Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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Editor’s note: About 450 Clark County high school students participated in the annual Sun Youth Forum on Nov. 8 at Liberty High School. The students were divided into groups to discuss several topics. A spokesperson was chosen from each discussion group to write a column about the students’ findings. Today, Drew Campbell, a senior at Del Sol Academy, tells of the students’ opinions in the session entitled “Around the World.”
Student representative Drew Campbell, of Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts, poses during the 64th annual Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum at Liberty High School in Henderson, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
I entered the Sun Youth Forum wanting to share my knowledge of the important topics facing our world. However, as much as I enjoyed the opportunities to educate my peers, it was the opportunity I had to listen and learn that I will remember most and carry into the future.
As a white male who was born and raised in the Silver State, my perspective of world issues is skewed. Despite my attempts to educate myself, most of my experiences — and the experiences of my friends and family — occurred here in Nevada. And most news I consume is local, or at least U.S.-based. But the world is bigger than that, and there is much to be gained by listening to the beliefs and stories of people from different places, whose experiences are different from mine.
The youth forum gave me the chance to challenge my own beliefs.
When discussing African aid, and whether it was the duty of the United States and developed countries to provide for other nations, I entered the conversation believing that rather than providing financial support, it would be more beneficial to implement progressive institutions. However, the view of an Ethiopian-born student completely altered my stance. She said neither aid nor institutions were the most important issue for people in her home country. Rather, it’s the infighting that occurs inside their poorly established borders that most threatens their livelihoods.
The room of normally opinionated students fell silent. The moment showed me that solving a problem requires more than good intentions. It takes a thorough understanding of the problem’s source.
Similarly, a girl of Iranian descent shared her knowledge of the social movement transpiring within the country. She informed us of those who faced oppression by law enforcement; names and stories I had never heard of. She even challenged some of the information presented by our moderator, a bold but necessary. The brilliant woman leading our room briefly became a student being taught by a high schooler.
It showed me how the news and information most Americans consume has its own limitations. There are always more sources of information and more perspectives to learn from.
The youth forum not only furthered my knowledge of the world but taught me the power of perspective. It’s extremely easy to get caught up in the media and narratives that are comfortable and familiar. Taking the time to listen and learn from those who have experienced something firsthand is how we truly become knowledgeable.
If we are striving to become open-minded and informed, then it’s crucial that we learn to listen to diverse perspectives and question narratives that feel too simple or too good to be true, even when they come from those with power or authority.
