TODAY'S YOUTH NEED BETTER ROLE MODELS

In response to your Dec. 4 article "Keeping kids clean": You fail to touch
on the real reasons kids use drugs and alcohol: namely, to avoid life and
the stresses associated with it - the same reasons used by their parents.

Our society strives to avoid pain and suffering, looking for meaning in a
high-paying job, a big house, and lots of stuff. We are bombarded with
advertisements showing that drinking makes one popular or makes life
meaningful.

We spend our weekends socializing with alcohol, watching football games
sponsored by beer companies, and avoiding spending quality time with our
children. We fail to pass any kind of meaningful spiritual life to our kids.

Until we as a society decide that it is time to change our priorities, our
children will continue to use drug and alcohol.

Instead of focusing on them, we must first focus on the adults; they are
the ones we can change.

Tom Jablonski

La Crosse, Wis.