Teens on war

This year for our annual teens issue the Reno News & Review teamed up with Reno High English teacher Brent Busboom, an RN&R contributor, to get a view of what teen-agers think about the war in Iraq. Five students, including Rachel Baez, Rachel Beckwith, David Calvert, Beth Ann Caryl and Max Dixon, wrote pieces or shot pictures that focus on such topics as media coverage of the war, activism and student opinion. Not surprisingly, these teen-agers’ ideas run the gamut from unwavering support for U.S. policies to uncertainty to staunchly antiwar.

Teens talk war

by Max Dixon and Beth Ann Caryl

As the war in Iraq begins to cool down, many teen-agers still struggle to define how they feel about U.S. policies.

“Parents say one thing; friends say another; people we idolize say something else,” said Reno High School junior Jacy Ceccarelli. “It is hard to make our own opinions based on what everyone else tells us. One word to describe this war would be ‘confusing,’ because while my parents are conservative [pro-war] and my ‘we are educated, therefore we must be liberal’ friends are antiwar, I have a hard time deciding whether I support or condemn the war efforts. I am somewhere in the middle.”

Since Operation Iraqi Freedom started, students have become more dedicated, more interested, more involved in the news and in what is happening outside their own affairs, hoping to learn more because the war may affect their future.

Whether it is by late hours spent in front of the television watching NBC or CNN or by discussions held in government, English and even physical education classes or by their participation in rallies and protests, teens look to all media sources for information. Once the knowledge and awareness is gained, teen-agers form opinions. Some feel war is the right thing to do in order to free the Iraqi people and eliminate the weapons of mass destruction found in the hands of terrorists; others disagree.

“I’ve been following this war closely; it wasn’t another Vietnam [totally disorganized],” said senior Shaina Beesemayer. “It’s been 27 days since the war started, and troops were sent home today, April 17. One hundred and twenty-five Americans died and 30,000 Iraqis died. In government, we discuss the war a lot, before and after class, getting into arguments and debates over whether the war is justifiable. These disputes will begin when people in class begin bashing President Bush. I am pro-war and argue for it, because I believe we have the means to stop oppression and torture and to help other countries. This war is a memorable experience; I am never going to forget any of it. I believe it helps us learn from and avoid the ways, the means and the desires of other wars and terrorists and to do our part to ensure world peace.”

Pro-war representatives show their views through their support for the president and the coalition troops.

“I will back what our president says, for our soldiers’ sake, for our country’s sake, for our own sake, no matter what the cause is or what caused it,” said junior Kyle Ewing. “I know what I support, and the reason there is a lot of arguing is because there are too many one-sided conversations. People want others to believe exactly like them. People believe that the reasons we are going into war are controversial, and, to an extent, I agree. I believe due to the advances in technology there is no need for massive soldier attacks right now. But since there are, I wish I could be there. My grandpa, my uncle and my dad have all done their duty for our country, and I can’t wait to do mine.”

On the other hand, those against the war have found that this war is unnecessary and could have been avoided. Mostly, they support the troops and are happy for the Iraqis’ freedom, but disagree with the way the problem has been handled.

“I recognize the fact that the Iraqi people are glad to be liberated, but I know they didn’t want war and destruction on their land,” said senior Katie Michels. “I believe we went into war too quickly. We shouldn’t have even put a foot in the door without the United Nation’s support. And they need to make sure that Saddam is truly dead. Saddam isn’t stupid; he is probably 10 steps ahead of us.”

To support their antiwar arguments, some students do research to find pertinent information to help formulate a valid alternative to the war.

“I read a lot, for example, the Economist, and I watch Frontline, and I have found that there is no justification for war because the facts don’t support it,” said senior Donald Fowler. “It is touching that the pro-war people care about the Iraqis’ freedom, but this war won’t end the human-rights problems. The only way to achieve freedom is politically and economically. Instead of war, we should concentrate on getting more Iraqi businessmen to control companies, instead of Saddam, and on the elimination of sanctions. Sanctions don’t work; we’ve been using them for 50 years.

“We have tried entrenching the regime like we did in North Korea and in Cuba. Instead, we should look toward foreign markets, to help allow a larger amount of people to choose the companies they work for, etc. This would increase the economy, whereas with sanctions, no money is coming in, no money is going toward education facilities, or health care, etc. The reason America contained Saddam in the ‘80s was because he didn’t control everything, but when sanctions were enforced, Saddam was forced to nationalize companies and, therefore, increase his hold on the country.”

When in the position to debate the issues, students usually maintain their ground, unwilling to change their point of view but hoping to influence others into their way of thinking.

“Those for war need to consider that, no matter how you justify it, you should never resort to war, because you will never reach a mutual conclusion,” said senior Zach Shea. “We are aware of Iraq’s situation as a Third World nation, and I think we can help them without war. For example, the United States of America is capable of a surgical strike instead of a general bombing, thus saving many lives, money, conflicts, etc.”

For every convincing statement against the war, there’s one to support of it. These give-and-take discussions help to dissolve ignorance as people are forced to formulate answers to the attacking sides’ questions.

“I don’t think that those against this war are opening their eyes to what Saddam Hussein is doing,” said senior Marci Purkey. “He has no rights or respect for the average man—never mind women and children. Everything that we take for granted in this country is condemned there. There is no freedom of speech or religion. If the Iraqi people don’t bow down and obey him, those people will be killed. Even terrorism runs free and has been directed toward our country. Haven’t people been watching the television? The Iraqis are breaking Saddam statues, they are waving American flags, they are tired of suffering and they recognize that we are trying to help them.”

Students have been encouraged to form their own opinions during this war. For the first time in a long time, students at Reno High School came together and openly debated their thoughts and feelings.

With the worst of the fighting over, students find that the war is going well, but they’re still afraid of what the rest of the war might bring.

“My reflection of the war so far is that it is going well, with relatively small life loss, especially compared to other wars,” said junior Kevin Green. “So far we’ve proved our military might, but I just hope that the president doesn’t continue gung ho. I am afraid we will fight Syria next, and then Iran, and then …”

Beth Ann Caryl, a Reno High junior, devout Christian and this year’s prom queen, will be editor-in-chief of the school paper next year. Max Dixon, a Reno High junior, writer and section editor for the school yearbook, will be co-editor.

Teens on media

by Rachel Baez

I had been at the National Student Press Association’s spring convention in Portland, Ore., for two days before anyone mentioned the war in Iraq. The statue in Baghdad had toppled on April 9, only 12 days prior, and people were still dying on a daily basis in Iraq.

None of the hundreds of classes offered to us young journalists discussed media coverage in Iraq, neither of two prominent guest speakers mentioned the war, and no up-to-the-minute newscasts were available within Portland’s convention center. Nor was the topic brought up by any of the several thousand high-school students attending the convention.

It took an anti-war protest through city streets, replete with black coffins and “Make Love not War” signs, before my fellow journalists and I even discussed the war, and then only to express our relief at having lived in a travel-induced “bubble” for a brief period of time.

After a month of nonstop updates in newspapers, on TV and on the Internet, student journalists may have been relieved to take a break from war coverage.

“At first I was interested in the technology they were using, but after two days I stopped watching,” said Reno High senior David Calvert (Calvert took the photos for this package). “I thought the media did an overkill on coverage.”

Local high school newspapers, like Reno High’s The Red & Blue and McQueen’s Excalibur, discussed ways in which the war affected their communities.

A popular lunchtime gathering spot at Reno High School turned war forum when The Red & Blue staffer Tyler Rogers came up with the idea of a newspaper-hosted debate. Students were free to step up to the microphone in a back-and-forth setting that alternated comments from those who supported war in Iraq to those who opposed it. Administration and faculty strongly supported the event, which was attended by more than 300 people. The newspaper used the forum as part of its coverage on the war.

At McQueen, journalism students initially wanted to focus on kids who joined the military, said Excalibur adviser Candy Carter. That idea led to the discovery of twins who had graduated from McQueen and are now serving in the Persian Gulf. Reporter Larissa Ellis tracked down the mother of the boys, who was very happy to talk about her experience.

“It started out as a short story and took on a life of its own,” Carter said. “Before the reporter knew it, the story was a thousand words.”

In addition to reporting on the war in Iraq themselves, teen journalists were thrust into the position of attempting to learn from professional news coverage.

McQueen sophomore Jordan Hosmer-Henner, Excalibur’s Viewpoints editor, felt his journalistic training allowed him to understand news reports better than the average person.

“It’s easier to pick out what they’re doing to make a fact seem this way or that way,” he said. “You know what they’re thinking and why they do something.”

The public should learn to analyze news reports, said Carter.

“People have to recognize how important it is [for journalists] to be ethical and [be] good consumers of news [themselves],” she said. “In some ways it’s more important that the average man on the street understands that. At least journalists can sift through information. They know how you can cut corners, how your own attitude as a journalist is affected by what you’re going through.”

She suggested that some of the same critical-thinking skills taught to journalism students be taught to English students.

News will be slanted based on what organization is relating it, Hosmer-Henner said, so it is important to get information from a variety of sources.

“The BBC and PBS offer a different perspective than FOX News,” he said. “They both present the same occurrence in a different way. If there wasn’t some bias, you’d see the same thing on all the networks. Instead, they need to get ratings up and appeal to certain audiences.”

Hosmer-Henner feels a conglomeration of all media reports on one occurrence would probably be closest to the center.

“The average of all media in the world is probably a fair balance,” he said.

This was the first war in which the Internet was widespread, so a variety of different media is available on-line. Carter believes the burden was on the consumer to actively seek alternative news reports.

“You’ve got to look at news from different sources. In the U.S., we do get things from Al-Jazeera,” she said. “Don’t just base your opinions on the local news because that tells only a particular point of view.”

Besides the availability of opinions from around the world, the use of embedded reporters was another journalistic innovation in the coverage of this war. Network news featured ’round-the-clock video feeds from Iraq, a technique some disliked.

“I didn’t need hourly reports,” Calvert said. “I only wanted to hear the major developments.”

Journalists have often been called the world’s first historians, because they interpret and analyze current events. But instantaneous interpretations can be hasty or even incorrect.

“You don’t know what’s true until time passes,” Calvert said. “The more instant something becomes, the less time you have to think about it.”

Live coverage increases the possibility for mistakes. Several prominent journalists lost their jobs over decisions made in Iraq.

“War is chaotic; it’s very easy to get your information incorrect,” Carter said.

Embedded reporters are unable to contrast the actions of their troops with the action of the war as a whole, Carter said.

“I don’t want them to tell me just what happens; I want them to tell me what that means in a larger context,” she said.

She compared an embedded reporter to a football quarterback, who has a limited line of sight from the field. “The guy in the skybox actually has a much better view of the whole game,” she said.

Rachel Baez is a senior at Reno High School. She is co-editor-in-chief of The Red & Blue, the school’s student newspaper. She will graduate in June and major in journalism at Northwestern University in the fall.

Teens act up

by Rachel Beckwith

The sun was shining as people gathered at the Manzanita Bowl at UNR. Spreading their blankets out on the grassy hill, they walked around to tables, signing various petitions. Many had signs with protests scrawled across them, such as “No Blood for Oil,” and “Not in my Name.”

“I went [to the rally] to check it out and hear others’ opinions,” said Jillian Miner, a senior at Reno High. “I was glad that there were others on my wavelength, others that believed as I did: that this war was just about the oil companies and making money. I also thought it was cool to see quite a few teen-agers turn out for the rally and support their beliefs on the war.”

Miner joined the 600 or so others who attended the Jan. 18 protest, organized by Patriots for Peace and Justice and the Reno Anti-war Coalition, to listen to speakers express their opinions against the war. The rally included a surprise appearance from President Bush (or at least a larger-than-life portrayal of him) to take questions from the audience.

On the same day in San Francisco, a much larger anti-war protest was going on. This one was also attended by Reno High students. Even there the weather remained sunny and warm—contrary to usual January weather in the Bay Area—as Market Street filled with people to protest the war.

“It was incredible,” said Katy Irwin, Reno High senior. “As we came up from the underground bus station to the surface, it was wall-to-wall people as far as the eye could see, just cheering. There were people in the trees and on statues. There were people everywhere. And it wasn’t just the hippies; there were young people, old people, moms, dads and kids. It seemed like the whole city was there, although I didn’t see a lot of teen-agers. There were younger adults and elementary school-aged kids, but not a lot of teens.”

Irwin said she was impressed by the common sense of purpose the protesters felt.

“Without even saying a word, there was this bond established because everyone was there for the same reason: to express their disapproval of the war,” she said. “Whether it was singing or dancing or chanting or dressing up or yelling or just marching with their kids. There was a demonstration by these actors, they had the statue of liberty tied up and Uncle Sam was pouring oil on it. I thought that was a very powerful message.”

Even some students who were enlisted in the military were against the war.

Katie Anderson, a senior at Reno High, enlisted in the National Guard in February 2002. She said after she finished her training in August she would join her unit (being deployed in July) in Korea as a communications specialist with satellites. She and her unit showed their anti-war views by wearing black armbands and sometimes, while in formation, wearing their berets with the patch over the right eye instead of over the left eye as they usually did.

"[We don’t do it] so much to change anything, because the decision’s already been made,” said Anderson. “It just kind of boosts morale to see people share their opinions and support others’ opinions.”

Anderson said that, though most of her unit was against the war because they didn’t want to be sent to war themselves, there were a few who were very supportive of it.

“There are those few soldiers who don’t have extensive families, and the military is their career,” said Anderson.

Another outlet for teen activism at Reno High was a student forum held last month, a little more than a week after the decapitation strike that began the aggression in Iraq. The forum was attended by about 200.

One of those to speak for the pro-war side was Alex Pickup, a senior.

“I had an opinion and I wanted to share it, to give a point of view on the situation [people] may not have looked at before,” said Pickup. “I think that [this is] a just war, [The Iraqi people] have lived under a tyrannical dictator that’s oppressing them and holding biological and chemical weapons. I’d rather have a war overseas than here.”

Pickup said that rather than protest he used an opinion piece in the Red & Blue to get across his point of view.

“I don’t feel the need to rally in order to get my voice out there,” he said. “I used the forum and my piece in the paper for that.”

Opinions about the effectiveness of rallies varied just about as much as opinions on the war did.

“I thought before I went [to the rally] that it would be effective,” said Irwin. “I thought that in Washington they would see us, this mass of people, and they would get a clue, but that didn’t happen. I think it was only effective in that it showed other countries that our whole country doesn’t support this war, and that there are many of us who oppose it.”

Others saw things differently.

“People going to rallies and protests aren’t making a difference,” said Marcie Purkey, a pro-war senior. “They’re making a statement but not affecting any decisions. It’s ridiculous with the anti-war rallies because [the war] is already happening.”

But some felt that just expressing their opinions was important.

“Everyone needs to express how they feel, whether they’re pro- or anti-[war], because the people making decisions need to know how people feel,” said Anderson.

Despite the different opinions about the war, high school students said they haven’t had many problems with conflicts. However, when tensions rose, there were outbursts.

“The day of the [Reno High] forum, I was walking to my car after school, and apparently a rumor had got out that because I was in the National Guard I was pro-war, and somebody spat at me,” said Anderson. “That was the first and only time I ever experienced a vulgar display of anti-war vs. pro-war. Even at rallies, forums and discussions within my unit, everyone’s seemed very friendly about [their views] because we’re all American.”

Students also reported seeing few pro-war protesters.

“I think I saw about two or three pro-war people at the [San Francisco] rally,” said Irwin. “And it made me feel good for them, that they were standing up for what they believed in. [The rally] was so American, actually, not only because of the diversity in people, but the diversity in opinion, too.”

Though not many students publicly expressed their views, most had an opinion about the war with Iraq.

“Everybody has an opinion,” said Miner. “And whether or not they’re active, that opinion counts.”

Rachel Beckwith is a senior at Reno High, where she’s yearbook co-editor. In the fall, she will attend Linfield College in Oregon with plans to study journalism.

Photos by David Calvert, a senior at Reno High School. He’s an editor-in-chief, sports editor and photography editor for his high school yearbook; sports and photograpy editor for the school newspaper and associate high school editor for the Wolf Pack Edge. David was named Nevada High School Journalist of the Year by the Nevada Journalism Educators Association and was named the National High School Journalist of the Year runner-up at the JEA national convention in Portland, Ore. He will attend the University of Nevada, Reno, next fall.