From Today's Review Journal: Las Vegas Is No Longer Any Place To Live Or Raise A Family
John Munch
in this article vary, but its clear that Vegas IS NOT the place most people
would want to live or raise their kids.
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
R-JENERATION: Growing up in Sin City
Teenagers are exposed to many temptations in a city geared to adult
interests and entertainment
By RACHEL HOMMEL
R-JENERATION
Click above for enlarged image.
Illustration by MARCUS NELSON / R-JENERATION
Strippers, prostitutes and gambling, oh my! Las Vegas, aka Sin City, bills
itself as the "Entertainment Capital of the World." Adults come here to play
and have a good time. But how are Las Vegas teens affected by the city's
image and reality?
Las Vegas, home to 360,000 people under the age of 18, has the
second-highest suicide rate in the nation and the highest teenage death
rate. Crime is on the rise. Drugs are easily obtained.
Even though Las Vegas had its beginnings as a Mormon outpost, after gambling
was legalized in 1931 the town became famous for gambling, easy divorces and
adult entertainment.
In the early 1990s, some resort officials tried to make the Strip more
appealing for families and kids, but the marketing emphasis was short-lived.
The MGM Grand spent $100 million on its Grand Adventures theme park, only to
tear most of it down and build a state-of-the-art convention center. When
the Bellagio opened, no one under age 18 was allowed inside unless they were
paying guests of the hotel.
Valley teens are left to complain that the town offers little for them to
do. They venture down to the Strip for a "fun-filled night on the town,"
only to find that curfew is merely minutes away.
They also feel the stress of growth in the form of crowded schools that are
stretched for funding. Nevada has the nation's second-highest dropout rate
among students age 16 to 19, though that number has declined recently. A
total of 4,616 students dropped out of the public school system in 2001,
with rates highest among 12th-grade boys.
Fun, not school, is what really matters to many teens. And just like
toddlers, teenagers get antsy when there is nothing to do. While many
tourists may be gambling away their money, teenagers are being left
unattended on the Strip.
As a result, Las Vegas teens are not only exposed to assault and other
crimes, but also various pornographic pamphlets. Because teens live in an
environment where anything goes, sometimes it's hard to know where to draw
the line. Attracted to the high pay, some teens become strippers when they
reach 18.
From G-stringed women pictured on cabs to scantily clad men on billboards,
the city is not shy about showing extremes.
Teens see people on MTV going to Las Vegas clubs, drinking and having fun.
They want to get in on the action and the access couldn't be easier.
Views of Las Vegas differ greatly among teenagers, especially if they are
new to the area. Washington native Shannon Duncan says people here are more
negative and caught up in a hectic environment than those in her former
state.
"Vegas is a very unhealthy place both physically and emotionally," Shannon
says. "When I lived in Seattle, it seemed so much more relaxed, and you
could really sit down and appreciate life. Teens are definitely exposed.
Vegas is all about money, power and sex. The access here is much easier
compared to other states."
When Shilpa Modi moved here from Los Angeles her reaction was positive.
"Los Angeles is a lot poorer and bigger, which many times leads to bad
things," she says. "Everything here is a lot nicer. I like Las Vegas. I'm
still like a tourist. I go to all the fun attractions, and I like the fact
that the city seems to care. True, there are sins here, but they're really
no different than any large city. I still think there are fewer drugs here
to tempt kids than in L.A."
California native Amber Benton believes Las Vegas is more sinful, because
it's more convenient than most cities.
"Vulgar and obscene things, such as sex and drugs, are heavily advertised,"
Amber says. "Most of it is located in the casinos or on the Strip. Teenagers
probably have a better chance of buying alcohol and drugs than anywhere
else, because it's in abundance here."
Green Valley High School senior Parker Jones can't find the sin in Sin City.
"Las Vegas is no more "sinful" than any other city of equivalent size. I
would actually consider it less sinful because of the stigma placed on it.
Parents feel that it is so 'sinful' they go out of their way to make sure
this 'sin' is not touched by their children, thus causing them to be strict
parents, " Parker says.
And as Las Vegas teens face the temptations of an adult world, many city
leaders promote the anything goes image.
"We want it (Las Vegas) to be an adult play land," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar
Goodman said in a recent interview with ABC News.com. "We want people to
feel free. We want them to think that this is the place that they can come
to and not have any inhibitions."
User@Sandbox Studios
wrote:
> Las Vegas is no place to live, let alone raise a family. The opinions
>in this article vary, but its clear that Vegas IS NOT the place most people
>would want to live or raise their kids.
>
> Tuesday, December 10, 2002
>Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
>
>R-JENERATION: Growing up in Sin City
>
>Teenagers are exposed to many temptations in a city geared to adult
>interests and entertainment
>
>By RACHEL HOMMEL
>R-JENERATION
Just so everyone knows, the writer of this article is a high school
kid hand picked by the school's journalism dept. (and approved by the
CCSD) to write "teen biased" articles. She is not a staffer for the
R.J.
It's obvious when you read the article that the novice scribe relied
too much on handouts and misleading statistical information, and did
little of her own fact finding, except for a few basic "man on the
street" interviews, primarily of other teen whiners.
My favorite is the snippet from the Seattle kid . . . the city that
does lead the nation in dysfunctional teen issues
So in that light, enjoy the article...
Frank
>
>
RobHoop
Rob
"John Munch" <john...@qwest.net> wrote...
SMathai825
sure wish I had moved out there when I turned 21:-)
---"I gave you a glittering Las Vegas and you've turned it into a skanky
Atlantic City!"--Homer Simpson
Eric Simandl
FYI: "R-Jeneration" is written by local high school students, and darn
well edited.
--
"Any specific ideas that bubble up, we'll give it a good look."
— G. W. Bush
donst...@yahuu.com
YOU stay out of the casinos) you'll have great kids. Otherwise, they'll
believe MTV, and have a very warped sence of reality without regard to
where you raise them. Stupid parents have stupid kids who have stupis kids,
and the genome goes on. In all fairness, the Strip is not Vegas. Vegas is
a city of approasching 2,000,000 residents. That little stretch of Hiway
called the Strip and Downtown is just where all the money and business is
located and where so many go to work.
If you are an igmo, ther is no saving you or your family from your habits no
matter where you live,. ...right?
--
Don in Las Vegas and Scottsdale, AZ.
http://www.ld.net/?credo
(Latin) "faber est quisque fortunae suae"... means
(English)...everyone is the architect of his own success"
"John Munch" <john...@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:BUuJ9.74$jZ5....@news.uswest.net...
Chuck.K
donst...@yahuu.com says...
> Funny thing is, if you provide kids with a stable family life (that means
> YOU stay out of the casinos) you'll have great kids. Otherwise, they'll
> believe MTV, and have a very warped sence of reality without regard to
> where you raise them.
from strevel. A man who has no kids of his own, no wife, no long (or
short) term relationship with a member of the opposite sex (other than
the kind in which small amounts of cash get exchanged), and who moves
so often, he can't seem to remember which city he's in this week (hint
to doonie.... it's PHOENIX).
> Stupid parents have stupid kids who have stupis kids,
Thank you for pointing out your parents deficiency. This explains a
LOT!
> and the genome goes on.
Thankfully, in your case........ it DOESN'T! Thank whatever superior
being for that bit of good judgement.
> In all fairness, the Strip is not Vegas. Vegas is
> a city of approasching 2,000,000 residents.
Ahhh, but thankfully........... not YOU anymore!
> That little stretch of Hiway
> called the Strip and Downtown
"downtown" is a "highway"? Could have fooled me.
> is just where all the money and business is
> located and where so many go to work.
Damn! And here I thought all these thousands of weird commercial
buildings that have sprouted up across the valley were occupied! Nice
to know they're really just EMPTY and everyone that works in Las Vegas
does so on the "strip and downtown".
> If you are an igmo, ther is no saving you or your family from your habits no
> matter where you live,. ...right?
> --
> doonie in streveland
Once again, strevel comes through in the pinch. Even in PHOENIX, he's
once again proven his point (although anyone reading the above
sentence would have NO PROBLEM figuring that out).
Thanks doonie! You have once again managed to be 'hoist by your own
petard'.
--
Chuck
to send mail, remove the 'HatesSpam' from
Chuck.K1...@Bigfoot.com
Sometimes you gotta go, where every Claven is insane!
Where every Cliffy post spawns flames
You gotta be where you can see, that Berman is still inane
You gotta be where Cliffy is still insane!
HairyPlotter
<Chuck.K1...@Bigfoot.com> wrote:
>> Stupid parents have stupid kids who have stupis kids,
>
>Thank you for pointing out your parents deficiency. This explains a
>LOT!
So if we follow that line your parents must have been HUGE, Chuckles.
Fat cow + fat bull beget FATCHUCKs.
Ævil Elvis ®
"Chuck.K" <Chuck.K1...@Bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1869d9c71...@newstest2.earthlink.net...
> PHOENIX
Hey, chuck. Is Strevel in Phoenix?
Danno
Shut UpChuck
Danno
Shut UpChuck