Sweetz ( as does Mercedes) make a valid point, we are all different, whether nineteen or thirty-five. Some people are responsible, and some are not responsible; however, I do believe it is safe to generalize that the teenage and early adult years ( as a GROUP) are a risk taking population -not ALL, but most.

I remember when I was nineteen. I had my friends that went to college immediately after high school, and my friends that didnít. I had girl friends pregnant in high-school. They were mothers at sixteen. Where they bad or stupid people? I donít think so - young, and naive is more appropriate.
Would I have chosen motherhood at sixteen? NEVER; howevere, I never judge others. I would like not to be judged.

I just happened to be one of those wild chickies that needed a few years to find myself - and ya know thatís okay, too. I didnít settle down and focus until my early twenties. I actually believe living and experiencing my own mistakes was the best ďgrowing upĒ experience for ME. I was a much better college student at twenty-three than I ever would have been at eighteen or nineteen.

As Mercedes points out, prescription drug abuse wasnít as prevalent fifteen years ago as it is today, at least not to my knowledge. I canít recall one person I knew that abused prescription drugs.
I also do not recall fearing that an armed assassin, a peer, might terrorize my school and kill me, my teacher, and my friends, so these are definitely different times.

It seems like we are a nation dealing with a large number of deeply disturbed youth - or has it always been this way?
This young man that died a horrible and tragic death was obviously a deeply disturbed youth- ( as yakaw pointed out, and I agree).

educate, educate, educateÖ.and with HONESTY.