Students’ Convention Favors ‘3-Strikes’ Law, Brown for Governor

About 150 students gathered at a high school here Saturday to debate current events, tackling Tonya Harding and freedom of expression, illegal immigration and California’s “three strikes” legislation.

They took a straw poll and decided that state Treasurer Kathleen Brown should be the next governor. And they said executions should not be shown on television and declared that the quality of life is declining across the board. Some students, such as Louise Chin, were interested in an issue that hit closer to home: school dress codes.

“Some students just like to wear baggy pants. That doesn’t mean that they have any type of gang affiliation,” said Chin, a junior at Sunny Hills High School, where the debate was held. “If administrators are given this type of power, where do they draw the line on what can and cannot be worn?”

But David Rand, a senior at El Camino High School in Placentia, countered that baggy clothing is an integral part of the gang society and leads to hostility on campus.

“We live in an age where people are bringing guns to school,” he said. “Certain clothing, without a doubt, is part of gang identity, and that identity at school leads to tensions.”

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Chin disagreed, saying, “I don’t think it’s the school’s place to say that baggy pants promote violence.”

Many students agreed with Chin, saying that their choice of clothes is no more than a fashion statement and a way to express themselves.

“The way I dress has nothing to do with gangbanging,” said one teen-ager wearing baggy pants and a blue bandanna on her head.

At the end of each debate, a vote was taken to determine whether the group supported the resolution being discussed. The verdict on dress codes: They violate freedom of expression.

The debates were part of the Junior State of America’s annual convention, held annually in Orange County and across the United States since 1934.

About 20 local schools were represented in this year’s convention.

“These meetings are designed to broaden student awareness of different social and political matters, said Massy Tadjedin, a junior at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton who has attended the meetings since she was a freshman. She served as “mayor” of the convention Saturday and said the conventions “have had a direct effect on administrative policy in the county.

“This convention gives students the chance to voice their opinions. High school is a time that students begin to develop some of the beliefs that they will carry throughout life,” Tadjedin said.

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The students began the day by listening to state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), who discussed how young teens could become more involved in issues confronting the state.

The students then broke off in several small groups to discuss their opinions on 10 topics.

In the straw poll on the governor’s race, incumbent Pete Wilson came in second behind Brown, who received 34% of the vote, compared to 18% for Wilson. State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi edged out state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) for third place in the poll.

The teen-agers broke up into groups of 20 to consider various resolutions, with the various groups deciding that: Criminals convicted of three violent crimes should be sentenced to life in prison; children of illegal immigrants should be allowed to attend public schools; dress codes violate freedom of speech; ice skater Tonya Harding was responsible for Nancy Kerrigan’s injury; and the qualify of life is getting worse.

Among those resolutions the students voted down: showing executions on TV and requiring religious studies as a state graduation requirement.