The idea for this issue came from many places; from a local judge commenting that more children are coming into her family court for more serious offenses involving drugs and violence; from a child I know becoming involved in a violent episode that sent her to jail; from my hearing Joseph Chilton Pearce talk about how receptive incarcerated young people are to storytelling. And it also came from my outrage at seeing that horrendous cover of a national magazine after Columbine that read "The Monsters Who Live Next Door." This collage of images in my head led to an impulse on my part to reach through the fear that most of these images and events generate to the reality of what is going on for young people today. But it was my college-age daughter, Gaby, who repeatedly challenged us to stop blaming the kids for these problems (and casting ourselves as the heroic rescuers) and start seeing these issues from a young person's point of view. We kept this challenge in mind throughout the issue.

We sought out and found for interviews four amazing people who are rooted in the realities of young people's lives. What they have to say is very simple. Yehuda Fine, a man who has spent years serving lost children around Times Square, discusses a loss of connection between the generations and gives some straight advice about how to talk to your kids. Mary Pipher, who brought the plight of adolescent girls to national attention, discusses adolescence as a time to help young people learn to negotiate relationships and manage their time.

Then we have a series of interesting comments on the binds that we put young people in, from class-based schooling, to army-like training via video games, to the national abandonment and then persecution of our poorest, most vulnerable youth in the inner cities.

Our final interviews are with two people working in the trenches. Each, in their own way, is able to describe the "world view" that children in trouble often develop, how we contribute to that, and what needs to be done instead. Ruth Mikkelsen, the principal of a Waldorf-influenced school behind bars, describes what young people in serious trouble need from us. Andrew Vachss is a lawyer and mystery writer who has devoted himself to protecting abused young people and who is sharply critical of our national indifferences.

There are many other articles in these pages that are remarkable for the vision and support that they provide, like Timothy Young's description of the function that young people serve in a community and how that community can serve their young, or Carrie Kimball's description of the confusing messages we send about sexuality, or the plethora of wonderful book reviews we have. And I haven't even mentioned every piece within this issue.

A final word: we've included the quote from Thich Nhat Hanh at the beginning of this issue for a reason. It sets a standard for dealing with our youth: if our children are not doing well, why aren't they and what can we do about it? This is our proper focus. This is our challenge. Will we as individual communities, as a nation, mature into people who are able to grasp the difficulties our children are facing and act to provide them with support and love? I hope so.

Ellen Bennett Becker