The Sun Youth Forum gave us an opportunity to debate such topics as the methamphetamine epidemic affecting our communities, abortion and biracial dating. During the debate, the two topics my peers and I felt strongly about were abortion and biracial dating -- everyone had an opinion about these two topics.
While some teens said that parents should be notified when their teenage daughter is having an abortion, there were others who felt differently, including myself. The majority of my peers viewed abortion as strictly a surgical procedure, but there were a few who did not agree.
I stated that "the decision to have an abortion is not only a surgical procedure, but a moral procedure as well." Another participant said that mandatory counseling should be available before and after the abortion if the parents are not notified. I also think that guilt alone can be enough to drive any teen insane without support from friends and family.
Others stated that parents must approve and escort a teenager when getting a tattoo, so they should be notified when their daughter chooses to have an abortion. It was also stated that sex is like a drug, and becomes an addictive behavior for teenagers who are not mature enough to consider the consequences. All participants agreed that abstinence is the best choice to prevent teen pregnancy.
The second topic discussed was biracial dating. We all agreed that this generation is taught to think and be extremely liberal, or should I say "politically correct," although one African-American teen expressed that "my mom has raised me to date within my race, and she doesn't encourage me to do otherwise."
While listening, my white peers expressed that their parents are receptive to biracial dating, but their grandparents were not. I believe that African-American parents are more conservative when it comes to dating outside of your race. One teen was quoted as saying, "Biracial dating will stop being a problem when we as a nation stop looking at it as a problem."
As a whole, the teens felt it wasn't a problem, and I don't either. As Americans, we live in one of the most diverse countries in the world, and to ask someone to date within their race is a ludicrous request, especially when a large percentage of children today have several ethnic backgrounds resulting from biracial relationships.
The discussion on the methamphetamine epidemic affecting our community was a major debate among the white students who live in the suburbs of Las Vegas. One participant was quoted as saying, "It affects everyone and drugs are very available to us everyday."
As an African-American male living in an area that some would refer to as the inner city, I was left speechless because I could not relate to or recall when the use of methamphetamine was a serious problem among peers in my environment.
However, due to the lack of diversity in our group -- more than three-quarters were young white women -- the debate ended with myself and other participants questioning how teens in other ethnic groups, such as Hispanics and Asians, may be impacted by this topic and other teen topics discussed during the day.
How can you all as a group expect to learn and share different views when you already share many commonalities such as age, race and social economic background?
The Sun Youth Forum allows teenagers to debate and express their opinions in a nonthreatening environment, and while my peers and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity, it impacts the validity of the issues discussed when you are only getting opinions from one perspective. Nonetheless, this year's Sun Youth Forum will be one to remember when it comes to discussing controversial issues that impact teenagers.
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