18. A Movement That Gives A Healthier Life Style to the Youth

What has happened to the youth of today? People of the older 1) generations ask this question. Yet, for some time now a movement has been developing among our young people. It is called “Straight Edge”and its followers are 2) attempting to overcome the poisons of life. The leader of this movement is Ian Mackye, a former Washington singer. He was the person who set the goals of this movement: no smoking, no drinking, no drugs. Since its birth in 1981, the movement has 3) spread to Europe and is growing worldwide.

Lutz Dinslage, 19, has been one of the movement’s 4) followers for a year now. “My friends first 5) introduced me to the movement, and I became interested in it. I began to realize that I no longer wanted to 6) create false feelings of happiness by smoking, drinking or taking drugs. I did not want to just mess around. For this reason I changed my attitude and my habits and decided to live out the7) principles of this movement.

At present it is still not clear whether Straight Edge will continue to develop into a promising movement of the future. However , one thing is certain: we are dealing with a trend that is proving that a 8) healthier life style among the young people is possible. Whether such a life style is worth 9) striving for must be left to 10) individuals to decide.