Editor:

I am an educator at the same school as Rod and have been teaching for as many years as he has ("Teens These Days," Dec. 1). I appreciated Rod's article because it made important and relevant insights to what it means to be a teen and I especially like the toddler/cookie analogy. Expecting teens to be adults is premature and unrealistic.

It addressed important issues simultaneously: the use of drugs, the election, the breakdown of the family, the beautiful normalcy and sense of wonder for some youth, the questioning, compassionate nature of many, and the infiltration of the marijuana culture into our community.

Rod is right. Students have a more accepting nature than adults, which in our present society has the potential to create bridges rather than burn them. I have taught thousands of students and am encouraged every year by their generosity of spirit and desire to make the world a better place. It gives hope for the future which is in serious need of hope at this time.

Pam Halstead, Eureka

Editor:

I want to express my gratitude for Rod Kausen's moving piece about teenagers. I've been lucky enough to spend most of my career around teens, and have known most of them to be thoughtful, creative and inclusive human beings. And though it's easy to generalize whenever we talk about a group of people, let us not forget they are all individuals with their own unique hopes, fears, dreams and worries. Every single one of us wants to be heard, and teens are no exception. Thank you for giving them voice.

I, too, believe this generation will lead the way in creating a more accepting and tolerant society. That hope burns brightly for me in these tense political times.

Ryan Keller, Eureka