, L.A.Youth was born as an independent voice for teenagers. In those 25 years, founder and publisher Donna Myerow has built an impressive non-profit with five “grown-ups” on staff and dozens of teen journalists from all over Los Angeles County who churn out stories on often taboo subjects in school newspapers, such as teen pregnancy, drug use and sexuality to insightful coverage of budget cuts, foster care and the effects of poverty on young people — all written from the voice of those teenagers who are often shut out of the conversation.

Message on the LA Youth website.

Thousands of students and teachers have had the benefit of L.A. Youth’s reach in both its print publication and its online version. The hundreds of young people who have gathered on Saturday afternoons at L.A. Youth’s offices on West Third Street east of The Grove have been forever changed by their experiences.

But with a severe economic recession in recent years and major upheaval in the newspaper industry, L.A. Youth is in a do or die battle to survive. The newspaper has until May 15th to raise $500,000 or it will go dark with the end of the school year. As L.A. Youth notes, this comes at a time when school budgets are being chopped and high school publications have disappeared in many schools.

L.A. Youth is asking for help in the form of donations to keep the presses rolling and the website operational. Please visit the L.A. Youth website to see why you should donate and how to do it.

You can read more about L.A. Youth in a recent LA Times article.