[Sidney Lanier]

I too essentially agree with SamHass, but Muncle also makes a good point about the military, which is not there to hand-hold recalcitrant kids (though there are successes at times). We hear enough horror stories coming out of Iraq about young soldiers being less than honorably discharged for their inability to adapt to/accept military behavioral life, and even worse those charged with serious crimes (e.g., the one where a group of young soldiers planned and carried out the murder of an Iraqi family in order to rape and then kill the young daughter).

In the '60s I taught in a New York City high school and as an adjunct in special programs at City University of New York. I had my share of what the administration called 'Fulbright scholars' in the sense of 'You take my Fulbright scholar and I'll take yours,' essentially passing them on. We had successes with some, while some of the others literally disappeared and may well have gone on to become sociopaths. But in those days dealing with kids was still a walk in the park, where you still had supportive parents and kids were more responsive. Today it seems to be a whole different story where in too many instances every social institution--starting with family and continuing with schools--has abdicated its responsibility, leading to the uTube videos (among other things...). 'Sad' is the least of it; remember, this is our next generation!