Let's hope young people aren't watching too closely

In watching the hysteria and chaos at town hall meetings over health care, I am haunted by one question. It has nothing to do with health care, and everything to do with the example adults are setting for young people.

What is a young man or woman in high school supposed to think while watching news coverage of angry citizens who attend these meetings to harangue and argue with elected officials? Are they to conclude that, for example, democracy is enhanced by yelling, screaming and demonizing the opposition?

What do young people learn when they see so-called adults resort to distortion, lies and hyperbole? Imagine what might happen if an angry kid decided to do that in school. Some already do. When it happens, we take corrective action. We do this with children because they are still learning how to get along in society, and we believe that being articulate and respectful at the same time is the bedrock of civilization. At least, we used to believe that.

We tell our children not to push, shove or yell. Yet as a nation, when it pleases us to push, shove or bomb other nations, we do it. We tell our children to use their words carefully, and we punish them if they don't. But when they turn on the news, they see adults shouting each other down in public forums. Some argue that this is the "messy" part of democracy. The observation strikes me as hypocritical. The principles of good conduct do not change based on the speaker or the topic. When adults turn their backs on these principles, for whatever reason, they send a negative message to children.

Most Americans aren't enemies of anyone, regardless of their stand on health care. All people want affordable health care. Most people want others to have access to such care. So where does the anger in this debate come from? And what should be our response?

The anger has been drummed up by those who have subverted the discussion and turned it into a sideshow. They are exploiting and fueling fear. They are manufacturing stories about Death Panels so that the simple truth goes unnoticed: that powerful interests behind the scenes do not want competition, do not want change, do not want an end to the virtual monopoly from which they've benefited all these years.

Even so, the way to handle such disruptions is not to adopt the same tactics. It is to remember that what is always at stake in any public discussion goes beyond the topic being debated. What is at stake are your personal reputation, the public good and basic principles of decency. The way adults decide to handle such things sets an example for young people.

If the participants in the health care debate adopt a tone of civility, young people will come to ignore the town-meeting sideshow thus far and give it the attention it deserves: none.

Syl Jones, Minnetonka, is a playwright and corporate communications consultant.

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