Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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Editor’s note: About 1,000 students from high schools throughout Southern Nevada participated in the 62nd annual Sun Youth Forum on Nov. 29. 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 America group.
The participants in our group at the Sun Youth Forum disagreed on how to solve our nation’s political challenges, but were were very like-minded in the way we went about our conversation.
We treated one another respectfully, and the climate of our discussion was never scornful.
That being the case, it’s perhaps no surprise that our group was especially intrigued by the question, “What can teens do to fight the divisiveness that seems to be growing in America?”
The students agreed that divisiveness has become a recurring tactic in our political climate — one that is ruining compromise. With a consensus on the importance of uniting the country rather than focusing on party lines, the students believed that social media would be a great way t
Student representative Marcos Jimenez, of Foothill High School, poses during the 62nd annual Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum at the Las Vegas Convention Center Thursday Nov. 29, 2018.
o effectively portray a message of unity. We agreed that having a respectful conversation with somebody on the other side of the aisle is more beneficial to our future than focusing on name calling and vilifying.
Moving on to discuss whether President Donald Trump had been good or bad for the nation, we continued to address one another respectfully but were sharply divided. Some students argued that the strong economy was a result of former President Barack Obama’s policies, while the majority of the group agreed that our current president’s policies were largely responsible for the thriving economy and low unemployment rate.
Regarding social issues, many students said the president was not doing enough to ensure an equal society, as evidenced by his objectifying comments about women.
Our moderator, Terri Janison, CEO of Grant a Gift Austism Foundation, expressed her contentment with the students’ respect for one another, saying that our room was one of the best she had ever experienced in many years of serving at the event.
On gun policy, we disagreed on a number of points but did come to consensus on one solution: universal background checks. Furthermore, regardless of how members of our group believed we should address the rise in gun violence, we agreed that the Second Amendment should be protected.
It was amazing to see students coming together to express their views on American policy. Our nation will move in the right direction if my peers continue to take part in civil discourse with people from elsewhere on the political spectrum.
Marcos Jimenez is a senior at Foothill High School.
