Publisher's Note

Here's the News!

Once upon a time . . .

• MOST AMERICAN YOUNGSTERS WHO GOT INTO TROUBLE WENT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE. Nowadays, gun violence, illicit drugs, and other types of trouble easily find them, no matter who they are or where they live. Never have there been as many opportunities and temptations for children to do dumb, risky, and deadly things as there are today.

• Increasingly, children and adolescents encounter dangerous activities in school hallways and playgrounds; shopping malls and cars; at parties; and while casually socializing. On social media, violence, gore, and aggression find children nonstop 24x7, pulling them deep into madness.

• This is why when I hear people call today’s youth, “The Lost Generation,” I reply, “Well, who lost them?”

• Our children didn’t lose themselves. We’ve raised them in communities overrun by danger, yet we dismissively declare that they are lost. No, our communities are lost. We adults have lost millions of today’s youth.

• (This is a preview of the Publisher's Note, which is printed in full in the Appendix. Mr. Jackson's story starts on the next page.)

  - Edward D. Sargent, Publisher

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