The Kids Are Alright

Forget all that nonsense about Generation Y---they'll be fine:

In 1977, 29 percent of high-school seniors smoked cigarettes daily. By 2006, only 12 percent did. The number of high-school seniors who regularly use illicit drugs declined by 43 percent during that period, while the number who regularly consume alcohol dropped by more than a third.

Over the last quarter-century, the juvenile arrest rate has fallen as well. Teenage girls are far less likely today than before to get pregnant or to have abortions.

Maybe all that self-esteem has led modern youngsters to the conclusion that their lives and bodies are far too valuable to risk on reckless behavior. Maybe when they hold a high opinion of themselves, it's because they've earned it through diligence and self-restraint.

From all objective indicators, this generation is doing just fine. And if all they need to keep doing it is a steady supply of praise, I say give it to them.

And it truly takes some stones for Baby Boomers, the most self-indulgent and destructive generation yet to emerge, to throw rocks at their own kids. Got news for you, Boomer---we're lucky the Xers and Yers aren't total basket cases given the idiocy of their parents.

Whom do you have more faith in---Bill and Hillary Clinton or Chelsea Clinton?

I rest my case.