The forum, held this year on Election Day as adults across Nevada cast ballots in the midterms, broke students into small, diverse discussion groups where they tackled immigration reform, opioid addiction, artificial intelligence, the future of the Republican Party and the spread of automated license plate readers known as Flock cameras.

Organizers said the gathering was designed to show that teenagers can engage thoughtfully with complex policy questions when given the chance. Adult moderators guided the conversations loosely, and students were encouraged to listen actively and disagree respectfully.

Sun publisher and editor Brian Greenspun told the students that although most were too young to vote, their participation in the forum was itself an act of democracy. He announced $37,000 in scholarships for attendees and said the skills they were building would serve them when they eventually take charge.

"In five years and in 10 years, when you're in charge, partly because of what you're doing here at the Youth Forum, you will learn how to do the right thing in a much better way," Greenspun said.

The forum was founded by then-publisher Hank Greenspun, his assistant Ruthe Deskin and Clark County School District administrator Harvey Dondero, who pushed the then-novel idea that students should be heard, not just seen. It has been held every year since except 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic forced cancellations.

In one room, students voiced skepticism about Flock cameras, the automated license plate readers that have been deployed in Las Vegas and other cities. Frankie Catanzaro, a student at Coronado High School, compared the devices to the telescreens in George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984."

"These Flock cameras remind me a lot of the telescreens they have," she said. "We all know these Flock cameras aren't just reading the license plates."

Another group debated who might lead the Republican Party into the 2028 presidential election, when President Donald Trump will be ineligible to run again. The conversation came as Democrats won midterm races in Nevada and nationally, capturing majorities in both chambers of Congress. Most students in the room named Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as favorites for the next Republican nomination, but Edward Longbardi of Desert Oasis High School was unconvinced.

"I believe if the Republican Party wants to win, and that's the point of the party … whoever the Republican guy is who's going to lead the party, we don't know him yet," he said.

A separate discussion focused on what there is for young people to do in Las Vegas. Students agreed that options are limited without parents, and Joey Morehouse of Southwest Career and Technical Academy described a shortage of safe, sober, all-ages spaces for independent music. Morehouse, who is part of the straightedge hardcore punk scene, said venues that once hosted affordable all-ages shows have been pushed into seedier corners of the valley that young people avoid out of fear of violence. Because many musicians are under 21, he added, the places where they can perform are few.

"They can't go onto Fremont Street to perform," he said.

In another room, students were asked to name something every person experiences. Ruben Muñoz of Northeast Career and Technical Academy offered "the end" — of relationships, of the pandemic, of favorite series, of eras.

"The end is just so universally accepted. Like you see the end of life spans, the end of stars, even the end of certain feelings," Muñoz said. "Some of us might even live to see the end of AI, maybe even the end of humanity."

Others in the group offered death, grief, joy, fear, belief systems, change and the need for connection. One student said everyone experiences hate; another countered that everyone experiences love.

"To even have hate, you would have to have love," he said.

One student from each discussion room was selected to present the group's highlights to the community. Those students will write columns for the Sun or be interviewed on UNLV-TV or KUNV radio.