WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE 70s:

Kids aren't as drunk, crooked as parents were (KEVIN FREKING, March 30, 2005, Chicago Sun-Times)

In many ways, children today are doing better than their parents did. They commit fewer crimes, have fewer babies and get drunk less.

The Child-Well Being Index, which tracks 28 separate measures, shows that since 1993 children have been engaging in less risky behavior. [...]

Jeffrey Butts, director of the youth justice program at the Urban Institute, said the report speaks well of today's teens.

''Maybe we have the next 'greatest generation' coming along here,'' Butts said. [...]

Some findings from developers of a child well-being index:

THE GOOD

The adolescent and teen birth rate has dropped from 20 births per 1,000 girls in 1992 to an estimated 11 births per 1,000 girls in 2004.

Binge drinking among high school seniors has fallen from 37 percent in 1975 to about 29 percent in 2004. Binge drinking is the consumption of five or more alcoholic drinks in one setting.

The number of violent young criminals has dropped over three decades from a level of 31 offenders per 1,000 youths to an estimated 8 offenders per 1,000 youths in 2003.

The number of high school seniors who reported smoking within the past month has dropped from 36 percent in 1975 to an estimated 16 percent in 2004.

Those of us who watched the mess the Boomers made of the 60s and 70s knew our parents/grandparents had been far too permissive.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 30, 2005 10:50 AM