Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Celebrating youth

Saturday, Nov. 27, 2004 | 12:47 p.m.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

WEEKEND EDITION

November 27 - 28, 2004

Giving thanks for the voices of our youth.

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year. Families come together to do what families do best -- eat. Friends gather together to count their blessings. Retailers get whole, especially after dismal sales reports for preceding months. And Christmas and Chanukah are right around the corner, which means children will be smiling and the adults will finally get into better moods. However temporary that may be.

There is another reason why I look forward to Thanksgiving week. That is the time when the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum takes place, just as it has done for the past 49 years. I don't know of another youth-oriented program in the country that has lasted as long and been as successful as the Youth Forum. I believe it owes its longevity to one simple principle, and that is that on Youth Forum Day the teenagers do the talking and the adults do the listening.

It is a formula that has worked ever since the first group of Las Vegas high school students gathered together to tell the rest of the world what they thought. I thought of those early days just before I addressed the 1,000 or so students from more than 40 high schools in Clark County this past Tuesday. As one of the adult moderators who contribute their time to lead the discussion groups, I had noticed one of the proposed topics for my group, which was named "Home In Nevada," was a club for kids under 21.

It just so happens that the first accomplishment of the first Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum was a club for students under the age of 21. In those days there were less than a handful of high schools, which meant that there were very few students gathered to discuss what was on their minds.

Foremost among their grievances (which will tell you how much easier life was in those days) was that there was no place where underage young adults could go for recreation on weekends. The hotels, like they are today, were off-limits to those not yet 21, and there were very few, if any, alternatives to risking juvenile hall in order to dance or otherwise congregate. The Wildcat Lair was the result of that first Youth Forum as the adults, especially the sheriff, who was concerned about curfew violations and too many teenagers on what was then a growing Strip, paid attention and acted on what they heard. And they have been listening ever since.

One thing I learned at the forum is that with all the changes that Las Vegas has experienced over the past 50 years, there still remains a need for places for young adults to enjoy each other's company and let off a little steam. We have traveled far in our evolution toward being the Entertainment Capital of the World, but not so far that we can afford to forget the necessities of our young people who are struggling with the challenges of growing up.

There was something else I learned this past week. Something that has given me reason to believe that our best days are still ahead of us, and that despite the world we have created for our children and the difficulties that abound, they will endure, they will prosper and they will succeed. One of the other topics the kids discussed was the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

Unfortunately, it was one of my favorite topics to explore and one about which I am quite passionate. I was determined to find out the level of passion that existed in this group. After all, it is true that young people often mirror the thoughts and ideas of their parents -- until they reach the age of reason and either accept them, discard them completely or temper them with their own views of the world in which they must live -- so listening to these young people would give me an idea of how the adults really think. Or so I thought.

I first polled the group to determine how many of them wanted the dump at Yucca Mountain. Only a couple of hands went up. Then I asked how many thought the dump was coming and that there was nothing they could do about it. Almost all of the hands went up. OK, I thought, if this is how they think -- actually, what their parents think -- then this should be an interesting discussion. Some of the kids expressed the belief that the dump was very bad for people living not only in Las Vegas but also throughout the country, especially along the proposed truck and train routes that will bring the high-level radioactive waste to Nevada. They also said they didn't want to live in this town if the possibility of a spill could hurt them or their children.

But, having said all that, they were still resigned to the idea that they could do nothing. After considerable discussion around the room, it was understood that what they were expressing was their parents views and that they -- their generation and the next -- would have to pay the price for the adults' attitude of acquiescence. This they did not want to do. After sharing a number of ideas they came up with a plan of action. It is centered on the Internet and the belief that young people everywhere have a stake in nuclear waste policy.

I have to say that this was the first time in all the years that I have been moderating at the Youth Forum that I actually witnessed a call to arms right then and there. And I have to say it was the highlight of my day. It not only told me that today's young people are very serious about their futures but that they also are willing to act, which is very different from the role their parents have played, which has been to give lip service but little else.

So you see, there is much for which we should be thankful in Nevada. At the top of the list must be healthy families. But right behind that blessing is that we have a new generation of Nevadans who are willing to fight hard for their futures. No matter what their parents say!

Happy Thanksgiving.