1.   American youngsters are already falling behind students in many foreign countries by the fourth grade.

2.   American youngsters Rod White and Justin Huish are talented enough to break through.

3.   But others struggle with school, in the same way many other American youngsters do.

4.   By contrast, American youngsters grow up in leagues often run by well-meaning amateurs who have little coaching or playing experience.

5.   California children are more likely to lack health insurance than American youngsters as a whole, even though most live with working parents, a UCLA study reported Tuesday.

6.   Chinese schoolchildren memorize the specifications of new-car brochures as American youngsters do baseball cards.

7.   Instead, Bush advocates a strong federal role in boosting the education of American youngsters.

8.   Millions of American youngsters are spending, or will spend, several of their most formative years in the charge of strangers.

9.   Now comes evidence that American youngsters are rapidly fattening up, too.

10.   Schools and racing clubs encourage kids to go into paddling, the same way American youngsters are guided into baseball or football.