Separate in age but not ideas

Just under a month ago, tragedy struck Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a former student attacked those in the school using a semi-automatic rifle, resulting in the loss of 17 lives. With a total of 17 school shootings in 2018 alone, according to EveryTown, and 290 since 2013, and virtually no alterations or additions to current regulations on guns and gun safety, a call for change within our political system was a common sentiment among panelists at the third annual Intergenerational Forum (IGF) that took place last Tuesday, March 6 at the Bishop England High School Performing Arts Center.

The national conversation sparked from the most recent shooting, explained IGF founder and Daniel Island resident Fred Danziger at the beginning of the event, particularly the collective voices of the students who attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, could be the facilitator of this much needed change.

“Change never comes easily or fast,” said Danziger. “Change always requires that we start the conversation, no matter how difficult that may be. Those kids in Florida have a national forum right now to attempt changing some minds, that we as adults have not been able to accomplish.”

At a local level, he continued, IGF facilitates the same kind of conversation that is needed for change, just at a smaller scale.

The IGF was founded in 2016 as a way to bring together two generations (high school students and senior citizens) to discuss important issues of the day and in the process gain a better understanding and appreciation for differing points of view. Serving on the 2018 panel were senior Zachary Kronsberg from Academic Magnet; junior Savannah Wray from Academic Magnet; senior Bryn Gerding from Academic Magnet; senior Shelbie Hughes from Hanahan High School; senior Jaryn Valdry from Wando High School; Marilyn Geiger, a retired attorney and small business owner; Arnold Freilich, a financial consultant and president of S.C.O.R.E. of Charleston; Ted Kinghorn, a member of the Isle of Palms Town Council, business investor and former government affairs consultant; Harold “Skip” Crane, a Seabrook Island Town Councilman and retired IBM manager/executive; and Linda Hite, a retired math teacher.

The program, which is sponsored by The Daniel Island News with support from the Daniel Island Community Fund, covered three issues that are crucial to the world today. With one goal—to simply learn from one another in hopes of bettering the world—Danziger began the forum with the question: Should our country be involved in efforts to protect the Earth’s environment?

With this, the panelists seemed to agree that the United States should be taking the lead in the issue of environmental preservation and improvement. How to go about this, specifically in terms of funding, was where the real debate ensued. For Hughes, biodegradable goods could be an efficient solution to the issue of preservation.

“Our country only comprises 4.3 percent roughly of the global population, however the New York Times states that we are responsible for almost one third of the excess carbon dioxide on the planet,” said Hughes. “I believe that possible solutions are companies investing more funding into the development and production of biodegradable goods—toilet paper, diapers… I think that the item in the way is giant corporations that profit on the destruction of our planet.”

“We must count on our scientists to not only expose the problems, like smog, sick coral reefs and algae blooms to name a few, but to teach us how to solve the affects we are having on the environment,” added Hite. “Our government could impose restrictions, but education could play a bigger role.”

For question two, the group discussed what they believe is the most important issue facing each of their generations. While their sentiments towards the environment were the same, this particular question yielded 10 very different responses covering topics including communication, affordable healthcare, the breakdown of the political system, disparity of wealth, the education system, lack of voting, among others. While the topics differed, one overlying theme remained constant, as Wray would point out: Without a serious modification to the current political structure existing in America, little change can be made.

For instance, on the issue of education, Gerding noted that without the government taking active action to increase funding and better the education system as a whole, children across the nation will continue suffer.

“We have to make sure that school funding isn’t based on property taxes,” said Gerding. “Right now, the structure automatically puts those who are in impoverished areas in worse schools.”

“I think if we’re going to improve our education system, we need to take it straight to the federal level because continuously, the education system receives less than 5 percent of the federal budget, yet we have politicians crying out that our children are not being educated, and are not getting the resources that they need,” added Hughes.

As Valdry explained, for some students who are not granted the same luxuries as others, a college education can be seemingly impossible to grasp.

“Once you get to the upper level of education, you are paying anywhere between $10,000 and $70,000 a year to try and get an education so that you can be successful in your life and have a great job,” said Valdry. “How are we able to ensure that people are able to get an education and still be able to pay for it without drowning thousands of dollars of debt?”

Question three asked the panelists to discuss what causes them the most stress. In light of the recent events in Parkland, Florida mentioned before, safety and security were among those topping the list.

“I know the generations before us have had to deal with concerns regarding groups like Al Qaeda and the overseas terrorist groups, but I think my generation is in uncharted territory,” said Hughes. “Now, more often than not, a terrorist seems to be more likely to be from across the classroom than from across the ocean.”

“Another tragedy, another sense of national remorse and outcry, a moment for our youth to offer their thoughts and prayers when what we need is change—big change and very quickly,” added Crane. “After the months following Sandy Hook, it was very clear that we had chosen the politics of guns over the lives of children. Here we are at the same spot six years later making the same excuses, picking the same influence money and not providing safe school environments.”

“I’m stressed for the future of our nation,” said Kronsberg. “Parkland was the 18th school shooting this year. That was February 14. I’m scared, honestly. The only way to fix things is to vote and to get our officials to do something about it.”

In the final question, the panelists were asked what they learned from each other during the forum. All in all, they found that their opinions were much more similar than they would have expected, specifically on the student panelist side.

“I think what I learned is that there is more of a consensus about our views on these issues than I initially prepared for or anticipated,” said Wray. “That’s reassuring and I think it’s a great thing.”

“I think this whole discussion has shown me the importance of having a conversation,” said Gerding. “It’s kind of the facilitator of affective change.”

For the senior citizens, after speaking with those in the younger generation, all emphasized that they feel confident in the future wellbeing of the nation and the world.

“The fact of the matter is, let’s be honest, our generation of baby boomers have left you guys with a mess,” said Geiger. “You’ve got climate change, dysfunctional government, a huge federal deficit, but I am heartened and convinced that if anyone can handle this, you guys will be able to do it.”

“After hearing these students, if the rest of their generation is like them, then we are leaving this Earth in their good hands,” said Freilich.

At the conclusion of the program, the judges tallied their scores for the students’ presentations. Hughes, who is committed to attending Clemson University next year for their nursing program, won first place and received a $1000 grant.

“I didn’t expect it at all,” said Hughes. “I just came to have fun and check out some different points of view, especially across generations but also with kids my age.”

Kronsberg came away with second place, receiving a $500 grant.

“I do not know yet where I am going to school, but I’m very appreciative and am happy that I’m the runner up,” he said. “I enjoyed being able to express my opinions.”