Where I stand — Mark Adams: Teenagers are involved

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004 | 9:10 a.m.

Editor's note: More than 1,000 students from high schools throughout Southern Nevada participated in the 49th annual Sun Youth Forum on Nov. 23. The students were divided into groups to discuss a variety of topics. A spokesperson was chosen from each group to write a column about the students' findings. Today's columnist is Green Valley High School student Mark Adams, who was in the discussion group "Teen Topics."

By Mark Adams

In a room full of diverse teens with many different views on issues that face humanity today, it was still clear to see that the participants of the 2004 Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum could all agree on one point: Teenagers care about what is going on in the world.

Many people consider adolescents an inferior group who are generally concerned with only material possessions and juicy gossip, such as cell phones and who "dumped" whom at school earlier that day, but the fact is teenagers are passionate about global, national and local affairs.

My discussion group's moderator, Key Reid, initiated the forum by asking us how we felt about the fight at the Detroit Pistons versus Indiana Pacers game.

Many students felt that the athletes who took part in the fight should have acted more as role models and refrained from throwing punches. I agreed with this because athletes have a lot to live up to -- they can be heroes to millions of children across the country -- and they need to act professional. Others argued that fans shouldn't have thrown beer at the athletes and that security should have been keeping an eye on the fans.

The discussion quickly turned to the subject of condom distribution at schools. The majority of my group, including myself, agreed that schools should teach abstinence, but also hand out condoms as a safety precaution.

Many students also believe that the sex education we receive at school does not go in-depth, and that Clark County students should be learning not only about hormonal processes and how a baby is conceived, but also about birth control and the effectiveness of condoms. I most certainly agree with this, as my sex education consisted of a video in 5th grade, called "How Our Bodies Mature," and a free stick of Old Spice deodorant.

This led into another subject concerning education: driver education. Most students felt that driver's ed did not prepare them for driving and suggested that the course should be much more difficult. This directly led into the question of whether the driving age should be increased to 18.

Students felt very strongly about this, and the question prompted a number of students to speak out, as it is an issue that affects teenagers greatly. Many provided personal accounts about how being able to drive is essential to their success in academics, extracurricular activities, sports and work.

The group seemed to agree on this issue as a whole, and decided that if the driving age would increase, that efforts should be made to provide better transportation to all school-related functions.

When we arrived at our second session of the day, the premier topic was abortion. Many arguments were brought up during this discussion. What if the woman is raped? What about adoption? What will the child's welfare be like if he or she is born? Why should state policymakers decide this for a woman when the majority of them are men? These were only a few of the several points that factored into the conversation.

The greater part of the group, including myself, identified themselves as "pro-choice," arguing for a woman's right to choose. Although the number of students who were pro-choice was plentiful, there were a handful of "pro-life" students arguing for the banning of abortion. It was interesting to observe that teenagers know a great deal about controversial issues such as abortion.

A topic that seemed to divide the entire room was the question of lowering the voting age. A great deal of students argued for the proposition, saying that teenagers are incredibly well versed in politics and current events, that their decisions are well researched, and that 17-year-olds are stationary, whereas 18-year-olds are moving and off to college. Others absolutely opposed it, declaring that 18 is the perfect age to be eligible to vote. I was torn on this issue, as both sides presented valid arguments.

One of the last matters discussed was how teens can counteract the stereotype of teenagers. Teens can join service clubs and become active in school activities, and they can be role models to younger children. I support this idea thoroughly.

I believe that what we see about teens on the news at night does not accurately report what teens are doing today. The media believe that violence, drugs and sex sell, but they need to realize that teens are making great strides in the world today; the news should shed some light on it.

The Sun Youth Forum made us realize that we are the voice of tomorrow. We can make a positive impact on the world with our personal involvement with issues that matter.