If this group is any indication, gay marriage, the cost of higher education, growth management, the death penalty and penalties for drunk driving top the list of concerns of high school seniors today.
These issues were among the most often mentioned in students’ comments to elected officials and candidates at the 11th annual Student Forum at Everett’s Cascade High School on Sunday.
The event is organized by students and teachers at Cascade, Snohomish and Archbishop Thomas Murphy high schools.
Whether any of the ideas will be acted upon is unknown. But the students got to say their piece to 17 local politicians, who had to sit and listen and were not allowed to respond. Elected officials, some running for re-election this fall and some not, and candidates were among those present.
At least 100 students lined up for their chance to speak. Only seniors took the microphone. Each was given one minute to make his or her statement; most did it in less.
Austin Curran, 18, of Cascade was one of several students who spoke for tougher laws on drunk driving.
“The penalties we now have are weak and ineffective,” he said.
Jayme Eslick, 17, of Cascade, and several others called for stronger growth management to control urban sprawl.
“This is having a dramatic effect on the wildlife,” she said.
Students also voiced views on both sides of the debates on gay marriage, the death penalty, abortion and the separation of church and state.
Andrew Leonard, 17, of Archbishop Thomas Murphy, said it’s important to slow the progress of global warming. Use of fossil fuels is already having an effect on the climate, he said.
“Maybe we shouldn’t ask for a snowboard this Christmas. Maybe we should ask for a raincoat,” he said.
Jaimee Gray, 17, of Cascade, said the media is perpetuating girls’ and women’s poor image of their bodies by promoting impossible standards.
“Young kids don’t know how to diet healthy,” she said.
Other issues cited were racial discrimination, deaths from AIDS in Africa, gas prices, the war in Iraq and the need for transportation improvements.
“I think the students are obviously well educated in what the issues are,” said state Rep. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek. Lovick said he’s attended the forum for seven years now. “I think they take their governmental issues very, very seriously,” he said.
The forum was organized by about 20 students from the three high schools, said Tuck Gionet, who teaches government at Snohomish High School. One of them is Carlee Wilson, 18, of Cascade.
“There’s a lot of issues that teenagers have that adults don’t think we have,” she said.
The students were enthusiastic in setting up the forum, teachers said.
“It really gives them a sense of importance,” said Mike Therrell, a teacher of history and government at Cascade, who helped start the event 11 years ago. “My hope is it will continue for the rest of their lives.”
Bill Sheets is a writer for The Herald in Everett.
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