Most families include members of just two generations: parents and their children. What is attitude towards each other? Teenagers often consider their father old fashioned, unaware of the latest fads and fashions which preoccupy them, As for the father, he usually does his best to give his children a better education, a better background a better chance than he had himself, he also supports and exemplifies the rules uncalculated by the mother. The parents' role is finished when they have brought their children to the end of formal education. After their graduation the children often try to achieve complete independence, leaving the maternal home and sometimes even the native town. Some people very often talk about a «generation gap"-a gap between the views of the younger generation of teenagers and the views of their parents. But talk about a generation gap is sometimes exaggerated. When parents and teenagers argue, usually it is about simple things. The most common reason for their arguments is the teenagers' attitude towards other family members, One more common reason is that parents want their children to help more about the house, The third most common basis for arguments between parents and teenagers is the quality of the teenagers' schoolwork. Some other traditional disagreements are over such things as curfew, whether or not to attend religious services, and the friends with whom the young people spend their leisure time. However, there exist some, more serious, problems. Peer pressure, changing family conditions, mobility of families and unemployment are just a few reasons why some young peop1e may try to escape reality by turning to alcohol or drugs. Some young people have problems with drinking, drug habit, teen pregnancies or juvenile delinquency. The use of drugs (marijuana and cocaine are the most commonly used drugs) has decreased among young people in many countries within the last ten years, though the abuser of alcohol has increased. About 8 percent of American teenagers now drink some alcohol and many drink too much. Drinking becomes a more serious problem when combined with driving. The main cause of death for teenagers is motor vehicle accidents. Many young Americans join organizations to help teenagers stop drinking. In some schools, students join anti-drug programmes. Young people with drug problems can also call special telephone numbers to ask for help. About one million young people run away from home each year. Most return after a few days or a few weeks, but some to crime and become juvenile delinquents. Why are young people committing crimes? Among the causes are poor family relationships (often the children were abused or neglected while growing up), bad neighbourhood conditions and peer pressure. However, for every teenager having such problems many more are making positive, important contributions to their communities, schools and society. Thousands of young people help take care of the elderly, the handicapped and hospital patients, many help clean up the natural environment. Usually these young people are from stable, happy families. Such families are similar in many ways whether, they are rich or poor, black or white. Stable, happy families spend, time together. After dinner, for example, members of those famll1es may take walks together or play games. Happy families also ­talk about their problems. They may even argue, but this keeps problems from getting too big to solve. Finally, when problems arise, happy families work together to solve them.