Group discussions

By: Kamryn Sannicks

At 11:00 a.m. on the morning of June 3, all the Girls State citizens had the opportunity to be put in a discussion group. The purpose of the group was to allow the girls to meet others they may not have met before, as well as facilitating a discussion deeper than what they had been having the rest of the week. Before this group girls had mainly campaigned for themselves or talked in their city meetings.

In the “Yellow Dot” group Liz Schlamaunn, Senior Counselor on floor three, oversaw the discussion. The two topics of discussion were prison reform and suicide in today’s society. During the first topic of prison reform, the overall consensus among the group is that the broken system needs immediate attention. Everyone seemed to agree that public services would be a great way to cut down on prison overcrowding. 

The next topic of discussion was suicide in today’s society. Floor three became very somber and the mood went from rapid fire back and forth, to discussing how suicide has affected them. The citizens discussed how they have worked to decrease the chance of suicide in their schools and communities. The topic was not taken lightly and everyone listened intently.  

All in all the discussion the girls had was deeper than many had had all week. It forced them to see both sides of the argument and continue the discussion based on what had been previously been said. The discussion gave new light to both subjects for all involved.