The teen perspective

Students in Snohomish County tell Gov. Gary Locke their concerns about drugs, boredom and discrimination, and suggest some ways to address those issues.

By Jennifer Langston

Herald Writer

A teen-ager’s life has a thousand pressures.

Managing homework, being shy, being stressed, looking different, crushing boredom on a Saturday night, getting scholarships to pay for college, driving home to make curfew when you’re high.

At a youth forum hosted by Gov. Gary Locke in Everett on Wednesday night, Snohomish County teens aired their everyday worries.

Diana Nguyen, a 17-year-old Everett High School student, said people she knows take Ecstasy at raves because they’re so tired they need something extra to bring out their carefree side.

"Teens today use drugs and alcohol because it’s an excuse for them to forget the stress," she said at the Snohomish County Kids’ Futures Youth Summit. "They’re shy or they’re serious or they’re really tense, and they can’t get that other side of themselves to come out."

The most talked-about issues at Wednesday’s forum:

  • Drug, alcohol and tobacco use.

  • Lack of things to do in small towns.

  • Safety in schools.

  • A lackadaisical attitude toward discrimination in schools.

    The last problem can no longer be ignored, Locke said, particularly given the anti-Muslim backlash following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

    "We know there’s a strong connection between bullying, harassment and violence in our schools," he said. "We can’t look the other way and say, ‘Kids will be kids, boys will be boys.’"

    Saleh Al-Azadi, a soccer player and aspiring graphic artist who attends Everett High School, said people can be quick to judge based on looks.

    Because he wears baggy jeans, people think he’s in a gang, he said. The day of the terrorist attacks, his classmates "looked at me like I was the one who went and crashed the planes."

    He said school officials usually turn a blind eye to racial tensions or cultural ignorance until there is a crisis.

    Last year, for instance, classmates ripped the scarf off a Muslim girl’s head in the cafeteria, he said. After that, teachers had other Arab-American students give presentations on their religion and customs.

    "That was a good thing, but why didn’t they discuss it before?" he said. "Teachers … don’t really address discrimination unless something happens."

    Ramona Reynolds, a 16-year-old junior at Arlington High School, said she has dealt with discrimination more acutely since she came out as her school’s only openly gay student earlier this year.

    That’s not widely accepted in a town where the first question people asked when she moved there was where she went to church, she said.

    "Having classmates telling me I’m going to hell because of my sexual orientation is not fun," Reynolds said. "Neither is having a guy yelling out his car window at me, calling me a dyke."

    She said one of the best things schools can do is let students know about groups like GLOBE, an Everett-based organization that gives gay teens from around the region a place to talk and socialize.

    Many students said it was up to teachers and school administrators to curb discriminatory comments and behavior that makes other students feel uncomfortable.

    Jessica McClure, a 17-year-old Lake Stevens High School student, said students might start more special-interest clubs that would cut across cliques — such as an art club, a guitar club or a skateboarding club.

    ‘It might help connect the dots in a way," she said. "It might draw people in and create friendships."

    Among the other suggestions thrown out Wednesday night were: continuing aggressive drug education past middle school; giving kids more real-life education in things like paying taxes and fixing cars; and teaching cultural diversity in the early grades.

    They also said adults — whether they’re school officials or parents — should educate themselves about different cultures, religions and lifestyles, since it’s hard to teach kids about something you don’t understand.

    Amber Jeanneret, a student at Monroe Junior High School, said kids have to grow up knowing it’s OK to be who they are.

    "I’m a very independent person, and I get criticized a lot for it," she said. "In my town, we are not a very diverse set of people, and those who are different are barely tolerated."

    You can call Herald Writer Jennifer Langston at 425-339-3452

    or send e-mail to langston@heraldnet.com.

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