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Letters

Teenagers’ View of the News

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We received more than 1,000 letters from high school students on a wide range of topics in response to our Student Challenge. The most popular subjects included Donald Trump, teenage anxiety, N.F.L. kneeling, birth control, Columbus Day, Harvey Weinstein, Puerto Rico and the Boy Scouts. Here are 20 letters that we particularly liked.

As editor in chief of my school newspaper, The Wilson Beacon, I have come to understand that a fundamental aspect of journalism is not only to report the news, but also to shine a light on those in power. Our newspaper has embraced this value as we cover the student government and the school administration. As I read “Presidential Etiquette Guide, Part II” (editorial, Oct. 9), I could only imagine how our community would react if the current president’s behavior were reflected in our student body. Imagine the student body president referring to one of his or her fellow students who play football as a “son of a bitch.” Imagine if he demeaned a student who was a member of a Gold Star family. Imagine if she encouraged violence at a pep rally. I would hope that we would hold our president to the same standard that we would high school students. Clearly, so far we don’t.

BENJAMIN KORN, 17

12th Grade, Woodrow Wilson High School, Washington

Re “The Kids Who Can’t,” by Benoit Denizet-Lewis (Sunday Magazine, Oct. 15), about the spike in teenage anxiety:

The boy in the blue shirt, Jake, the cross-country runner, who thinks about Model United Nations conferences and the University of North Carolina, also thinks about failure, Prozac and drowning. If high school is about educating students for a future life, then why is it causing such anxiety that there is an increasing number of hospital admissions for teenage suicide attempts? Why do we have to think about our adult life every day as a teenager? I’m a junior in high school, and sometimes I forget that I’m supposed to have a life as a teenager. I can’t sleep at night; all I do is stay up thinking and planning. Why are more American teenagers than ever suffering from severe anxiety? It’s because we get it into our heads that school is what’s going to make things better; we live for the future instead of actually just living.

NATALIE JEW, 16

11th Grade, Brookline High School, Brookline, Mass.

We live in a tense and fraught time. Racial tensions are rising with police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. Alternative right groups are spreading, and so are neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. Our president prefers angry tweets to press conferences. Among this turmoil, seeing the article “Biloxi, Where Late the ‘Mockingbird’ Sang” (Arts, Briefly, Oct. 18) is no surprise. A Mississippi school district removed the book after parents complained of feeling uncomfortable. But the point of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is to make the reader uncomfortable. Reading it should make people uncomfortable, because it tells of a time not too long ago when someone with the wrong skin color could be killed for a glance or a whistle. The purpose of this book isn’t to soothe readers. Books are here to remind you of injustices and to push you to action. Don’t hide away from unpleasantness; act on it.

AMELIA HITCHINGHAM, 15

10th Grade, Jackson High School, Jackson, Mich.

Re “‘Almost Radio Silence’: Movie Producer Is the (Whispered) Talk of Hollywood” (news article, Oct. 9):

My mother told me to listen to the Harvey Weinstein tapes to learn the warning signs of sexual harassment. When I hear him, his words become every man who has whistled and jeered at my adolescent body, every adult whose tongue dripped with violence thinly veiled behind a murmured “sweetheart” or “babe.” As girls, we are taught that our very existence is enough to make us targets.

Along with the onslaught of articles condemning Mr. Weinstein are articles blaming victims for their reactions, expressing shock at the fact that some of the women accepted money settlements. Sexual harassment is not the women’s fault. It is not up to the victims to fix.

I cannot speak for all women of my generation, but I would like for ours to be the last that teaches daughters to be modest rather than sons to be respectful.

INES AITSAHALIA, 17

12th Grade, Princeton High School, Princeton, N.J.

Re “Kimmel Won’t Abandon Soapbox,” by Dave Itzkoff (Arts pages, Oct. 17):

I never imagined that late-night TV would one day divide, rather than unify, Americans. However, with entertainment hosts like Jimmy Kimmel bringing controversial political issues to the living room, a growing number of viewers are lamenting the disappearance of pure, politics-free entertainment. I imagine Americans want their entertainers to stick to celebrity news because they believe one’s politics, like religion, is a private subject. But I can’t help thinking that this is precisely the reason we should be discussing political issues on more public platforms. Through open debates and conversations with ideological opposites, people are able to forge well-informed and multifaceted political opinions. Without conversation and discussion, polarization has no mediator. In silence, people drift further apart, until it’s too late to mend the gaping divides that are splitting the nation.

ANDREW SIYOON HAM, 17

12th Grade, Seoul International School, Seoul, South Korea

Re “The President’s Self-Destructive Disruption,” by Greg Weiner (Op-Ed, Oct. 11):

President Trump’s disruption is not self-destructive at all. His impulses to break traditions of diplomacy and restraint may be destructive to the nation, but will protect Mr. Trump himself. Brinkmanship with North Korea threatens American troops, allies in Asia, even American soil, while his bellicosity fortifies his own base. The administration’s casual relationship with truth makes the United States less credible abroad, but exploiting the resentments his base holds solidifies his support. Mr. Trump’s most keen sense is what is best for him; his cavalier disregard for political norms made him popular as a candidate from the beginning. No matter the damage they cause, Mr. Trump’s divergences from custom are only to support his personal interests.

ELIJAH POMERANTZ, 17

12th Grade, New Rochelle High School, New Rochelle, N.Y.

Re “Don’t Believe the Type” (Sunday Styles, Oct. 8):

Growing up a 21st-century overachiever, I’ve constantly heard adults justify my ambition with a “Type A” diagnosis. I was deemed “hardworking” and “competitive” by parents of classmates, who assumed my top marks in fourth-grade spelling were surely associated with “smart-aleck” arrogance. Back then, there were two overarching sorting compartments, Type A and Type B, and you accepted wherever you best fit.

Because of a liberal shift, these broad groupings have divided into numerous specific boxes. Be careful — new personality modifiers can contort your identity like a Twister board. If you spread yourself thin using too many adjectives, the traits lose their meaning. I’m not “smart”; psychoanalysts proclaim I’m an “erudite perfectionist.”

Which is better: asking our next generation of leaders to define themselves given two limited options, or attaching a string of senseless adjectives to them? When can I just be “me”?

LAUREN HIRSCHMANN, 17

11th Grade, Livingston High School, Livingston, N.J.

In “Polarize and Conquer” (Op-Ed, nytimes.com, Oct. 8), Javier Corrales argues that critics of President Trump “need to learn to play his war of words carefully” and “avoid emulating the president’s escalation tactic.” This is not just a tall order — it is also wrongheaded.

Mr. Trump has enough power as it is — citizens need not walk on eggshells to resist his policies and presidency. It is as if there were a bull on a rampage in a china shop, and the shoppers being trampled were told not to make things worse by damaging the merchandise.

A democracy is not about carefully self-censored conversations, especially when threatened with authoritarianism. Objecting to Mr. Trump in no uncertain terms is what is called for now. Coddling the provoker-in-chief is not the answer. We must believe that truth and justice will prevail in the free marketplace of ideas. Help us, Free Speech, you’re our only hope!

DANTE KIRKMAN, 16

10th Grade, Palo Alto Senior High School, Palo Alto, Calif.

Attacking Media as Distraction,” by Charles M. Blow (column, Oct. 9), detailing President Trump’s use of social media, immediately rang true. President Trump wants us to be entertained, and thus distracted, by his petty insults. And for a society in which many people are not interested in keeping up with the news, it’s easy to sit back and enjoy the show. In fact, our president’s media rants are anything but entertaining. He is trying to hide an agenda that is determined to defeat civil rights and threatens world peace.

President Trump is destroying health care for the poor and middle class. He appointed an opponent of public education, Betsy DeVos, to head the Education Department, and she rescinded President Obama’s victim-oriented policies on sexual assault. He may end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He is warmongering over North Korea.

But sure, let’s keep focusing on Mr. Trump’s immature Twitter insults. And then let’s wonder why our country is in shambles.

HADRIANA LOWENKRON, 16

12th Grade, Columbia High School, Maplewood, N.J.

Re “The Hollow Bravery of Ben Shapiro,” by Jane Coaston (Op-Ed, nytimes.com, Oct. 12):

It has become an established fact of history that Columbus was a tyrant who arrived on American shores an ungracious beneficiary of Native American generosity, and who quickly and unscrupulously repaid them with enslavement and slaughter. We hailed progress in the renaming of Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day across many cities in the United States. Yet even this narrative appears to have been rewritten by some on the far right, who claim that Native Americans are in fact primitive savages deserving of their fates, and Columbus the beacon of Western civilization under assault by liberal lies.

I’m left sick to the stomach by just how apparent it is that Americans today dwell in two different sets of realities. More than that, I just feel lost. Why must there be so much hate? Why has mudslinging replaced all semblance of civilized discourse? What is there left to us that won’t be politicized?

PATRICK FANG, 17

12th Grade, Leigh High School, San Jose, Calif.

In addition to the grievances listed in “Presidential Etiquette Guide, Part II” (editorial, Oct. 9), it is frustrating to witness the hypocrisy in the G.O.P.’s reactions to President Trump’s administration as opposed to those toward President Barack Obama.

The G.O.P. called Mr. Obama “kinglike” for his use of executive orders. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has signed nearly double the number of executive orders in the same amount of time with hardly a word from conservative lawmakers. Had Mr. Obama even hinted toward threatening the First Amendment, he would have faced a huge conservative backlash. However, when Mr. Trump directly challenges the Constitution by insinuating that freedom of the press is “disgusting,” his comments are brushed aside or outright ignored by conservative lawmakers.

The reality is that so long as it brings personal benefit, the G.O.P. willingly ignores Mr. Trump’s bigoted behavior and its own hypocrisy, whether it be regarding inflammatory comments or threats toward the Constitution.

MAYA GULANI, 17

12th Grade, Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights, Ohio

What struck me as I read “Overdoses in the Bronx Spur a Quiet, Brutal War” (news article, Oct. 13) was that the recent surge in drug-related deaths is highest among white residents. Yet the mainstream perception of drug addicts as minorities — blacks and Hispanics — still persists. These stereotypes are especially harmful in this current political climate, as they are being reinforced by the current administration. President Trump, for example, has decried Mexican immigrants as responsible for bringing drugs to America. Instead of focusing on addressing the causes of the epidemic and expanding treatment availability, the president is more concerned with slashing the Affordable Care Act, which could leave millions of Americans who are dependent on the substance abuse treatment they receive under Obamacare without insurance. With awareness of the drug epidemic finally coming to the mainstream public’s attention, is it too late to enact real and meaningful change?

NATALIA PEREZ, 16

11th Grade, Guilford High School, Guilford, Conn.

Re “Nobel Winner Starts Classes at Oxford” (news article, Oct. 11):

Ironically, a week ago I read a controversial article about paying students to motivate them to get decent grades. Now I’m reading this awe-inspiring article about Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist, who would have paid anything just to be able to go school. I believe the article did a superb job at showing how far she’s come on her journey to get educated. She fought to receive a basic education and now she’s attending a prestigious university. Additionally, I thought it was ingenious to include some of Malala’s tweets, like the one in which she inquires about what she should pack for college. It illustrates how she’s just a normal girl, even though she’s the modern-day symbol of women’s education rights.

ALISON JANOUSKY, 17

12th Grade, West Islip High School, West Islip, N.Y.

Re “Damage to Catalonia” (nytimes.com, Oct. 3):

Roger Cohen bases his opposition to the Catalan independence referendum on respect for the rule of law, drawing parallels between Carles Puigdemont’s drive for a self-governing country and President Trump’s contempt for the Constitution.

But the proper parallel is between Mr. Trump and Mariano Rajoy, prime minister of Spain. It is the Spanish government that has used illiberal strongman tactics throughout this affair. Peaceful Catalan voters do not set a frightening precedent; a government that suppresses a popular referendum, and sends in paramilitary police to attack citizens in polling locations, does that.

Catalan independence is not a threat to democracy; rabid Spanish nationalism is. Spain forfeited whatever right it had to Catalonia when it criminalized the act of voting itself.

CONNOR HARTIGAN, 16

11th Grade, Hopkins School, New Haven

Re “Girls, Don’t Become Boy Scouts” (Op-Ed, Oct. 13), about the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to include girls:

As Kate Tuttle points out, the underlying motives may have more to do with finances and image than equality. The change is also likely to create friction with Girl Scouts of America, considering what happened when Boys’ Clubs of America became the Boys and Girls Clubs of America in 1990. However, even though girls and boys have different needs, they should still be able to learn the same skills. I used to be in Girl Scouts and felt as if it was geared much more toward domestic activities than outdoors-based activities. While Girl Scouts certainly is a “venerable organization,” it has yet to break free of antiquated gender roles. Despite its questionable motives, this decision could inspire reform in both organizations.

OLIVIA HAGAN, 15

11th Grade, Oceanside High School, Oceanside, N.Y.

Re “Fish Depression Is Not a Joke” (Trilobytes, Science Times, nytimes.com, Oct. 17):

It’s so counterintuitive that your average pea-brained, memory-deficient goldfish possesses complex emotions. While we melt over the ending of “Marley and Me,” about a family’s dog, rarely do we consider that less personable organisms, those farther out of the domestic sphere, go through the same tribulations that we experience.

We assume that dogs who are panting, with tongues out and big smiles, are happy as can be. More faceless creatures like googly-eyed fish are deemed emotionless. That’s just a typical result of our anthropomorphism. This, of course, has ramifications. Saving the cute, cuddly endangered seals garners lots of attention. But I doubt you’ve heard of any World Wildlife Fund campaigns to protect the fabulous green sphinx moth, right?

Emotional fish go through clinical depression. All life is complex. These creatures are people, too.

SIMON LEVIEN, 16

11th Grade, Sparta High School, Sparta, N.J.

Re “The Worst Time for the Left to Give Up on Free Speech,” by Michelle Goldberg (column, nytimes.com, Oct. 6):

Are our academic institutions too polarized to foster free discourse and debate? My classmates and I are so caught up in the liberal echo chamber of our affluent Northeastern suburb that we are blind to the ideological diversity that exists in our nation. We are so accustomed to affirmation of our worldviews that when a contrasting view arises, it’s buried under the voices that are louder, yet perhaps not as reasoned or profound. Though some challenge us with what we deem “hate speech,” suppressing unpopular speech doesn’t make it disappear, but rather allows it to fester. Let’s listen to John Stuart Mill and Justice Louis Brandeis. Let’s embrace the beautiful fabric of beliefs that our country privileges us to share. Let’s find comfort not in the affirmation of our opinions, but in the challenges to our truths. With those challenges we are greater students and citizens of the world.

PERI KESSLER, 17

12th Grade, Staples High School, Westport, Conn.

Re “Scrutiny of Decorated Detective Raises Specter of Lying as Routine” (front page, Oct. 11):

Detective Kevin Desormeau’s recent indictment for perjury reveals a sickness at the heart of law enforcement — the idea that justice is outside the law. This fallacy molds cops’ actions and has transformed American sensibilities. The media we consume reinforces our conceptions. The cops that we see on TV are grizzled, cynical, oftentimes going outside the law, lying and planting evidence, all in an attempt to get the villain and achieve justice. But justice without due process, without witnesses, without a fair trial, is not justice at all. Our flawed thinking creates people like Detective Desormeau; our media reinforces it. The media does not need to stop creating entertaining characters and TV shows; instead, Americans need to accept the idea that real law enforcement is, and should be, boring.

ROSS KILPATRICK, 16

11th Grade, West High School, Salt Lake City

Re “The Kids Who Can’t,” by Benoit Denizet-Lewis (Sunday Magazine, Oct. 15):

I am an American teenager who is neither affluent nor economically disadvantaged. I am your everyday brand of adolescent anxiety caused by more than just social media. My generation is affected by more than just swipes and likes on an app. We were born into an era of fear resulting from knowing only the post-9/11 world of constant “when will the next one be?” We are all afraid for our futures because of the violent political climate we’re in because of the current president. My generation is the most socially liberal in decades and we hope for a more accepting and tolerant future, but still we are anxious about that future because of Mr. Trump. Our anxiety is about more than just Instagram.

CELESTE CHAPMAN, 17

12th Grade, Lakeside High School, Atlanta

Re “Sex, Sanctimony and Congress,” by Gail Collins (column, Oct. 5):

In the aftermath of yet another sex scandal involving a conservative congressman, I wonder what Tim Murphy, a Republican representative from Pennsylvania, was like as a child. Surely an adult who preaches against abortion but urges his mistress to terminate her pregnancy also hounded his peers to clean up while he dumped out a box of toys and played. Surely an adult who blames staff members for writing his anti-abortion Facebook posts also pointed fingers at a classmate when the teacher asked who left toys on the floor after cleanup time.

Our parents teach us to hold ourselves accountable for our mistakes. How can we, the next generation of Americans, grow up to be moral citizens with congressional scandals happening left and right? But we won’t worry too much about Mr. Murphy. While he walks away trying to keep his chin up, we’ll be over here, picking up his toys off the ground.

ISABELLE CHIRLS, 16

11th Grade, Livingston High School, Livingston, N.J.

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A version of this article appears in print on  , Section SR, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Teenagers’ View of the News. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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