Questão 3489

(Mackenzie - 2000)

DO PARENTS KNOW THEIR KIDS?

There are now 31 million kids in the 12-to-19 age group, and demographers predict that there will be 35 million teens by 2010, a population bulge bigger than even the baby boom at ___(I)___ peak. In many ways, these teens are uniquely privileged. They've grown up in a period of sustained prosperity and haven't had to worry about the draft (as ___(II)___ fathers did) or cataclysmic global conflicts (as ___(III)___ grandparents did). Cable and the Internet ___(IV)___ them access to an almost infinite amount of information. In survey after survey, many kids - even those on the honor roll - say they feel increasingly alone and alienated, unable to connect with ___(V)___ parents, teachers, and sometimes even classmates. They're desperate for guidance, and when they don't get ___(VI)___ they need at home or in school, they cling to cliques or immerse themselves in a universe out of their parents' reach, a world defined by computer games, TV and movies, ___(VII)___ brutality is so common it ___(VIII)___ mundane. Many teens say they feel ¹overwhelmed by pressure and responsibilities. They are juggling part-time jobs and hours of homework every night; sometimes they're so exhausted that they're nearly asleep in early-morning classes. Half ___(IX)___ through their parents' divorce. Sixty-three percent are in households ___(X)___ both parents work outside the home, and many look after younger siblings in the afternoon. Still others are home by themselves after school. That unwelcome ²solitude can extend well into the evening; mealtime for this generation too often begins with a ³forlorn touch of the microwave. In fact, of all the issues that trouble adolescents, loneliness ranks at the top of the list. University of Chicago sociologist Barbara Schneider ___(XI)___ 7,000 teenagers for five years and ___(XII)___ they spend an average of 3 and 1/2 hours alone every day. Teenagers may claim they want privacy, but they also crave and need attention - and they're not getting it.

(Adapted from Newsweek. May 10, 1999.)

The sentence 'They said, "Do parents know their kids?"' in the reported speech would be: