The point is that my middle schooler may be moving past preteen cynicism and headed straight for "jaded."

Amy is an idealist, but even for one generally optimistic about people's "better angels," it's been a tough week. Consider these stories from her most recent events video:

• Michael Phelps is caught on camera using marijuana.

Alex Rodriguez (one of the few Major League Baseball players Amy actually recognizes) is implicated in the MLB steroid scandal.

• Former Sen. Tom Daschle withdraws from consideration for a Cabinet post because of tax problems, while Timothy F. Geithner is confirmed as secretary of the Treasury despite his.

If this child is more cynical than her siblings were at her age, I mostly chalk it up to birth order. In a house full of teenagers, it's easy for the youngest child to adopt an eye for irony and a quick, if not sarcastic, wit. She's learned to be skeptical, and even to use the word "sketchy" like the older kids do.

But naive cynicism isn't healthy. Naive cynicism - the assumption that everyone is up to no good - robs us of optimism and faith in others and in their good intentions. And while I'm sure human nature isn't much changed since the dawn of time, our ability to document the misdeeds of others and then feed an endless stream of bad behavior into our collective consciousness through the media strikes me as the source of a dangerous assumption about people generally.

Unfortunately, this generation of children, and especially those we identify as "tweens," is at risk of developing a cynicism so entrenched they will doubtless become jaded. After jaded, there is apathy, and after apathy, an immature conscience that dismisses "good" and "bad" as simply definitions of relative self-interest.

Make no mistake; I liked my daughter's metaphor about seaweed and celebrities. In fact, the cynic in me wonders if she got it from one of those witty sitcoms she watches on Disney.

But just to show good faith, I'm not going to ask her if she heard that expression on TV, but instead I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and applaud her pithy turn of a phrase.

While I'm at it, I think I'll have a talk with her about healthy cynicism, with emphasis on the word "healthy." Marybeth Hicks reporting.

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