NO MATTER WHY, IT'S GREAT TO SEE TEENS KICK BAD HABITS

Those who try to find a silver lining in the darkest cloud say the 9/11
terrorist attacks appear to have had a sobering effect on today's teens.
Others credit blunt advertising or the "push back" by older generations for
a significant drop reported Monday in drinking and drug use among teens.

Each may have had an effect. The annual Monitoring the Future study of
eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders by the University of Michigan's Institute
for Social Research doesn't delve much into the why of teen behavior. One
might just as well have expected the fear and uncertainty created by 9/11 to
have sparked an increase in drinking and drugs, or the "bad, bad, bad"
messages from television and adults to create a reverse appeal among
curious, rebellious adolescents.

But coupled with survey results showing a decline, too, in teenage smoking,
the obvious answer may be simple peer pressure. Getting high, getting drunk
and lighting up are losing their cool. They are declining in that most
crucial measure for teenagers -- social acceptance. Nobody wants to hang out
with the druggies except other druggies, who are dismissed as losers. Drugs
will mess up your college plans, get you arrested, get you raped. Drinking
is what your parents do, so how cool can that be? Smoking stinks, 'nuff
said.

Whatever the cause(s), whether teens are listening to the government, the ad
agencies, their parents or just each other, the results are encouraging for
the future, since the bad habits of a lifetime are most often initiated in
the teen years. Young people are indicating by their behavior that they care
about themselves and one another -- and that when they finally do get to run
things, they plan to be healthy enough to stay in charge for a long, long
time.

Good for them. Good for all of us.