In a future week, we'll devote an entire program to a crusade against gun violence.
And in just a moment, we'll be joined by the star of the sitcom, Rock, actor Charles Dutton.
But he's not here to make you laugh.
He's here to make you think.
I know how hard it is out there.
I know how hopeless it feels, the epidemic of drugs, the lack of jobs, the deprivation
and killing in our community.
And almost, and it seems like almost nothing is being done about it.
But I know that.
But killing ourselves is not the answer.
The Crusaders will be right back.
Coming up on the Crusaders, in this week's Consumer Report, if you think fat-free foods
will help you lose weight, think again.
We'll give you the inside skinny on fat-free foods.
But just ahead, how can we expect our kids to stop being bad when they don't know what's
good?
We'll join a crusade with Tom Selleck to teach our kids right from wrong.
Remember, at the Crusaders, we don't just report the story, we get results.
If you have a problem and need our help, call us at 1-800-434-5111.
That's 1-800-434-5111.
The Crusaders will be right back.
Some people are pretty sure they're going to buy a Toyota Corolla DX.
Until they find out the Honda Civic LX sedan gives you power windows, power door locks,
power mirrors, cruise control, a tachometer, and a four-speaker stereo cassette, all standard.
And the Civic saves you $1,700 over a comparably equipped Corolla.
Then, they tend to reverse their position.
Opt for the Civic from Honda.
Stop.
Right there.
Go back.
Why is it that we can look right past an image like this and not be moved to outrage, to
action?
Does a boy's tear-streaked face lack the power to stir our hearts?
Can we watch a fly-covered infant too weak to move and not be moved to do something?
I hope not.
Can you imagine a mother's torment, giving her baby a drink of dirty water, knowing that
water may cause sickness, even death?
Really look at this child.
Imagine what may have caused the fear in his eyes, the emptiness in her face.
Tragically, these very precious children don't have the power to change their world, but
you do.
All it takes is picking up your phone, calling Save the Children, and saying yes to sponsorship.
What you'll get in return is worth more than the $20 you send each month.
You won't give handouts.
Your monthly gifts will be combined with those of other sponsors to bring lasting benefits
to an entire village.
You'll help children and their families learn to help themselves.
Over the months, a weakened child grows healthier.
An illiterate youngster learns the joys of reading.
A very needy child becomes a very special friend, and you'll see all the changes through
progress reports, photographs, and letters.
Behind these empty eyes is a child who holds tremendous promise.
Behind a sad face is a young life too dear for words.
Please pick up your phone and call Save the Children now.
Sponsorship is so easy, so helpful, and your call is so important to one waiting, hoping
child.
The News Magazine on your side continues with senior reporter Carla Wohl.
There are millions of people in this country who lie, cheat, and steal every day.
They aren't criminals, they're children.
What's wrong with kids today anyway?
Reporter Katrina Daniel and actor Tom Selleck will show us the difference between right
and wrong.
The pictures are shocking.
This was the scene outside Dartmouth High School this morning.
Paramedics working feverishly to save the life of 16-year-old Jason Robinson.
The headlines horrible.
Police say they caught the fourth graders with cocaine last month.
And the reality simply terrifying.
15-year-old Salem twins are accused of murdering an elderly couple during a robbery.
It seems that lawlessness, immorality, and a serious lack of judgment are plaguing our
kids today.
No community seems to be spared from young people having trouble knowing the difference
between right and wrong.
There's a crisis in character and it's really time we did something about it.
This past fall, actor Tom Selleck was sounding this call to arms.
He and former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan joined forces with Michael Josephson
in a crusade to restore values among our youth.
At a press conference in Washington, they announced the formation of the Character Counts
Coalition, a grassroots organization determined to instill values through our youth groups
and schools.
As a parent, this is a crusade Selleck feels especially strong about.
Violence, problems with youth don't indicate, I think, that this particular generation is
particularly bad.
It reflects on the older generation not passing on the kind of structure and values that I
think kids need to figure out where they stand and what they need to offer.
Is there cheating in this school?
Is there a lot of cheating?
Is that because people don't think it's wrong?
Why do you think there's cheating in this school?
What do you think?
A lot of kids are concerned about their grades.
I mean, they figure that they won't get caught.
So the only thing they can do is benefit from this by getting a better grade, which will
make teachers happy.
It will make them feel better, make their parents happy.
It was just this kind of attitude that got former law professor Michael Josephson back
into the classroom.
As founder of the Josephson Institute for Ethics, he had been devoting most of his time lecturing
to business people about right and wrong.
But today, kids are his target audience.
We did a report recently and we said there's a hole in the moral ozone and it's getting
bigger.
And without trying to be a chicken little alarmist, you know, why can't kids be more
like us?
The statistics are pretty frightening.
How badly have we lost our way?
One third of all the high school students throughout the nation admit they have stolen
something from a store within the last year.
Twenty-five percent say they stole something from a parent or relative within the last
year.
Sixty-one percent said they cheated on an exam within the last year.
We brought Josephson to talk with these ninth grade students at Woodbridge High School in
Irvine, California, where they've been studying ethics in their social sciences class.
Recently, these students found themselves face to face with a potentially deadly dilemma
they never thought could happen in their school.
A couple of weeks ago, two kids brought a gun to our school, so that might be enough.
What's wrong with that?
It could hurt somebody very seriously.
What if it wasn't loaded?
It's still a danger because it supposedly wasn't loaded and they fired and there was
still a bullet in the chamber.
Yeah, and not only people were killed with unloaded guns.
The gun went off in biology class, and luckily no one was hurt.
But according to Principal Greg Copps, the sophomore who brought the gun to school wasn't
the only student who showed a lack of judgment.
That approximately fifteen students knew that he was carrying a gun.
They said after that they didn't feel they needed to tell anyone or report that because
he was only carrying the gun to show someone, not to hurt somebody.
You know, sometimes kids are so naive.
They say, well, he didn't want to hurt anyone.
Of course he didn't.
But we have to teach them the theory of unintended consequences.
That very often consequences are unintended, but they were foreseeable.
They could have thought of it ahead of time.
People are a lot more concerned with being popular and doing what they have to do to
get popular than actually thinking about their actions.
There's more pressure to do the wrong thing than to do the right thing.
Because a lot of the times when people do the wrong thing, other people think that they're
cool or something.
But when they do the right thing, it's just like nobody notices.
You got only five parents call in after that gun incident.
I received five telephone calls out of a student population of 1800.
That's not an overwhelming number of calls.
Parents sometimes simply are unwilling to do the hard work of parenting.
No lie should go unnoticed.
No act of misbehavior should go without some kind of appropriate reaction.
So it all comes back to adults.
It all comes back to adults.
These kids are like clay who need to be shaped.
Lisa, the mother of 15-year-old Christina, thought she was doing a good job teaching
Christina the difference between right and wrong.
After all, she was a counselor for young criminals at the California Youth Authority.
But her good teachings flew right out the window when she got a telephone call from
Christina's old high school.
They said that her daughter had been caught selling and using methamphetamines.
How did you feel when she was busted for selling drugs at school?
I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut.
I really did.
When the call came through, it was like my world collapsed.
I didn't look at the consequences of what could happen.
I just looked at what was right there in front of me and did it.
I didn't think about me getting caught or the addiction of it or how bad it affects
your body.
I didn't think about any of that stuff.
Did you think about how bad your mom was going to feel?
I didn't think about that either.
Family didn't affect me in any way.
There may be all kinds of peer group pressure, for example, for a kid to make a wrong choice
to drink, to steal, to take drugs.
We've got to reward in a visible kind of way to create a kind of political correctness
where it's more politically correct to do the right thing than to do the wrong thing.
One of the problems is most of us think we're ethical.
We are when the decisions aren't too tough.
It's harder to be ethical when they get a little tougher.
Let's say there was a very, very important test that you had to take.
This test was going to get you into your first choice college.
The day before the exam, someone gives you all the answers, basically a cheat sheet.
Do you take it?
Raise your hands.
Well, you're very honest.
If it's an all-important test, it determines your entire life.
You have the chance to cheat and you're not going to get caught.
There's not that much that can happen to them.
I mean, they might feel guilty, but then they'll go drive around their Mercedes and they'll
feel fine.
You wouldn't feel guilty at all?
I might, but if I'm making a million dollars a year, then I'm not going to care.
That's ethical, Ben.
Ben is the king of ethics.
Too many kids today heard greed is good, look out for number one, and other slogans which
bring out the worst rather than the best in them.
There are a lot of politicians, you know, people look up to, and athletes, and movie
stars and people like that who are doing the wrong thing.
So we've got to learn how to do the right thing.
Josephson's crusade at schools like Woodbridge is in the forefront of what may be a trend
in education.
Taking an active role in shaping the future of their students, Woodbridge sent some of
its teachers to Josephson's seminars.
So now, along with math and history, these students get a healthy dose of Ethics 101.
There's an Indian saying I once heard that it takes a whole village to bring up a child,
and maybe churches, schools, and parents all need to work together.
Principal Greg Copps really cares about his kids, and he's got a point.
Not so many years ago, a lot of people played a role in raising a child.
His grandparents, the minister, the next door neighbor, the scouts.
Today a lot of kids don't even have their parents around.
Now here's a quick quiz.
If I would ask you what teachers say was the number one disciplinary problem in their schools
back in 1940, what do you think it would be?
I'd say tardiness.
Smoking.
It was talking out of turn.
Today it's drug abuse.
The number two problem back then was chewing gum in class, and today it's alcohol use.
Times have changed.
They certainly have.
What's the spot, Katrina?
A group of students outside Chicago have a pretty strong sense of right and wrong.
This week our Crusader salute goes out to them and our affiliate in Chicago, WMAQ-TV.
The station took up the students' fight to expose mismanagement in their school system.
The Morton High School District is deep in debt.
When students were forced to absorb the brunt of budget cuts, they fought back.
Nobody's reading until we do that.
Present this petition.
WMAQ followed up on the students' charges of mismanagement.
Their investigation exposed serious financial misconduct.
The revelations forced a board member to resign and led to the resignation of the superintendent.
The superintendent was later convicted and sent to jail.
We salute WMAQ-TV in Chicago for listening to the students' complaints and fighting for
their right to learn.
Coming up from the Crusaders, the star of rock, Charles Dutton, makes a personal appeal
to stop the killing.
How many kids have to kill each other before we see?
And next, could something that seems so good be so bad?
Find out what fat-free foods can do to your body.
The Crusaders, the news magazine that's on your side, continues after these messages.
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Five ounces of milk make every three-quarter ounce craft single taste better.
How do they do that?
Well, the mommy cow sprinkles some milk into the cheese till it got real big.
Then she onions it till it got real smooth.
More milk means better taste, and every three-quarter ounce craft single is made from five ounces
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Unlike imitation cheese made mostly with oil and water, milk makes craft singles taste better.
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Before you tie it up, clip it on, step on in or step on out.
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It's everything your life is and nothing it's not.
Now back to the Crusaders, the news magazine with solutions.
Here's senior reporter Howard Thompson.
The hottest trend on supermarket shelves is fat-free foods.
But is fat-free really fat-free?
In this week's Consumer Report, Sylvia Gambordella tells us there's no such thing as a fat-free
lunch.
Is this anybody's downfall?
The whole box is your downfall.
People OD on this?
What is it about fat-free desserts that are so addictive to you?
They're comforting, they're sweet, they're chewy.
Because you think that it's free when it says fat-free, that it's like there's no caloric
value to it.
No guilt?
Right, no guilt to it.
So if you eat that whole box, so what?
It's fat-free.
No fat and low fat foods now make up an $8 billion industry.
A trade survey found four out of five Americans buy at least one or more of these products
when they shop.
It may sound obvious, but eating more than one serving of a non or low fat food can be
almost as bad as having a helping of a sinful dessert.
UCLA researcher Bill McCarthy confirmed that in a low fat, no fat study.
A number of the women reported weight gain rather than the weight loss that they had
expected.
Genetics like fat-free potato chips, cookies, and frozen yogurt don't only defy logic,
they also seem to stay fresh forever.
My personal fat-free product is sour cream.
I bought this container six months ago.
It's been in my refrigerator ever since.
It hasn't spoiled.
In fact, it even tastes good.
But I wonder what's in it and if it's good for me.
Dave Heber is the director of the Nutrition and Obesity Training Program at UCLA.
One of the primary things that accounts for the longer shelf life of a no fat sour cream
is the fact that it doesn't contain fat, which is one of the primary things in dairy products
that spoils.
So it's okay to eat even though it's been sitting there for six months?
Absolutely, and it has an expiration date that's still a few weeks away, so if you hurry,
you can still have some of this.
Oh wow, okay.
But though non-fat and low fat products may be household words, the preservatives in them
are not.
A close look at the ingredients reveals the manufacturer is even fudging the claim fat-free.
It may not be.
This is chocolate loaf cake.
I eat it myself.
It's got diglycerides.
Is that good for my body?
Well it's just another form of fat really.
Diglycerides are building blocks of fat.
And what the body does is to take in fat that you eat, break it down into its building blocks,
and then reassemble it in your fat tissues.
So essentially you may as well be eating fat.
Why are they saying it's fat-free then?
Well under the labeling laws, a building block of fat is not strictly called a fat, so it's
considered fat-free.
But it isn't just fat that puts on the pounds.
Many non-fat and low fat foods are also loaded with sugar, sometimes disguised under names
like maltodextrin, fruit juice, fructose, even honey.
Dieters taking even a bite of all that sugar will begin to crave more.
Sugar, we know that that can stimulate appetite rather than decrease it.
Well they have a lot of sugar in them and sugar converts to fat, so in the end you're
actually getting fat.
And controlling fat is just one element of successful dieting.
What you need to do if you're really concerned about effective weight control is to eat more
of those whole foods that include fiber, because that's the most effective way of eating to
the point where you're no longer hungry and yet still not eating in excess of calories.
And the best sources of fiber are fruits and vegetables, brown rice and cereals like oatmeal
and bran flakes.
They have little or no fat and they fill you up.
Sylvia, so many items are labeled fat-free.
Are they fat-free or are they not?
It depends on the individual product, but certainly check the ingredients on the labels
and also eat in moderation.
That's the key.
Okay, good advice.
Thank you very much.
We'll be right back.
For Pat and Jill Williams, 16 was not enough.
In Brazil, they fought red tape to rescue two more children from a life of despair.
Coming up, the Williams Crusade with an ending that will warm your heart.
For Rock sitcom star Charles Dutton, guns are no laughing matter.
They almost ruined his life.
Next, he joins the Crusaders to make sure it doesn't ruin or end yours.
Idaho, with its stunning western scenery and its opportunities for outdoor adventure, is
the home of Kimberly Williams, a rodeo queen and one of nine national winners of the Discover
Card Tribute Award.
Students compete in their junior year to win scholarships for study beyond high school.
Criteria are special talents, leadership, community service, unique endeavors, and obstacles
overcome.
As a hearing impaired youth, Kimberly realized at an early age what she faced.
Public speaking was a fear I had to overcome and it's a skill that I can use throughout
my life.
Kimberly has been very involved in school activities.
She is proud to be a role model and corresponds with hearing impaired children.
She credits much of her success to the active support of her family.
I have a burning desire to help people.
Life isn't in holding good hands, but being able to play for one's wealth.
A message from Discover Card and the American Association of School Administrators.
In multiple sclerosis, we may not be able to answer the why's.