Such a troublesome phrase, "our irresponsible youth"...as one of the younger folk on this message board, I feel the need to defend today's youth culture, despite the fact that even I (a 22-year old) feel some resentment towards current young people. But I have to say that today's youth, in spite of the frequent media spotlight on its most violent members, seems to be incredibly responsible, as compared to all accounts that I've heard (or course, I wasn't THERE) of the baby boomer generation et al. I have never heard of a generation so aggressive about ensuring their (our) futures. Statistics show that more young people are going on to higher education and pursuing "high-powered" careers than ever before. Now, as a musician-type, I'm not big on the whole career-track education thing, but I recognize that tons of young people today are dedicatedly following such courses and aiming for high-paying, illustrious jobs. Also, because of the enormous frequency of divorce and single-parent homes and such, a constantly growing number of young people are being thrust into parenting roles for siblings and such. By most accounts, these situations are creating more responsibility in youth, in fact often causing many to believe that today's youth are missing out on all the responsibility-less fun that the baby boomer generation had in their youth. And yes, I do believe this, despite the presence of a few highly publicized cases of these situations gone bad. Now, of course I'm not saying that there are not highly irresponsible elements in today's youth. It's a given that there are such groups. But as a whole, I really feel like this current youthful bunch has a great deal of responsibility given to it, and, on the whole, is dealing with it quite effectively. Well, that's my 2 cents for the moment, and don't blame me if I change my mind tomorrow.