I Asked Two Teenagers To Speak On A Giant Stage

Here's what happened next

AJ, Saul, and me backstage at the Common Sense Media Summit

Something Amazing Happened Last Week

Common Sense Media held its second annual “Summit on Kids and Families” in San Francisco last week. The event drew a big crowd - a mix of educators, parents, political leaders, and people with influence in the tech world.

Before the summit, Common Sense reached out to me and asked if I could help them find high school students who would be up for talking onstage with one of the presenters,

Richard V Reeves

, the author of “Of Boys and Men” and the founder of the American Institute for Boys and Men.

Fortunately, it was easy to say “yes” to this request. I’ve been coordinating Young Men’s Health Groups in San Francisco high schools this spring (the groups are co-facilitated in partnership with the wonderful Ever Forward Club), so I knew just where to go to find qualified students.

We settled on two students: AJ Neberay, a 9th grader at Balboa High School, and Saul Neftali Perez, a 12th grader at June Jordan School for Equity. I did pre-interviews with them, talked to their parents and school principals, and arranged for them to be added to the event’s schedule, where they’d be on the same stage as speakers like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nadine Burke Harris, Geoffrey Canada,

Anya Kamenetz

, Julián Castro, Nicholas Kristof, Daniel Lurie and

Shannon Watts

.

On the day of the event, Reeves came out first, talking about the challenges facing boys and young men today. He explored why so many are struggling in school, the workforce, and society and what they’re finding when they search for answers online, in politics, and in the media.

He then brought our two high schoolers onstage, and they discussed vulnerability, role models, and what’s at stake if families, schools, and leaders fail to meet boys where they are.

I thought the whole conversation was wonderful - funny, genuine, and interesting - and I’m so glad we were able to pull it together. I was sitting between the boys’ parents in the front row during this session, and they were beaming with pride.

A video of the whole talk is now online, and I would love to have you watch it.

Here’s to inviting more teenagers into big conversations! — Christopher

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