Teens aren’t entitled; there’s a reason for apathy

By Abner Fors

Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016 | 2 a.m.

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, provides an opportunity for public high school juniors and seniors to discuss issues of the day in groups of 40 or so students moderated by a community leader. Each group selected one of its participants to reflect on the experience. This column is written by Abner Fors, a senior at Chaparral High School. His group’s topic was “Teen Topics.” Publisher and Editor Brian Greenspun is turning over his “Where I Stand” column to these young adults, who have something to say.

There were two trains of thought about sex education at the Sun Youth Forum — one preaching that the “sex talk” should be handled by parents and the other suggesting schools should encourage the practice of safe sex instead of just the prevention of sex.

Parents and teenagers likely will have a more heartfelt conversation, leaving the teenager more cautious when considering sex. On the other hand, it’s possible that teens are not comfortable enough or don’t have that type of relationship with their parents. Schools presenting students with safe-sex knowledge and tools helps teenagers to be at less risk of pregnancy and disease. Unfortunately, parents may view this negatively by thinking schools are promoting sex. Most of my peers were comfortable with the idea of schools offering better education about sex and providing tools to be safe during it.

Another question — “Is apathy a problem among today’s teens?” — stirred up passion. We concluded that teens don’t necessarily not care about school, work, etc., but they are too stubborn to look ahead at the bigger picture. We are too busy living in the moment. I found a quote by Tai Lopez that says, “We all have a common enemy, and that enemy is the ignorance of our upbringing.” A common topic of conversation I hear among my peers is that what we are learning in school will not benefit our future. Could the education system be at fault for teens’ lack of charisma? As a generation, we don’t feel entitled to everything being handed to us. But it seems that if we are not presented with opportunity, no one wants to chase their goals.

Another question asked was, “What is it that your parents least understand about the challenges of being a teenager today?” One of my peers brought up an interesting point — that students are more stressed than an average adult in 2015. It seemed the biggest issue on this question was that parents are ignoring the fact that teens have a life as well. I brought up a famous line said by parents: “You don’t know what stress is. Do you pay bills?” Parents fail to see that just because we aren’t bringing in a salary does not mean school isn’t a full-time job. We go through seven hours making sure our grades aren’t going down the sewer, some of us have practice for sports that takes three-plus hours, and then we get home and have homework nearly every night for one to two hours. Parents just fail to realize we have things to deal with, and the worst part is that thanks to social media we all stay “connected” to each other 24/7.

It’s clear that we believe proper sex education and guidance helps in avoiding disease or pregnancy, as well as that children’s upbringing in America could be the reason for their apathy as teens. The misunderstanding between parents and teens that “everyone has it rough” seemed to be the most passionate topics during our session.