As Milwaukee-area kids are going back to school, we handed the mics over to them for our monthly series Group Chat, which gets Milwaukeeans in conversation with each other, letting them ask their own questions while we provide the gear and get out of the way.
Listen in as they talk about the concerns they have with the city, challenges addressing mental health issues, social media and even older generations, which they say that wisdom doesn't always come with age.
Today's guests are Naviyah Yarbrough, Amiracle Evans and Deontrenique Woodson.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Deontrenique Woodson: What grade is everybody going into?
Amiracle Evans: I'm in 11th grade.
Naviyah Yarbrough: Me too, I’m a junior.
Woodson: I'm a senior and we all know each other through PEARLS for Teen Girls.
Yarbrough: We were all in the same group last year.
Woodson: Speaking of PEARLS, what did y'all think about PEARLS?
Evans: I've never been in anything like this. It has a lot of opportunities. I love the field trips and things like that. Like the Brady Corp [trip], I really like that. We were learning networking and media and things like that. The sisterhood — I don't have too many friends, but PEARLS kind of helped with that.
Yarbrough: So, I joined in eighth grade after COVID because sixth grade got cut in half. For the rest of sixth grade, and then seventh grade, I was virtual. So I didn't talk to any of my friends, well we were emailing. And when I went to PEARLS I was scared at first because I hadn't really talked to anybody outside of my mom. I'm nervous and I didn't want to go at all, but she made me go.
I ended up going and the first day that I went I absolutely loved it. It was so much fun. The following school year, [my mom] was like, so what are you thinking? Do you want to go back? And I'm like, I need to go back.
Woodson: I always wanted to be a PEARLS girl. I used to go in, and it was full. Then, the seventh-grade year came about, and I was able to participate as a PEARL girl. And then COVID happened [and] cut my seventh-grade year in a half, and we were virtual.
But, I wanna talk about society: What should adults know about us teens nowadays?
Yarbrough: I feel like they think that our brains are fried because of our phones and stuff. But the funniest thing about that is that we're probably even more aware than they were at our age of things that go on in the world. I can't obviously speak for every teenager out there, but I know people I associate and surround myself with, like the girls in my groups; we know a lot. We know things that are important and concerning our futures, and we will take proper actions to make sure that we secure our futures and that we have the same opportunities or even better ones than our parents had.
Woodson: Correct.
Evans: Sometimes I feel like there's just so many things going on in the world and I can understand both a teenager's mind and an adult's mind when it comes to going certain places, your parents always want to protect you. But I feel that it's like, I can just let my child do this and see what happens because there's a point in time where we are going to go into the real world and we don't want to go into the real world being clueless. Parents should be aware of that because I know someone who has a parent who's very protective and with them 24/7 because they're scared of what [could] happen because anything can happen knowing today.
Yarbrough: I definitely agree with what you're saying. I can definitely understand a parent's perspective. There's so much that happens, so many dangers, more so now than ever. So, I understand wanting to shield and protect your child. But at some point, you have to realize that as they grow into those teenage years and stuff, a little bit of like resentment might start happening because you're holding them back when it comes to making those big decisions like going to college, and they won't be prepared for that because they were never left on their own or allowed to do these things, some independence, right?
Woodson: That's why I said I wanna go to college in state but not in the city because I feel like I need a sense of independence.
Yarbrough: What do you think exactly that kids from Milwaukee need?
Woodson: They need resources. A lot of kids don't know about the Boys and Girls club or about PEARLS. I feel like they need support, they need love. Everybody is so separated, everybody want beef, everybody in a mob, everybody wanna go to war. But like in reality, everybody just need love and like coaching and support and everything like a family consists of because I feel like we really one big family because everything is just so small here.
Evans: Can I piggyback off what you said? I don't really like that about us being separated because when certain things happen it's like one specific group or race against another for some odd reason. We can all come together as a whole. And I feel like that would make it just so much better.
Woodson: Milwaukee is diverse but it isn't completely diverse. I can go to one side of town and I can tell who lives there. And I really don't like that. That's why I wish everybody came together as one.
Yarbrough: It's really sad that we live in the most segregated city. It's actually insane. And that's another thing, I feel like our generation is trying to break those generational bonds, not everybody obviously. But there's a lot of people, like you were saying about the discrimination thing, they [will] blame the whole race because of something that one person did, we need more people that are willing to just be open minded about other people and other people's cultures and all the different things that come along with that.
Woodson: I feel like we spoke on this, but people be like, what's wrong with your generation? And I feel like I'm not a bad kid. I feel like I'm a great youth in this community. Why am I getting judged for what somebody else did? Like, why I can't go to the mall by myself and go get my own shoes. What makes you feel like I'm about to go in here and do something I ain't got no business doing?
Evans: I don't like being put in a specific category. I get we have names for different generations but you don't have to put that on me like a kid could steal a car and [they’ll] be like, ‘What is wrong with y'all?’
Yarbrough: But every generation does that to the younger generation. They're always like, ‘Oh we had it so much harder and you guys are all soft.' That's another thing they say — that we're so soft or that we're so sensitive. They think of it as like, ‘Oh, you cry babies, everything upsets you. We can't say this. Are we allowed to even say words now? Everything is so offensive nowadays.’ And it's like, no, that's been offensive. It's just that people are finally saying something and speaking up about it.
Woodson: They call us disrespectful, too. I feel like just because you all wasn't able to speak up that doesn’t mean we can’t.
Yarbrough: My mom always tells me you can speak your mind to adults as well. That's how I've always been raised. She says as long as you bring your points respectfully, and you speak respectfully, because that is an adult. But just because I'm a child doesn't mean that I shouldn't have a voice or I should bend to your whims because you're older than me because with age does not come wisdom. There are adults that I've spoken to and I'm like, ‘Oh, you're how old? Wow, that's really interesting because the emotional intelligence is definitely lacking.’
Evans: When I say age doesn't come with maturity, I mean that. It would be people coming up to me, people thought I was 18, I'm actually 16 and I'm thinking like they're my age too, but they were 20-something and I'd be like, ‘What's really going on?’
Yarbrough: That's another thing, especially as a Black teenage girl, I go to therapy, not because something is “wrong with me” or because “I'm crazy,” but because everybody needs therapy. Everybody needs somebody to listen, to share their problems with, get advice from. And they think, when I say "they" I mean older generations, sometimes will think of that as a sign of weakness or they're like, ‘You only do that if something's wrong with you, or you must need help if you're going.' And that's not the case.
Woodson: So, now we're speaking on mental illnesses where older people not believing that younger people are allowed to have feelings.
Evans: It's that quote that a lot of grown people say like, ‘Oh, you're young, you've never been through anything.’
Yarbrough: I need people to really realize that when you think back on it, kids experience stuff really young. I have anxiety, and I was thinking back the other day. I was like, when was the first time that I ever felt really anxious about something? And the furthest that I can remember back is when I was seven years old. That's insane to me to think I was seven. You're supposed to be playing with barbies, running around the playground. It's really insane to think that I was feeling this way at such a young age, you know. That's why it's so important to break those stereotypes; kids can go through even more than adults. There are adults who have gone through no hardships, nothing and God bless. That's great for them. I don't wish any hardships on those kind of people. But then you have children that have been through so much, so you can't use that card if they try to.
Yarbrough: OK, I have a question, if money wasn't involved, what would be your dream career?
Woodson: Helping the youth.
Yarbrough: So, you want to be a CEO of a business like PEARLS, or are we aiming for the CEO of PEARLS?
Woodson: Of PEARLS.
Yarbrough: We're going to clock it and hey, I'll check back in what, 20 years?
Woodson: 20 years is crazy!
Yarbrough: When do you think you're getting this role?
Woodson: Sooner than you might know. If I sit back and think about it, I wanna get my masters. I don't know if I'm gonna go as far as a doctorate, but for sure, a master's which could probably be like six years. And then whenever Dr. Tardy is willing to give up her seat, I'll be waiting.
Yarbrough: I don't know if I want to be a therapist or a psychiatrist. The schooling is more on psychiatrists, so I don't know if I want to do that [or] if I want to be a therapist. But I really want to be a youth therapist, and I don't know where I want to be, but I really want to focus on the youth because there are so many kids who feel so invalidated in their struggles and stuff because of their parents or their elders, whether that be intentional or not. I want to be that person or that voice like, ‘No, this is ok to feel this way; this is how we can get through it.’ Actually, help them with these feelings before they fester.
Evans: We all have different opinions on music [and] I want to be a songwriter and perform on stage. I'm still [getting over] my fear but it's OK. We're getting there. It's just certain type of music promotes inappropriate things like drugs and sexual things, but me personally, I just want to make music fun again.
Woodson: So, with my dream and my career, I feel like it'll change the environment, it'll give the youth something to do. It will also make them open to speaking their mind and their feelings and bringing everybody together as one. I want to really stop the violence and limit the crime rates and the killing of the teens. I want [it all] to be lowered, or down to none, if possible. That's really my goal.
