WHAT'S RIGHT WITH OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

It's a statement not a question. And this book, devoted entirely to the viewpoints of young people from seventh-graders to college students, proves its point. Miss Fletcher interviewed some 400 teenagers on two cross-country trips, These informal sessions covered a variety of topics--violence, drinking, education, religion, racial problems, sex, patriotism, the Peace Corps and VISTA, parental relationships, and elicited an equally wide range of response: ""Oh, the flag's only a rag!"" countered by ""The vote's your gun. Better men then you have died to make that flag the freest in the world. If you call it 'a rag,' you're calling yourself a slacker."" Or on avoidance of touchy issues in education: ""Keep the students free from knowledge/Keep them loyal keep them clean/That is why we have a college/Hail the IBM machine."" There are statements from young people of every race and background and the happy impression is that although they are confused, they are willing to learn and anxious to try with a determined optimism. As Mrs. Fletcher has labelled it, they are the ""Generation of Hope.