YOUNG PEOPLE SHOW ABILITY TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES

An Island Of Hope Amid Heartache

America needed a glimmer of good news about kids.

After all, it has been a hard summer for Mom, Dad and anybody else who
thinks of childhood as a safe, wonderful place to laugh and grow. Stories
about predatory monsters kidnapping children, some from the sanctity of
their beds, have undermined our national confidence with the ruthlessness
of a terrorist attack.

Despite the insistence of experts that such abductions are not on the rise,
peace of mind took a body blow with each new tale, each new image of a
tearful relative begging for a child's safe return.

Those images are painfully etched in the nation's collective consciousness.
Nothing will soon erase them and maybe that's a good thing if it leads to
more vigilance for the children's sake.

But the fear has an unhealthy edge as the children trudge off to school and
into a world that seems increasingly menacing. After all, nothing good ever
comes of expecting the worst.

Happily, there's a new island of hope. And it's one worth celebrating.

You have to wade through a swamp of youth drug abuse to get there, but once
you arrive the sky is blue and the possibilities are sunlit and smiling.

A study by the National Center on Addition and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University found a big jump in the number of children ages 12-17 who say
their schools are drug-free. In the last four years, that number has nearly
doubled to 63 percent.

Yes, the same survey found that kids say it's easier to get marijuana than
cigarettes or beer. But more important, 56 percent of those surveyed said
they would report someone they saw selling drugs at school. That's the
highest rate since the annual survey began in 1996.

It means peer pressure is building against illegal drug use. It means the
kids are making a choice to reclaim their childhoods from at least some of
the booby traps and temptations stalking America's youth.

This survey is welcome news. It won't silence the echoes of heartbroken
parents calling for their lost children. But it does show the power of a
new generation to make good choices. It brings hope after a summer of heartache.