Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

where i stand:

Younger generation isn’t lazy; our nation is in good hands

2015 Sun Youth Forum Luncheon

Steve Marcus

Leya Jember of Desert Oasis High School, a 2015 Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum representative, poses during the annual Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum luncheon at the Las Vegas County Club Tuesday Dec. 8, 2015.

What’s on our teenagers’ minds? In its 59th year, the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum is intended to answer just that question. The annual gathering, which this year attracted about 1,000 students, provided an opportunity for public high school juniors and seniors to discuss issues of the day in groups of 40 or so students and was moderated by a community leader. Each group selected one of its participants to reflect on the experience. This column is written by Leya Jember, a junior at Desert Oasis High School. Publisher and Editor Brian Greenspun is turning over his “Where I Stand” column to these young adults, who have something to say.

At the Sun Youth Forum I had the pleasure of meeting teens who had built houses in impoverished countries, had medical internships abroad, edited their nationally ranked school newspapers and made it to robotics state championships. There were speech and debate champions, model United Nations representatives and those who’ve enlisted in the military. My generation shouldn’t be stereotyped as a lazy one. We’re going to run this country, and the U.S. will be in good hands.

There were some topics that we came to a consensus on. On the issue of the wage gap and gender equality, we believe these important topics shouldn’t be lumped together. Women do the same work as men and deserve the same amount of pay. Feminism is not man hate; that is misandry. Feminism is the belief in the social, political and economic equality of both sexes.

Gender equality is not being achieved socially because of longstanding stereotypes. A woman’s place is not in the kitchen, it’s wherever she wants it to be. A woman’s job is not to have children, unless she wants it to be. Gender equality is not being reached politically, as only 19.3 percent of the members of the House of Representatives are women. That’s only 84 out of 435 people. Gender equality is not being seen economically, as women are paid 79 cents to every man’s dollar. It’s not being seen economically, as only 18 percent of households run by single moms are financially stable. That number is appalling.

The solution lies in education. I once heard a young boy talking about “boy jobs and girl jobs.” That haunts me. They should be taught that jobs have no gender. They should be taught that a boy can be a makeup artist, and a girl can be a fighter pilot. Back in my day, the only Barbie doll I used to see was Barbie in a dress, clutching a purse with a small dog in it. Today, there’s businesswoman Barbie, astronaut Barbie, doctor Barbie. It gives me hope.

When speaking of mass shootings, we also came to a consensus. With no strict gun laws in this country, there will be a mass shooting every year. They are becoming commonplace, and that’s frightening. Comprehensive gun reform must be passed. This must include stricter background checks, mandatory education on how to operate the firearm and mandatory gun safes. Gun reform doesn’t mean the government is going to swoop in and snatch our guns. It just means guns will not fall into the wrong hands.

Another aspect of this that people fail to address is mental health. Mentally ill people need to be able to get the help they need. Many of the gunmen in mass shootings in recent years have had some sort of mental illness.

Almost all of the teens in my Youth Forum discussion room support Bernie Sanders for president. We want a political revolution. We want our voices to be heard and our problems to be addressed. He’s the candidate who does that for us. #feelthebern

In closing, John, who sits on his computer all day fiddling with Web formats and video game codes, will grow up to be a computer science engineer. Laura, who gets a thrill from debating and fights with her words instead of fists, will grow up to be a prosecutor. Our generation is the future. Get ready for it.

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