This week’s letters column contains letters on a variety of topics, from zoning to smoking. In particular, we are pleased that three of the letters were written by young people. Our letters pages are open to everyone, but all too often the views expressed don’t include any from young people.

The ongoing debate about the behavior of some teens has been lively on both sides. However, like many debates, the truth probably lies somewhere in between. As readers can see just by paging through any random issue of this paper, teens are constantly doing positive, constructive things such as holding blood drives, raising funds for charities and participating in sports.

On the other hand, readers of the police blotter in The Office Cat column also know that any given week there are incidents of vandalism and public drunkenness among Garden City’s teens. The question is whether those events are becoming more prevalent and more serious.

Our own recollection (admittedly faded by the passing of time) is that 25 years ago there was some consumption of beer, but little drugs. The biggest change, we think, is in the attitudes of the parents in the community.

Getting busted by your parents for underage drinking was a very big deal for most kids, and the consequences were highly unpleasant. It now seems that there is more of a “kids will be kids” attitude.

We think that attitude is what really needs to be addressed. Most teenagers here still have respect for their parents authority, and if parents chose to weld it, a lot of these problems could be resolved.

Teens themselves can help change the culture, too. If it becomes “uncool” to get so drunk that you throw up, or “uncool” to destroy some little girl’s prize pumpkin, then perhaps peer pressure would help stop some of the bad behavior.

There are plenty of good parents and good teenagers in Garden City. If they insist on standards of behavior, perhaps they can make a change for the better in the rest of the community.

Meg Morgan Norris