Today’s Agenda

Violence and racial and ethnic intolerance appear to be increasing daily. Will it stop? Who’s got the answers, the solutions that will turn Southern California into a more civil place--one that accepts all of its people?

So far, adults have failed to come up with solutions. So why not let the young people who will eventually inherit the region have a say in how we resolve our crises? Today, two young people who believe they have some answers get a chance to be heard. Writing in Youth Opinion, Jun S. Lee and Gary C. Bagby, winners of an essay contest sponsored by KABC-TV, The Times and the Los Angeles County and Los Angeles public libraries, give a hopeful outlook for the region. But will we adults listen and take their ideas seriously?

Dr. Bruce Powell, headmaster of Stephen S. Wise Community High School in Los Angeles is not hopeful.

“Adults rarely take young people seriously enough. In our school, we have a built-in system of empowerment where the kids write their own student handbook, meaning make their own rules. We listen to them, we take them seriously and by taking them more seriously, they become more serious.”

According to Powell and Carol Muske-Dukes, a professor of English at USC, young people are generally positive and open to a variety of ideas. That changes, however, as they get older, Powell says.

“Kids have fabulous ideas and a wonderful innocence. And they are much more open to meeting various segments of the community,” says Powell. “I speak to the kids around here and the seventh- and eighth-graders have a much more positive hopeful vision; the 11th- and 12th-graders have a little more cynical view. The seventh- and eighth-graders feel, ‘Yes, there’s hope’ and the 11th and 12 graders feel, ‘Well, maybe.’ ”

Muske-Dukes says adults need to stop thinking that “connecting” with children means patting them on the head, pressing the cookie cutter down, superimposing store-bought stereotypical behavior (a la Barbie and G.I. Joe) on them.

Praising our essay winners, Muske-Dukes says: “The strong voices of these two children are honest, ‘unbought’ voices, not Benetton Colors or Nickelodeon commercials, or ‘Home Alone’ darling brats. Each of them is telling us how to ‘see’ L.A. differently, to ‘re-see’ what we think we see.”

It takes courage to alter one’s vision, she says. “The bravery of Jun S. Lee and Gary Bagby is evident, but their level of honesty might be too scary for most adults in this city. These kids are talking about exceeding themselves, going outside themselves--how many adults do you know capable of that kind of leap?”

The openness and creativity of our young people mean nothing, according to Powell, unless motivated adults are there to help because kids have little power.

“We need inspired adults with vision who can get the kids from different communities together so that the next generation, these kids, will know each other, will see each other and will be able to work together, do business together, not fear each other.”