1. A few bad teenagers give a bad reputation to many who do
good
(4/25/09)
Lots of youngsters spend much of their time helping others but never make the headlines.
By Jacob Dietzel
I believe that teenagers are like pit bulls: sweet as pie, loyal and unique. It is unfortunate,
however, that the few bad ones ruin others' reputations.
According to the world, most teenagers are getting drunk, doing drugs, having sex and being
ignorant. I believe the good side of teenagers should be exposed.
Sure, exceptional teenagers are mentioned in the paper, but they never take the front page
by storm like kids found dealing drugs at a local high school or drunken teens who are killed
in car accidents. It's a shame that teens are portrayed that way because there are so many
teens who have incredible talents and use them for great causes.
One exceptional teen whom I heard speak recently is named Jenessa Largent. She had
relatives in the Iraq war, and she started a Web site and created bracelets for solders in Iraq
and their family members.
Jenessa started making them for friends at school, who told their friends. Soon the bracelets
caught on like wildfire, and Jenessa has made more than 250,000 bracelets, shipping them
coast to coast.
Government officials have commended her hard work and dedication. Troops in Iraq call the
hemp bracelets with the red dangling hearts freedom bracelets.
Jenessa is just an outstanding teenager who truly is changing the lives of people affected by
war.
Closer to home, another teenager, Vinny Cherry, started a charity in Hershey called Vinny's
Kids. His charity gathers donations of toys and drops them off at a hospital so that the
children who are well enough, have something to do during their stay.
Vinny has donated a laptop for the patients. He also visits the kids he's helping, as well as
running charity events for the hospital. He is one of those amazing kids making the world a
better place.
Even more locally, my friends and I, with the supervision of our Sunday school teacher,
Kathy Bates, held a bake sale to benefit Opportunity House. With the money we made, we
bought towels, washcloths, pillows and blankets.
Opportunity House helps people living in poverty get back on their feet by giving them a
place to stay or offering free child care during the day.
We stayed up late, baking breads to sell the next morning after the early and late church
services. It was a lot of fun and extremely rewarding, although staying up late and waking up
early made us cranky. We loved helping out, and it was a great way to get active in our
community.
So many wonderful teenagers, who try to make a difference in the lives of others, exist
today in our world. I wish I could tell all of their stories. Although we make our fair share of
mistakes, we teenagers are usually a good bunch. I believe that teenagers are another part
of what makes our world so wonderful.

2. BROKEN BRITIAN
Drinking, promiscuity and a cycle of low aspiration mean Britain is becoming the 'bad parent' of the
western world. A vast study of youngsters' well-being in 30 industrialised nations ranked Britain
among the worst for health, lifestyles and school standards relative to public spending levels.
Underage teenagers in Britain are more likely to get drunk than those in any other country, and the
proportions of teenage mothers and single-parent families are among the highest in the survey. In
'risky behaviour' - a combination of drinking, smoking and teenage pregnancy - Britain's
performance is worse than all nations other than Turkey and Mexico.
Educational achievement is low given the billions poured in by Labour, with more than one in ten
youngsters aged 15 to 19 not in school, training or work. This is the fourth highest rate in the 30
countries, ahead only of Italy, Turkey and Mexico.
Last night a youth charity warned: 'Unless we can start to improve this situation the UK risks
becoming the bad parent of Europe.'
The report, published by the economic thinktank the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, compared data from 30 leading countries on children's welfare.
It found that public spending on children in Britain is well above average, at more than £90,000 from
birth to the age of 18. Family incomes are relatively healthy, too, ranking eighth out of the 30
countries studied.
A third of children aged of 13 and 15 in Britain had been drunk at least twice, despite being too
young to be served alcohol, compared with 12 per cent of American youngsters and 14 per cent of
French. Unlike in many other countries, drunkenness was more common among girls, with half of
15-year-olds having got drunk at least twice against 44 per cent of boys. Teenage pregnancy is also
far higher than average across the OECD. The UK has the fourth highest teenage pregnancy rate
after Mexico, Turkey and the United States. In Britain, 23.4 teenage girls per 1,000 gave birth in
2005.
On the plus side, the report said that children in the UK enjoy school much more than many of their
international counterparts. Bullying is less frequent and teenage suicides are less common in the UK
than in most other industrialised countries. The report echoes research two years ago from Unicef
that put British children bottom of the 21 most advanced countries.
That report cited family breakdown, drink, drugs, teenage sex and fear of violence as the issues
confronting teenagers.
Last night Joyce Moseley, chief executive of youth charity Catch22, said: 'The UK has consistently
scored poorly in OECD reports on the levels of young people not in work, education or training;
teenage pregnancy and youth substance abuse.
'Unless we can start to improve this situation the UK risks becoming the bad parent of Europe. 'The
OECD makes it clear that although the UK spends more than most on young people, the money is
poorly targeted for older children. 'It is important that the good work done in the early years is
backed up with consistency and targeted support for the most vulnerable young people.'
Tory schools spokesman Nick Gibb said: 'The low levels of social mobility and high levels of inequality
are a serious cause for concern.
Children's Minister Dawn Primarolo said: 'It is disappointing to see the UK rated so low for risky
behaviours.'
But she added: 'We have introduced a number of initiatives to help teenagers and their families
make informed decisions about their behaviour, including the plans to introduce statutory Personal,
Sexual and Health Education (PSHE) lessons to equip young people with the knowledge,
understanding and practical skills to live healthy, safe, fulfilled and responsible lives.'