What we do

Youth Civic Project is a youth-led civic education project. Our mission is to teach young people the rights written in constitutions and statutes, the court cases that explain those rights, and the processes used in schools, workplaces, courts, and public life.

Members may live anywhere, and the library is written for a global youth audience. When a page is about United States law, it says so. When a page covers an idea found in many systems, such as free speech, fair process, limits on searches, or child-labor rules, it says that too and tells you to check the rule where you live.

Our four programs

1. The library

The library holds the Issues pages: plain-language explainers on speech, searches, school discipline, work, and civic participation. It includes a page for each of the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, with longer pages on the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Each library page tries to answer the same questions:

• What does the text actually say?
• Who does it limit? (Usually the government, not private people or companies.)
• How have courts applied it, and in which setting?
• What does it not decide?
• Where can you check the rule for your own state or country?

The Your State page helps U.S. readers find the documents that apply where they live: the district student code, the state education department, labor and work-permit rules, the elections office, and the local juvenile or family court.

2. Learn modules and case briefs

Learn is a path of eight short modules. Each takes a few minutes to read and ends with four check questions. Members earn progress levels as they go: Reader after two modules, Analyst after five, and Civic Builder after finishing the path.

Case briefs are one-page summaries of real court decisions, each with a citation you can check. Members can also open longer lessons, such as How a Bill Becomes Law, which includes a mock committee vote and a quiz.

Case of the Day adds a new classroom hypothetical every day. These made-up scenarios let you practice applying a rule. They are clearly labeled as practice and are never presented as real cases.

3. Saved, moderated chat

Members who have signed the required agreements can use chat. Messages are saved, so you can come back next week and still find the thread. Moderators review the queue, can hide messages that break the rules, and escalate anything involving threats or self-harm. Voice rooms follow the same conduct rules.

4. Service and leadership

Members can log unpaid education and outreach work, such as leading a classroom through a rights page, helping edit materials, or greeting new members. An officer reviews every log, and only approved hours count toward your record, rankings, and verification letters. Schools decide for themselves whether to accept a letter.

Members who are already using the modules can apply to become ambassadors. Schools or cities can form chapters with an adult sponsor. A chapter uses YCP materials and rules. It does not become a separate organization.

What a normal week looks like

Most of YCP's work is steady and unglamorous. In a typical week, officers update an explainer, answer saved chat with a link to the right page, approve hour logs for work that actually happened, and follow up with ambassadors. Case of the Day posts a new hypothetical every day.

What we do not do

• We do not appear in court or represent anyone.
• We do not sell legal plans or quietly match students with private lawyers.
• We do not endorse or oppose candidates or political parties.
• We do not run sports leagues or programs unrelated to civic education.

Officers and chat staff are not anyone's attorney, in any country. If you have a legal problem, talk with a trusted adult and a lawyer licensed where you live.

Get involved

• New here? Open Start here.
• Ready to join? Membership is free.
• Want to help? Visit Service to log hours or sign up to volunteer.