I have been using the American Dreams series as a great discussion night with my high school youth at The Cornerstone Youth Center. We have all of the series so far on tape and look forward to getting together on Tuesdays to watch it. The center is an ecumenical center, but I was a youth minister for the Catholic church before taking this job and find that the series does a great job raising questions for youth today. I remember the first episode had President Kennedy’s assasination on it. The youth instantly related it to 9-11 and some great discussion was there. The series dances with the freedom of teenage years, but also touches on the dismantled family style that we see more of today. I agree with Maria on the fact that the show stresses the family as the nucleus of society and we need more of that today. The other part Maria touched on was unconditional love - something youth of today do not understand, especially unchurched youth who I mainly deal with. They can’t understand how we can love them at the center just because they are a creation of God. This series has a lot to offer in values and challenges us to visit the past to plan for the future.