Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Student representative Jacob Geiger of College of Southern Nevada 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 Around the World group.
I had the honor to be a part of the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum, and it was one of the most inspiring events I have ever attended. The people I met and talked with had brilliant minds and an abundance of well-developed ideas.
The discussion I was a part of was called “Around the World,” and while we had more than two dozen topics, the two that had the room the most engaged were cybersecurity and refugees.
On cybersecurity, the majority of the room agreed that the United States was lacking in programs and technologies to combat this rising problem. This is largely due to budgeting limitations. If we want to see any advancements in cybersecurity, we need to allocate funds to build up programs, infrastructure and technologies capable of handling the threats we face beyond the physical battlefield.
We are lagging in technological advances in comparison with other countries, so rather than pump funds into creating outdated machines for the military that will be left to rust, we must work to upgrade the technology we have, produce our tech effectively and allow our military to reach deeper into the field of cybersecurity. If we stay on our current path and refuse to adapt to the changing world and cyberspace, we will have no choice but to submit to those that do.
On the topic of refugees, a large portion of our room agreed that we need education both for refugees and citizens of countries of destination, as well as the idea that the international community’s best course of action would be to work on assimilating refugees into the nations they flee to.
One of the most pressing actions is to educate the citizens of the world about refugees, so that refugees are not seen as a threat but rather a benefit to nations that take them in. Argentina sets a great example in this regard, since refugees there are given jobs and contribute to the economy. Defeating the perception that refugees are a threat may also leave room for compassion, such as what happens in Canada with sponsor families, as mentioned by one of the debaters in my room.
A crucial next step is to educate refugees about the countries to which they’re relocating, allowing them to learn about the culture of their host country and making it easier for them to assimilate. Finally, the actual process of assimilation must be done. While not easy, it will provide an influx of workers and population to host nations, giving them incentives to keep accepting refugees.
Throughout the day, our group passionately debated and discussed a broad range of topics, and to be in that room was a memorable experience. It was a show of just how brilliant and how underappreciated the minds of our community’s youths truly are. The Sun Youth Forum has allowed Nevada’s youths to have a voice, and I am so glad that I had the chance to participate in it.
Jacob Geiger is a senior at College of Southern Nevada High School.
