Office of president diminishes in eyes of young American generation

Now they are seeing a different side.

Kids who knew little more about the White House than the habits of Buddy and Socks now know more than adults wished. "The president has another friend he loves besides his wife," a first-grader blurted out in a Virginia religious class, as recalled by his instructor.

Some educators worry that underneath all the teen titillation provided by the Monica Lewinsky investigation, President Clinton's troubles may erode confidence in the office, not just the man, for youth as well as for adults.

"If anybody is going to put the nail into the coffin of the imperial presidency, it will be Bill Clinton," Princeton University historian Fred Greenstein said. "He's a reminder that politicians are human."

For the pint-sized, a president can be an important figure of security, even "somewhere between daddy and God," said Herbert Atherton of the Center for Civic Education, which designs curriculum and texts for civic instruction from Calabasas, Calif.

Even among the college-bound, he said, a much-studied disenchantment with public service and politics could be taking another hit. "It's too early to say," he ventured. "It can be fairly assumed that it's not going to make a difficult situation better."

Among early teens who are getting a more nuanced education about U.S. history than younger children, it may be disillusioning but not so shocking that Clinton would lie.

Many adolescents use a finely tuned sense of justice and fairness to judge everything from world events to the contents of their school lunch, says Tedd Levy, president of the National Council for the Social Studies and a Norwalk, Conn., middle-school teacher on leave.

Clinton's crisis appears to have set off that righteous tripwire for many, he says. But he adds: "I've heard comments like, 'If he lied, everybody does it.'

"That's a very poor way to look at the world and it's a very adolescent way to make decisions," he said. "But it's widespread."

Evan Sisley of Fairfax, Va., is one 12-year-old who hasn't yielded to cynicism. He surprised his parents by taking notes during Clinton's TV address on an "inappropriate relationship" with Ms. Lewinsky, then wrote to the president asking: "How are you a public figure and a role model?

"At my age I am taught to tell the truth," the letter says. "I expect a person in your office to tell the truth. Also to be more direct and honest to people you work for.

"All I am asking you is to tell the truth."

His mother, Ava, was teaching a religious course at her Catholic Church when a little boy suddenly asked about the president's "friend."

"That's not right," the boy said.

Democratic Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia, a Clinton ally on policy and the father of two grade-school children, mentioned the impact on youngsters when he suggested the president consider resigning. "My concern is what it does to the presidency, what it does to all those kids out there who strive to be president."

Tish Raff, assistant principal at Sequoyah Elementary School in Derwood, Md., says pupils are trying to understand perjury and obstruction of justice. For many, the presidency is barely on their radar screen, she said. "But I do think ... kids who are aware of the full nature of the events are shocked in a way that many adults are."

At Hillview Middle School in Menlo Park, Calif., Carolyn Malquist says her Grade 8 pupils already knew presidents aren't perfect. That is due, in part, to a change in many schools away from the old verities that showed historical figures as flawless.

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