Tuesday December 26, 2023 | 2 a.m
Editor’s Note: Approximately 550 Clark County high school students participated in the annual Sun Youth Forum Sept. 11 at Clark High School. Students were divided into groups to discuss several topics. A spokesperson was chosen from each focus group to write a column on the students’ findings. Adrian Trejo, a student at Canyon Springs High School, recounts students’ opinions during the session titled “Teen Topics.”
Student representative Adrian Trejo, of Canyon Springs High School, poses during the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum at Clark High School, Monday, September 11, 2023.
I didn’t imagine that I would be sitting in a room, surrounded by a diverse group of people I had never met, and discussing everything from sexism to mental health to interactions with the forces of the order. These are sensitive topics that touch people in deeply personal – and too often painful – ways.
But there I was, not only participating in the conversations, but feeling heard, feeling alive, and wishing I could have conversations like this more often with other students and adults.
The Sun Youth Forum invited students from diverse backgrounds to share and discuss our views and ideas as part of a long overdue conversation about the world we live in but are so often neglected.
While society has spent years discussing sexism in politics, courtrooms and boardrooms, my focus group participants immersed themselves in a conversation about the all-too-common problem of sexism in class.
Despite the impression that young people do not pay attention, almost all of us were perfectly aware of school policies that target men and favor women. The Clark County School District’s dress code is a perfect example of this, as young women are expected to adhere to an incredibly vague standard of “modesty” that is selectively enforced based on the whims of each adult. Even though the students in the room came from a wide variety of backgrounds and belief systems, we all agreed that the dress code needs to either be clearly defined to create common expectations or eradicated.
A similar lack of clarity and consistent application of policies was a common theme in many of our discussions, including on one of the most important topics we discussed: mental health support.
Many CCSD students have survived terrible and traumatic life experiences, but when we try to find support, our experiences and emotions are minimized and ignored.
Too many adults are preaching the gospel of mental health support, but there is a lack of a system capable of providing effective and consistent support. Many students in my focus group shared their disappointment with the school system’s poor response to their cry for help.
There were glimmers of hope, however. Some students provided innovative and effective examples of how their specific schools or communities promote mental health, including “Zen Dens.”
“Zen Dens” are designated rooms or spaces where students can talk about their problems, calm their thoughts, and calm turbulent emotions. By creating spaces for this purpose, schools provide students with opportunities to learn and practice emotional and behavioral control strategies essential to our future success, while promoting mental health. More resources such as “Zen Dens” should be made available across the district.
At the intersection of sometimes confusing expectations and growing emotional and behavioral challenges are interactions with law enforcement and the question of whether schools should develop curriculum on interactions with law enforcement.
Many students admitted that they were never taught what to do when they came into contact with law enforcement. Yet many of us believe it would benefit the safety of our country and our communities if students and police officers learned some universal strategies and expectations for calm but confident interactions.
Regardless of the policies implemented, the most recurring theme in our conversation was the desire for students to feel safe, both physically and mentally, at school and in the community.
Talking about our experiences has shown us that none of us are alone in feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. We also learned that talking about our experiences and perspectives can help build confidence in our ability to communicate our stories and beliefs. And the willingness of adults to listen to us and make us feel heard gave us a sense of security that young people have a role to play in making the world a better place for generations to come.
