Over the years, I have written many times about the exploits and misadventures of my children. I have backed off a little in recent months because, for them, not only has the novelty worn off but also, they tell me, they have reached the stage where it's embarrassing.

The two teenagers are especially sensitive to the notoriety and explicit in their demands that any mention of their association to me is unauthorized and "totally unacceptable." But a conversation I had with my 17-year-old son about the presidential campaign has haunted me and, if nothing else, gives a glimpse into what teenagers are thinking these days.

The night of the Ohio, Texas primaries, I was watching the three major candidates give their speeches. Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton were buoyant about their victories, while Sen. Barack Obama remained cautiously optimistic. My son had just come home from a workout and was berating me about watching the boring election returns and even more boring speeches.

I told him he should be paying attention more than I because one of those people was going to be the next president of the United States with the power to make decisions that would have a huge impact on his life. I got the typical response to that: "Yeah, like what?"

For one thing, I said, they could take the country to war, like in Iraq, and he could someday find himself packing a rifle in some foreign country. That seemed to penetrate his teenage skull, and he grudgingly took a seat on the couch.

As we watched together, he asked me if I remembered when President Kennedy was assassinated. I told him I remembered it very clearly. I was a sophomore in high school and was taking a geometry test when the principal came over the speaker and told us the president had been shot. A little later, he came back to tell us the president was dead.

I said it still bothered me that the teacher made us finish the test, even though everyone in the room was clearly frightened and upset. The teacher had made no secret of his dislike for Kennedy and not even in the president's death would he give him any respect.

My son wanted to know if I was scared, and I said I was. I told him that nobody knew whether the assassination was a prelude to an attack on the country or whether our enemies like the Soviets and Chinese would take advantage of the country's grief and uncertain leadership. At the time, among my peers, Lyndon Johnson was considered a joke.

That was when my son said he hoped that neither Clinton nor Obama got elected. I asked him if he liked McCain instead, but he said he didn't know anything about McCain. He said that he was sure if Clinton or Obama got elected, they would be assassinated. I asked him why he thought that, and he said all his friends thought the same thing.

What really set me back was his answer to my question about why he was so sure they would be assassinated. His response was short and to the point: Because our country is so racist and sexist. He said there are too many people in the country who would never allow a black man or a woman to be president.

I know my son well enough to know that this was something that he thought out on his own. He is extremely social and was forthcoming in saying that it was a shared belief among his many friends. I nervously asked whether he formed that belief based on anything he had heard from his mother or me. He assured me that was not the case, and that he paid little attention to what we had to say, at least on matters of politics or other "boring stuff."

I don't assume that my son or his friends represent the majority of teenage thinking. But it is troubling that a representative segment of young people has such a negative, pessimistic attitude about the country and its future.

I'm not sure how this attitude developed, but if I'm looking to point a finger, I'm not sure I'm pleased about the direction it's heading. I can't imagine anyone wanting our young people to think this way or have such a fatalistic view of things.

If there is a bright note, my son believes his generation will be different. Let's hope so, but let's not forget there was a time when we all thought the same thing.

— Joe R. Howry is editor of The Star. He can be reached by phone at 437-0200 or by e-mail at jhowry@VenturaCountyStar.com.