Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017 | 2 a.m.
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Student representative Quiyanna Wilson of Silverado High School during the 61st annual Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum at the Las Vegas Convention Center Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Editor’s note: About 1,000 students from high schools throughout Southern Nevada participated in the 61st annual Sun Youth Forum on Nov. 8. The students were divided into groups to discuss a variety of topics. A representative was chosen from each group to write a column about the students’ findings. This essay addresses the issues covered by the Teen Topics group.
Today’s teenagers are affected by such issues as suicide, the effects of smoking and peer pressure, defunding of Planned Parenthood and texting and driving. As a representative for the Teen Topics focus group, I witnessed the most passion among the topics regarding the defunding of Planned Parenthood, overuse of cellphones and the fears and anxieties regarding becoming an adult.
The Planned Parenthood issue sparked many different opinions. Most participants in the group could agree that defunding the organization would have a negative effect on many communities. The number of births to teen mothers would rise, as young women would lose access to the safe and legal abortions that are provided by Planned Parenthood. And with more teens becoming mothers, the crime and poverty rates also would likely rise as those teens would face difficulty in obtaining jobs and earning stable income.
The group noted that Planned Parenthood does not exclusively provide abortions. The organization also specializes in women’s counseling, birth control, sexual education for all sexual orientations, pelvic exams and mammograms, HIV counseling, testing and support groups as well as other testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
Eliminating Planned Parenthood’s federal funding would not only affect the teen pregnancy rate, it would also affect the general well-being of many men, women and children.
On the overuse of cellphones, some students felt that social media could directly correlate to teenagers spending an inordinate amount of times with their devices.
I agreed that social media can sometimes distract teens and make them less progressive; however, social media can also bring teenagers together and offer advice and a platform to express themselves.
The group became somewhat divided, with some participants saying the use of their cellphones was necessity. These students felt their peers were overexaggerating the excessive use of cellphones.
Regarding the array of anxieties and fears about growing older and becoming an adult, our group seemed to fear failure the most. The group’s biggest fear collectively was starting to move forward and plan for life after high school. Some participants felt they were well equipped and ready to tackle their future, whereas others were worried about disappointing their families by not living up to their potential.
During the forum, we reached consensus on several points but also disagreed on certain subjects. We held our discussions in an educated and fact-based setting. The Teen Topics group changed my personal opinion more than once, due to the persuasive tone derived through educated conversation and debate.
Quiyanna Wilson is a senior at Silverado High School.
