Where I Stand -- Brad Pierson: Agreeing to disagree with our peers

Editor's note: More than 800 juniors and seniors from area high schools participated in the 44th annual Sun Youth Forum Nov. 23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The students were divided into groups to discuss selected topics. Someone was chosen from each session to write about the students' opinions. Brad Pierson of Green Valley High School discusses his group's topic, "Potpourri."

It is rare for a group of high school kids to have the opportunity to voice their views on current issues and actually have them listened to. The Sun Youth Forum gave a select group of young adults a chance to discuss our political views and find out what our peers' views are.

Going into the morning session of "Potpourri," I had no idea what to expect. I had not attended the Youth Forum before. All I knew was what I had heard from my good friend.

One issue we discussed was the ever-controversial and never enjoyable topic, abortion. Everyone had an opinion. The general feeling of the students in the room, in accordance with my own, was that it is very hard to ever justify the killing of a child, unborn or otherwise. We argued that no matter at what point during the pregnancy, it was wrong.

The minority opinion was that a woman has a right to choose what she wants to do with her body. They also argued that based on the 14th Amendment, women had a right to privacy. Others stated that the Constitution does not grant a right to "choice," and quickly put down this point. We all continued to argue, and tempers flared. In the end we agreed to disagree. We realized that no conclusion would be made in that room.

Also discussed were genetic engineering and cloning. We quickly distinguished the difference between the two. Cloning is directly copying the DNA of a person or creature and creating a new one that is identical. Genetic engineering, however, is simply altering certain chromosomes to change features of a child. It was almost unanimous that both were morally wrong when used for personal gain. Only in cases of medical research is any genetic engineering permissible, and it must not be done on humans.

The final issue was pornography on the Strip. This hit close to home -- literally -- for all of us. I'm sure the general population would agree, as the majority of us at the Sun Youth Forum, that pornography on the streets of Las Vegas is not necessarily a good thing. However, many of us decided that it does have a right to be there. The opposing argument was that it dirties the Strip and the minds of the people viewing it, especially in the case of children who are visiting Las Vegas.

The general consensus, however, was that the Strip is a place with an adult theme. Pornography, like it or not, has been on the Strip for years. We know it's here; it is no longer a surprise. It is the right of parents to protect minors from seeing things they shouldn't. No child should be left unaccompanied on the Strip. One compromise solution was possibly setting time limits on the distribution of this questionable material.

The Sun Youth Forum was an excellent time for us to learn about each other and our views. It was nice to finally hear the views of other young adults like myself, as opposed to being forced to listen to many of the out-of-date and out-of-touch-with-the-times views of some of our community leaders. It was refreshing to say the least.

Next time any of you "adults" want to discuss politics, and get a good answer, how about asking a "kid" -- he might actually know what is going on.

Brad Pierson

archive