COLIN L. POWELL

IT WAS A HAPPY coincidence that the Presidents' Summit for America's Fu-
ture, which was held in Philadelphia this past April, should have been con-
vened at a time when so many Americans are asking how we can reinvigorate
our sense of civic virtue. Conceptions of what constitutes a "civil society"
may differ as to details, but most people would probably agree that, at a
minimum, a civil society is one whose members care about each other and
about the well-being of the community as a whole.

What the Presidents' Summit did was to crystallize this concern around
a coherent program aimed at helping our nation's youth. During my trav-
els throughout the country, visiting inner-city neighborhoods and talking
to the kids I've met there, I have been struck again and again by the stark
differences between their childhoods and my own. When I was growing up
in the Bronx, I wasnt' rich--at least not in a material sense--but I had the
matchless blessing of being reared by two devoted parents, backed up by a
platoon of doting aunts and uncles, who gave me the love, discipline, and
motivation I needed to succeed.

Too many of today's kids are not getting the same kind of nurturing
environment that I--and most Americans--once took for granted. Too
many of today's kids are growing up in dysfunctional families. Too many

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