The honesty of the younger generation reminds us of what is important in life. It should prompt everyone to pay attention to what teenagers say. It will be their community and their world, so their opinions matter.
Wrangell High School seniors are certainly not unanimous in their favorite subjects, the value of homework or what they want to do next year. Yet, it’s clear that a lot of them think about the weighty issues facing the nation and the world, judging from their answers to a Sentinel pre-graduation questionnaire.
Leroy Wynne wants to see lower international tensions. World peace is at the top of Brodie Gardner’s wish list. Will Ashton would prefer an end to discord among nations.
Randy Churchill III wants people to better communicate with each other: “I feel most major conflicts are caused by misunderstandings and being too easily offended.” No question about that — he’s nailed a growing problem in society. Far too many people take offense too easily, and far too many take revenge.
Ethan Blatchley believes the world would be a better place if people back off from butting in “on stuff that doesn’t involve them.”
Kiara Harrison gave a similar answer to the question of what the graduates would most like to change about the world: “I would most like to change the world to view kindness and empathy as the standard.”
Cassady Cowan wants to see the world do something about climate change. For Devlyn Campbell and Zeke Young, the issue is ending world hunger.
Inflation is the top worldly concern for Killian Booker.
Nikolai Bardin-Siekawitch answered that he would like the world “to shift its focus more on educating people about mental health.”
That’s a lot for teenagers to be thinking about.
But just so no one worries that this week’s graduates are all about stress and adult-size subjects, the students also had solid, practical advice for the next students: Get your assignments done and don’t procrastinate, or you could find yourself stuck at home making up the missed work.
That’s good advice, as are their hopes for the future of the world.
— Wrangell Sentinel
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