I think times have changed all of a sudden. Along with the disaster (war) has come change.Some for the good and some for the bad (either the nut cases are coming out of the wood-work or they are getting more media coverage because of the scare about terrorists). Our society as we knew it is no long the same.

It will be interesting to see what this does to our teenagers.

So far it looks like it has brought out the best in people. Like Earline Rust said in her "thank You" post under this section, this disaster has made everyone appreciate each other in a way that was rare before.

As a mother I certainly hold my children a little bit closer and pay attention a little more vondly. Hopefully this is the norm and we will see the majority of parents finding it imperative to keep track of their children/teenagers and making sure they have a good safe place to hang out.

That seemed to be the over-all problem in the Teenage Wasteland article. Too many kids just didn't have a good place to fit in.

I was a teenager in the 70s. We had the same basic cliques; the Jocks and the Stoners.We also had the Dorks, or the Brains. I didn't fit in with the Jocks and I couldn't stand the Dorks or the Brains so I sort of fell in with the stonners. I could see that group heading on an express train to nowhere. I loved my friends, but I couldn't see a good future for myself if I continued on with them.I wasn't strong enough to stand up for myself and be the odd one in the group. It was frightening. What ultimately ended up happening is I got pregnant. I was going to go stay with my favorite Aunt in Alaska and start a new life. Then my old sweetheart come home from boot camp. He told me that he and his girlfriend had split up, and he asked me if I'd marry him. We got married and lived happily ever after. (not really) We lived happily ever until a lot of crap happened and... That's another story. Anyway. My point is. I know how trapped a teen can feel not fitting in.I encourage all my kids to get involved in SOMETHING; anything good.

Pamela
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