The Meadows students weigh in on current events following Tucson tragedy

By Dylan Scott

Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 | 1 p.m.

RELATED STORY: Local students weigh in on current events following Tucson tragedy

It's been a month since the horrific shooting in Tucson that left six people dead and 13 wounded. Among the injured was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head but is recovering.

The shooting's youngest victim was 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green. In a speech, President Barack Obama called for national harmony and eulogized Christina along with the other shooting victims.

Christina "showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age," Obama said. "I want to live up to her expectations, I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it, I want America to be as good as Christina imagined it."

As the nation continues to reflect on what happened, the Sun wanted to know what young people in our community are thinking about the future of America.

Their responses to the Sun's questions are condensed and edited for clarity.

Responses from students at the Meadows are below. To read responses from other students around the valley, click here.

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Daniel Pereira is a fifth-grader at the Meadows School in Las Vegas.

An important topic of conversation since Tucson is how politically divided our country has become. How can we start to bridge that gap?

What's happening is the Republicans and Democrats can never agree, which leads to more and more conflict. They never come together to try to settle their debates. I understand that's a hard thing to do, but instead of just blaming each other in political ads and the press — I think that's just wrong, it's not a civil way to make your point — they could handle their disputes in a more peaceful way by having honest conversations.

Daniel Rozental is a fifth-grader at The Meadows School in Las Vegas.

Why have you taken an interest in your community and the political system?

I just think it's cool because politics started everything. That's how people figured out the world. I think it's good to be a leader and a representative of your country. My dad and sister know a lot about politics, so we try to discuss issues sometimes. It's become a family thing.