The students manning the phones at the Hebrew Center on this January night are there to kick off the first night of the 2006 SafeRides season. The student-run program provides a free and confidential ride home to any student of the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School who is not in a condition to drive safely or who wants to avoid being a passenger with an unsafe driver.

As soon as he saw Kaleena Searle swing up her right arm, the
16-year-old boy from Tisbury knew something bad was coming his way.

"I knew I was going to get stabbed," the teenager told
police last year.

It happened on a late night in mid-June. The boy had just walked out
of Cumberland Farms carrying a quart of milk, a chicken sandwich and a
Kudos bar.

Given the chance to sound off about the results of a survey that tracked their behavior around alcohol, drugs, violence and sex, Island teenagers are not at a loss for words.