The Kids Are All Right
"It's not racism. They just don't like kids." The words came from 13-year-old Paul, a streetwise Latino boy from Manhattan, but the insight was echoed by other young adolescents, black, white, and Latino. "Sometimes grown-ups will cross the street when they see us coming," another youth observed.
"Youth" is the operative word, because Paul and the 13 others we shadowed for nine months for a television documentary series range in age from 11 to 14. That is, they're not hulking 18-year-olds. In fact, at 5 feet, 6 inches, Paul towered over several of the boys, and yet adults kept their distance.
Teacher Alec Mahre supports his students. "I've heard policemen refer to the kids as 'animals,' just because they were laughing and talking loudly on the street," noted Mr. Mahre, a science teacher at...
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