Adult views on teens will be topic of discussion at meeting

By CHRIS PORTER • Daily Tribune Staff

MARBLE FALLS - The cultural gulf between teenagers and adults isn’t anything new, but some local leaders and area teens hope a town hall meeting Monday can help bridge that gap.

According to the ancient Athenian philosopher Plato, “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”

In the 1,000 years since Plato wrote “Socrates,” seemingly little has changed.

“Every generation has something they do not like about another generation,” Marble Falls Mayor Raymond Whitman said. “It’s not a new problem.”

Whitman is one of several community figures scheduled to speak at the town hall meeting, titled “Changing Our Perception of Teens.”

The meeting, hosted by the Keystone Club, gets under way at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Marble Falls Boys & Girls Club, 1701 Broadway.

The discussion, which features speeches from from local adult and teen leaders, hopes to address what some call the negative perception of teens in the community.

Whitman said he hopes the meeting will open new lines of communication between teens and adults.

“I think it’s very important we’re able to talk to our young people,” he said. “It’s also important for young people to come and talk to us (adults) if they have an issue. A lot of time they’re talking to someone with 20, 30, 40 years of experience. There’s a lot of wisdom there.”

Also scheduled to speak at the meeting are state District Judge Gil Jones, Marble Falls High School teacher Cindy Roberts and Juvenile Probation Officer Marc Bittner.

Marble Falls High School students LaShuandra Crawford, Josh Mowrey and Candido Delehoya will be on hand to represent local teens.

Whitman said he’s been asked to speak about some of the negative stereotypes of teenagers.

“It’s going to be hard,” he said. “There are always a few things, but overall, our kids are good kids. I do think there are some things young people can do to their benefit, however.”

Jones said keeping communication lines open between the generations helps quash stereotypes on both sides.

“Changing the perception is critical to avoiding a generational gap leading to the older generation pointing a finger at the younger generation as all being a bunch of ‘bad kids’ and the younger folks rebelling, understandably, in the face of that blanket, unfounded charge,” he said.

Both groups could stand to learn a thing or two about encouragement, Jones added.

“Credit needs to be given where credit is due to every generation, but especially to our teens who have enough pressure already and don’t deserve unfair criticism,” he said. “They need encouragement and recognition for the good they do and for the people they are and unless ‘we’ have a fair perception of them, we cannot act fairly toward them.”

Majority of kids ‘excellent’

While Plato may have believed young people were intent on “tyrannizing their teachers” and “gobbling up dainties at the table,” Whitman said that couldn’t be further from the truth, as far as local youth are concerned.

“The vast majority of our kids are excellent,” he said. “There are always a few things, like baggy pants, but I think some of them just need a little more parental direction.”

Jones agreed.

“There are very few bad kids - but there are some who do bad things, including those whom we would all agree are truly good kids,” he said. “Instead of having a broad poor opinion of teens because of a few bad apples, we need to sort out which kids really are bad, which have done something wrong and deserve a second chance - and praise those who seem to almost always make good choices.”

For information on the town hall meeting, call (830) 798-2582. Admission is free.

chris@thepicayune.com

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Adult views on teens
will be topic of discussion at meeting