Being a teenager, I am qualified to comment on teen's concerns and can testify that the majority do not feel that the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, or the spread of democracy are pertinent to their lives. This is not to say that we do not support our troops or care about the world community. On the contrary, many teens have a very cosmic point of view. We discuss over school lunches methods to achieve world peace, end hunger, and foster international cooperation. We are not a soft-spoken, lackadaisical bunch.

However, when you are worrying about being accepted to a good college (let's worry about tuition later), but your school cannot afford to hire competent, experienced teachers, purchase working computers, or acquire up-to-date textbooks to help you pass your ACT, it is hard to be hopeful. Private school vouchers? Well, it is impossible to send everybody. Which students, in the multitudes crowding the financially exhausted public school halls, deserve this privilege most? Who of the undeserving can afford it? Is any child in this great country a lost cause? Is any public school?

There are teenagers in some parts of the nation who cannot even begin to comprehend paying tuition for high school when they return home daily to an ailing single mother whose recent illness has provoked a drastic drop in income by preventing her from working at any of her three jobs. It is difficult for her son to consider paying for high school, much less the more distant college tuition fees, when his family cannot even manage to pay the horrific medical fees that his mother's dismal job health coverage can hardly begin to ease. What is going to stop this desperate youth from turning to theft or drug dealing, or keep his sister from turning to prostitution to feed the toddler brother stuck in the middle of this crisis? Suddenly, the concept of private school is laughable. Suddenly, the war in Iraq is trivial.

Certainly, teens today are not too selfish to consider the problems facing national security and international relationships. Many of us are simply preoccupied with the challenges facing us on a more domestic level. I would like the president of this great country to put himself into the shoes of a despondent teen and consider the questions about the condition of the country that he/she has. I believe that whether the problems facing a teen are a roaring drug trade in his neighborhood, poor educational funding for his school district, or unaffordable healthcare, all conflicts can be fixed if they are properly addressed.

I implore the president to properly address the problems and thus help us begin to solve them by using an invaluable resource—the point of view of a teenager. Unlock the heavy door to a brighter future by considering the conflicts facing teenagers at home and we will be able to reach our potentials and become the leaders, teachers, scientists, diplomats, and dreamers of tomorrow. Truly, our generation right now has dreams but no resources. Please help us put our ideas into action by helping us obtain the circumstances we need. Clear the uncertain haze that fogs the difference between a bleak future and a beautiful one. The future needs us. We need you.

Caitlin Hillyard is 16, and a resident of Des Moines, Iowa.