Teens discuss social issues

A Burke High School forum on student concerns and community issues was held at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 1 in the school auditorium.

A panel of about 10 students answered questions put to them by Art Gilliard, director of Art Forms and Theatre Concepts in Charleston.

Discussion followed with the audience participating. The audience was made up of the student body. The forum lasted about an hour and a half. Topics discussed included teens' feelings about obesity, violence in the downtown Charleston area, their home environment, parental involvement in their lives, the importance of family time together, and how they feel about Burke High being in the media spotlight in the past.

Junior Queshawna Davis, who was on the panel, answered the last question onstage by saying she was upset that Burke had received criticism in the past. Queshawna sat down for an interview about how the forum went:

Q: Do you think the forum was effective?

A: Yes, I feel as though it was effective and could be very beneficial to the students. ... I felt that it was beneficial because it inspired the students to want to have another forum.

Another student forum is planned for late October or early November.

Got feedback? Reach our young journalists through their editors at hmcleod@postandcourier.com or jkleine@postandcourier.com or comment at www.postandcourier.com/yourlowcountry.