Lochem, was the town John Denver meant to write about in his lyric.

Instead, having never been there, (unlike modern dance creator Isadora Duncan and R&B legend Arthur “Sweet Soul Music” Conley who both lived near this town) he picked on a slice of middle-America when writing “Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio is like being nowhere at all…” When he reaches the line, “you can walk by the bakery and watch the buns rise”, it is clear he speaks of this and hundreds of rural Dutch villages like it.

Founded in the 1200s, Lochem was a river/canal community that saw profit from the Far East Spice Trade. When the canal connected the Ijssel River and inland sea to Germany, this town boomed with its own “river” traffic. “Boom”, in rural Holland, is a relative term. Most Dutch rural teenagers feel their lives need more boom!

While Holland has 16 million residents, 75% of them live in the Randstad area (bordered by the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht) leaving 4 million people spread over very large land masses, 1+ hour away from these cities.

Life as a country teenager is one of hormones wrenched under control by kilometers long bicycle rides to and from well… everywhere. Most high school age kids pedal 8-12 kilometers (5-7 miles) one-way to school in weather most American kids heard about in our grandparent’s legends. They always began with the line, “why, when I was your age we used to…” followed by some exaggerated tale of walking 10 miles to school in blizzards or meteor showers.

I remember the furor when my old US hometown wanted to lengthen the distance by which public school buses would transport kids from 1 to 1½ miles to reduce expenses. Problem was the town was so small; it eliminated too many kids to even make having a bus work financially. Municipalities here neither own nor use school buses. You walk or ride a bike and never ask for a ride, that’s un-cool for any Dutch teen.

And ride they do.  Bicycles are everywhere and used by people of all ages. My own pedaling experiences take on an extra sense of urgency when being closed in on from behind by a leisurely riding 70-something grandma. There are few things more embarrassing than being forced into a furious Tour de France like sprint to the finish line (complete with standing leg-pumps) to prevent being overtaken and then jumping off the bike, limping and clutching at an imaginary calf muscle cramp before being overtaken, whew….

Holland lets her kids drink at age 16 but wisely keeps automobiles out of reach until well into their 18th year.  While I remember having my driver’s license within days of turning 16, you cannot legally sit behind the wheel of a car before 18.  Then you must complete a 30-week driving school before sitting for an exam 90% fail the first two times. By the time most kids have legal access to a car, they are nearly 19 and, in theory, ready for the responsibility.

Most Americans are shocked by the freedoms Dutch parents give their kids.  It is a reflection of an otherwise generally self-responsible society. I still catch myself about to tell the manager of the grocery store about a wet spot thinking, someone could slip, fall and sue the store. That is until I remember that the judge will behave like everyone else here and say, “you should have watched where you were stepping!  Next case.” That’s why there are no lawyers standing beside the highways near Amsterdam filming, “if you’ve been injured in an accident, call us” commercials.

Lets’ face it, as Americans, we are one of the most uptight and Victorian/puritanical nations in the world. We have no problem advocating stupid programs that promote abstinence  or staying drug – free by just saying no when addictions and hormones say, yes, Yes, YES!!

I do blush at the frankness of talk between kids and parents about sex, pregnancy prevention and AIDS protection here.  Sex education is not bound by the arcane “PC” rules US teachers face.  Here, as in most subjects, direct questions get direct, honest answers. Even teenage television programs discuss very intimate details. Early and constant dialogue between children and parents leads to one of the lowest teen pregnancy rate in the world, marriages happening, on average in the couple’s late 20s and first children born to real adults between 28 and 35 or older. The cynics say, yes and the average age of sexual activity is also younger. The Dutch response is, if they’re going to do it anyways, why not make sure they are safe and informed? Tough to argue with and yeah, I know you will, so get a life.

So on Friday and Saturday nights, Dutch teenagers cut loose and have fun.  They just have seemingly odd hours.  Years ago it somehow became un-cool to go out before 11:00 p.m.  So 10 minutes before that hour, the deafening sound of mopeds riding into the center of most cities and towns can be heard for miles around.

Once here they have few choices – ride the municipal bus to this weekend’s floating discotheque, sit in the park and talk with friends before grabbing some French fries (or is now the official name “Freedom” for these Belgian potato creations), pizza at a snack bar or visit a grand café and bounce around to house music. Whatever, the goal is to fill six hours with activities – many of which we don’t want to know about, then again neither did our parents…

Having talked with several kids late one evening outside my office, what is refreshing is a hundred or so teenagers can assemble without police in riot gear being called in. Yes, they are loud. Yes, they do behave like the teenagers they are. Yes, they should be home sleeping.  And yes, they all say, “this is our time” and enjoy it fully before collapsing in bed before just before sunrise.

At least these teenage zombies earn their stripes.