Kids These Days

When they're not sitting around eating hamburgers and trying to contract salmonella and e.Coli, the Center for Disease Control folks survey kids to find out what risky behavior they've been engaging in lately. One of the riskiest behaviors that continues to bedevil the flower of youth? 85% of our young people ride bikes without wearing a helmet. I'm not going to be one of those dough-head scolds about helmets.

Instead, I think it's sad that only 13.3% have "sniffed glue, breathed the contents of aerosol cans or inhaled paints or sprays to get high."

But perhaps the most scandalous risk behavior is this: "Only 10.3% wore sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher."

Times have certainly changed. Back in my day, we always put the helmet on and lathered up with 45 SPF before heading over to Decay's house to huff Lysol.