Adults barely passing

WASHINGTON — School is out across much of the country, and so is the seventh annual Uhlich Report Card, a survey that gives teenagers a chance to grade adults on how well they’re solving problems teens and the rest of the nation face.

As in all the surveys since 1999, more than 50 percent of teens surveyed gave superior grades (A’s and B’s) to adults for providing quality education, creating job opportunities and spending quality time with their families. For the first time in the survey’s history, more teens gave positive rather than negative grades to adults for stopping youth smoking.

But more than 35 percent gave adults poor grades (D’s and F’s) for dealing with gangs, listening to and understanding teens, and stopping young people from using drugs. Adults’ grade for fighting the war on terrorism fell from a B- to a C+.

A grade of D was given for “understanding why teens leave home.”

(Shakeva Kirkman, a freshman at IDEA Public Charter School in Washington, said some adults were working to provide young people with a better future. But she said she thinks many adults are too busy with their daily lives to listen to teenagers.