Teens get their turn to talk
The Seattle Times
April 1, 2006 Saturday
Fourth Edition
Forum provides chance to express concerns to state leaders - Bellevue
Kayla Webley
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
It’s not often teenagers talk and expect adults to not only listen, but carry out their ideas.
But Bellevue Youth Link’s Youth Involvement Conference held Friday at Meydenbauer Center sought to do just that by giving more than 400 Eastside students a forum to make their voices heard by state and local leaders.
“We are probably some of the most fortunate kids in the U.S. … to have a direct link where we are actually heard by our government,” said Grace Shim, co-president of the Bellevue Youth Council and a senior at Newport High School.
Shim should know Friday was her third conference and she has seen many ideas proposed by teens turn into action, she said.
Take the challenge course and climbing wall at the South Bellevue Community Center or the Crossroads skate park. Or the Teen Café, a coffee shop run for and by students that is in the planning stages.
All came from the minds of teens at the 2004 conference when they brainstormed about employment and recreation options.
“Being in high school you don’t think you have much impact, but coming here you see people taking this seriously. We have a voice and they are listening to us,” said Gemma Ortlipp, a senior at Bellevue High School and member of the Youth Involvement Conference action team.
Among this year’s popular ideas: more elective courses, more safe hangouts and bike paths, healthful school-lunch offerings, and increased after-school bus services.
In the morning students participated in workshops on time management, preparing for college, résumé writing and job interviewing, staying healthy, and how to negotiate with parents, teachers and employers.
Students then gathered in the afternoon to talk about what matters most, breaking into small groups focused on one of six topics: education, employment, safety, health, transportation and recreation.
Groups brainstormed a multitude of ideas and narrowed the list to a few top priorities. The priorities were read to the crowd and entered into a list to be sent to city officials and other area decision leaders.
Some issues raised by the students are also being debated at the local and state level, such as eliminating the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, and reinstating a drug- and alcohol-awareness program known as D.A.R.E.
“I noticed this year topics came up like the WASL and the D.A.R.E. program that are current events happening right now. That shows that kids are paying attention to what’s going on around them and they want to change things,” said Thomas Abel, Bellevue Youth Council co-president and a junior at Newport High School.
A dozen state and local leaders including state senators and representatives were in attendance to encourage students to continue their involvement and take in the ideas.
“This is a way to include kids in city issues,” said Attorney General Rob McKenna. “There are so many opportunities for students now to be involved. There was nothing like this conference when I was a teenager in Bellevue.”
Youth conference top concerns
Some of the top priorities listed by students this year:
Education: reinstate the D.A.R.E. program, get rid of the WASL, add more elective-course options
Safety: safer student hangouts, emergency phones located around the community
Health: healthful food for school lunches, anonymous student help line
Transportation: longer bus service, more after-school shuttles, more bike trails, sidewalks and bike lanes
Employment: a career center or Web site to help students prepare résumés, find jobs, internships and volunteer opportunities, host an in-school job fair
Recreation: establish an arts center and an arcade center run for and by students
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