Bush league logic?

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM JENNA AND BARBARA BUSH Chances are this summer won't be all that fondly remembered by the president's 19-year-old twin daughters Jenna and Barbara. As of this printing, Texas cops nailed Jenna twice for underage drinking--once in an Austin bar and then again at a restaurant with her twin sister Barbara, who now joins her in the doghouse.

We all know underage drinking can have deadly consequences--one of the most dangerous being drinking and driving. And if there's one person who's learned this lesson, it's their dad. In case you missed all the hoopla, President George W. Bush was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol when he was in his early 30s. Most likely, this isn't the kind of family values the president intended to pass down. But Jenna and Barbara didn't even know about their father's run-ins with the law until he ran for the Oval Office. He was worried that if they found out, they'd wind up making the same mistake.

But hold up. Maybe if the president had discussed his past problems with his daughters, it would have prevented them from using similarly poor judgment.

Sure, it's too bad these two girls--who didn't ask to be the daughters and granddaughters of famous politicians--had to get in trouble in the spotlight. Imagine it your last mishap, like telling a lie or cheating on a test, became national news for the whole world to snicker at. But that's not really the point.

The trials and public tribulations of the Bush girls are a wake-up call to all of us. It's time for adults and teens to really open up and talk about tough issues like drinking, smoking, drugs--as hard and personal as those conversations might be. Teens need to remember that parents are people who lived a little and made mistakes. And adults need to know that by informing their daughters about their own past, as well as their own values, their kids will be that much wiser.