New York Times - Oct. 26, 2009

The story written about runaway youths in America is just amazing. Everyone is aware that there are kids who do this in the country, but this story really portrays a light unknown to almost everyone who never really gets to see for themselves. It's an awful life to have to live for these kids, who all say they like it better living in the woods, on the streets and in public buildings. No one should go through the abuse that they do, but we can't prevent it from happening, so their best solution is to just leave and forget about their families. It's an unbelievably sad story, yet it is one that I found I couldn't stop reading until I hit the end, because it was so powerful and moving. I liked how the writers broke the story up in little categories, which made it really easy and interesting to read. Such a bad way to live, but a great profile on these kids by Ian Urbina.

In a much lighter story on the front page, I read that elementary school children in a town in China are required to stop and salute cars they pass on their way to and from school. The story says that it is now a law to try and slow drivers on the roads down and cause them to pay attention. While I think that it's a clever idea, I think the town committee could have approached it in a more logical manner, like stop signs or speed bumps, as the story says. I can't go along with the argument that it's an inconvenience to these little children, because all they have to do is put their arms up and stop walking for about a second, but I think the town could have come up with a more rational way to get these drivers to slow down. Maybe employ more police officers who sit out and watch the roads for speeding vehicles? Seems more sensible to me.