BABY BOOMERS WHO FAIL TO WARN KIDS ABOUT DRUGS FEEL SQUEAMISH, NOT GUILTY

THE PARTNERSHIP for a Drug-Free America has this message for the baby
boomer parents of the nation: what a bunch of weenies.

The non-profit's most recent study shows contemporary parents not only are
unwilling to believe their kids do drugs but also reluctant to even talk to
their kids about drugs.

In taking baby boomer parents to task, the annual survey relies on numbers,
including these highlights: The percentage of high school juniors and
seniors who smoke marijuana has risen from 29 percent to 48 percent; 66
percent of fourth-graders surveyed wish their parents would talk more about
drugs; more than 30 percent of all teens say their parents have never
talked to them about drugs.

There's an implied message in those percentage points, however, and it
seems to boil down to this: Put down that cell phone and park the minivan
for a minute, Mom and Dad. Start talking to your little cherub about the
effects of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs before it's too late.

Predictably, the report will prompt a lot of punditry and cant about how
the ``me'' generation can't stomach the notion of its progeny acting just
like ol' mom and dad did at their age. This reaction would be off base.

For one thing, the baby boom covers a broader range than the media
stereotype. After all, statisticians count the boom from 1946 to 1964.
Those on the younger end of the scale were still playing Barbie during the
height of Haight-Ashbury. As for the older end of the scale -- heck, many
of them are becoming grandparents.

In other words, square as it may be to admit it, not all of us were tokin'
reefer. Some of us had gigantic college loans that were in inverse
proportions to our ability to get a good-paying job.

While I think the partnership's report probably serves as a good wake-up
call, I also think there are subtler issues than just Mom and Dad being too
self-involved or ignorant to deal with their kinder's drug awareness.

For many of us, the drug warnings we received as preteens were downright
laughable, from film-strip horrors on the evil of hemp to parents nervously
inquiring over their highballs if we knew what LSD was.

Sure, we knew all about drugs. After all, we had read ``Go Ask Alice,'' the
diary of a young drug user that was a '70s classic. The idea of talking to
our parents about it was ludicrous.

The more things change . . . now my generation is the squeamish one, edging
into bedrooms full of CD-ROM games and Leonardo posters to have the chat
about drugs. If we're clueless maybe it's because we don't have good ideas
about how to do this better than our parents did.

There's a universality to parenthood today and it's this: We want to keep
our kids in childhood as long as possible. Warning a third-grader against
marijuana knocks directly against that illusion.

I keep thinking of a couple I saw at a coffee shop recently. Dad was in
black leather with a kerchief and dreadlocks; Mom had four visible body
piercings and a tattoo. Their little girl was outfitted in a pink dress
with smocking and had lacy anklets on her feet.

I don't care who you are, you want to hold that illusion of your child's
innocence to you as long as possible. It doesn't surprise me that my
generation is seen as reticent to talk about drugs. I don't think we're
necessarily blind to the problems out there -- I think we're just like our
parents were. Afraid.

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)