By DEBBIE WOJAK

Never underestimate the power of adults. Just when we think they are beginning to level with us, their message comes across as a "do as we say, not as we do" philosophy.

This was just the case when I went on January 13 to preview a television special for WBBM-TV. The station's publicity department had set up a special screening of a youth documentary, "Nothin' Like Us Ever Was." The staff wanted us to view it before it was scheduled to appear on television, so that we could evaluate it as teen-agers.

I spoke with the program's producer, Mr. Paul Cahill, before attending the preview. He was very enthusiastic about his attempt to explore the sensitive relationship between young people and their elders in our ever-changing society. "Let's face it," Mr. Cahill said, "there really is a huge 'gap' between generations today. A child of the 70's watches astronauts land on the moon while his grandfather reminises about horse-drawn milk wagons. Our program will highlight the progression of life styles through the 1940's, 50's, and 60's

in comparison to the complex 70's. By showing the historical developments of today's trends, we hope to tell the older about the young and the young about their elders."

"Nothin' Like Us Ever Was" was produced very creatively, but unfortunately it was presented only through the adult's eyes. There were many scenes depicting youth of all generations in their prime. My main criticism is that while the 20's was portrayed as a time when the youth could do no wrong, the parallel of youth in the 60's was rioting, rock fests, and drugs.

This one-sided version of our own generation is constantly appearing in the media. Time and time again, we try to convince these adults that they are dwelling unfairly on an overgeneralization of a minority. But they seem content to portray only what they care to see and nothing more. And this is how "Nothin' Like Us Ever Was" failed. The consensus of all the teen‑agers at the preview was the only thing this program did for the generation gap was to intensify it