Kim Baxter is a creation of Betsy Haynes, not the current author. And the usual disclaimers on the BSC characters.

The BSC Legacy - Book 3: When Numbers Really Count

By: CNJ

PG-13

5: A New Beginning

Anna:

I was enjoying this career day. I'd been a little disappointed that there was only one music session for an orchestra band. I've toyed with that idea, but I'm also considering joining a pop band, or even forming one.

Surprised? Me, quiet Anna, being a rock star? It's possible. But I'm not into rap or heavy metal, more like soft rock, like some of the old groups of the eighties.

I not only can play violin, but drums, piano, guitar, and bass. But for now I sat in a news media session and tuned into Renee Vasser from Channel 3 news who'd come to SHS. She was fantastic.

"I'm sure you all can think of societal problems that need changing," Renee continued. We all kind of looked at each other and grinned. Just then, David Hasen's hand shot up. "Yes..." she nodded at him.

"A lot of trash in the tabloids and talk shows," he stated. "Especially all this sex." A lot of kids giggled; some nodded.

"But we hear that a lot," Kim Baxter added. "And besides, now they have a rating system on TV shows. Like that Jerry Springer and even the worst junk."

"And in the States, you really can't censor the media," Kristy added. David kind of shrugged.

"What about something you don't see in the news?" Renee added. "But you think should be?" I thought of a couple things right off: the way kids with divorced parents are treated as souls to be pitied, how poor people are though to be inferior..."Yes..." Renee pointed. I saw my sister, Abby had her hand up.

"I'd like to discuss how the media has a negative image of generation Y...our generation," Abby frowned. "Often you turn on the news or pick up a Time or Newsweek and there's an article about a kid our age being arrested...then some editorial comes on and tsk on about today's decaying morals. The adults then pick up and think all kids today are into drugs, pregnant, or violent...or like those two kids that did the shooting at Columbine last year.

"YEEEEEAAAH!" a bunch of kids yelled and I grinned. Abby's so right. It seems as if every time I hear adults discussing families and kids, I hear things like, Oh, that NEVER happened when I was their age or Today's kids are SO different...different meaning immoral, uncivilized, somehow worse than they were.

"And the people that diss our generation act like THEY never had trouble," Kristy interjected.

"Especially some of the fifties generation," Mary Anne put in. "If you listen to some of them, you'd think there was no such thing as teenage pregnancy, divorce, drugs, or sex."

"Not many admit it, but many teenagers back then got pregnant," Emily Bernstein added. "The girls were either pushed into early marriage or put in these 'unwed mother' homes and their parents would tell the neighbors something like she was away at camp or boarding school."

"I think people could lie more easily back then," Vilara Metz put in.

"I think they blame feminism," Abby put in.

"How is that?" Renee asked.

"Working mothers are blamed for things like crime and drugs," Abby continued. "I get tired of hearing people say stuff like, She got in that trouble because her parents weren't there meaning the mother wasn't home all the time. Back in the so-called 'good old days', parents left kids with nannies all the time...even homemakers."

"I have it on fact that spending ALL your time with the kids isn't good either," I blurted out.

"It's mostly the anti-feminist right-wing group..." Caitlin Giotti put in. "You know those Christian fundamentalists..."

"Some non-religious people fall for that crap, too," Tad Tiler added. "My aunt and uncle aren't religious, but they're always heaping praise on my grandmother how great it was that she sacrificed her career for them, yet they're still living with her and never learned to stand on their own..."

"Going on that anti-feminist vein, single mothers get blamed for stuff, too!" Kristy jumped in. "Nobody's been able to prove that a married person is a better parent than a single one..." We were all off and running on ways that our generation had a negative image.

"Have any of you thought of ways to improve that image, make the coverage more balanced?" Renee asked.

"Call the networks," Sandy Greenan grinned. "All the networks and have some kind of fundraiser."

"I have a better idea," Abby put in. "How about all of us writing to the newspapers in the area?"

"What, like a big long letter and have all of us sign it?" Will Atker asked.

"No, each of us here at SHS." Abby told us. "We can get the whole school involved in this, then contact kids from other schools like Stamford and Burkeview Highs and get their imput. Then we could make copies and send them to all the newspapers AND TV networks. That way they'll see that it's teenagers from every walk of life who feel the same way, not just a handful of teenagers."

"That's an idea," Renee smiled at us. Somehow I sensed that she'd help us, being on the news. I started to feel optimistic and a little excited as kids around us talked...