BY any journalistic standard the American teen-ager -- how he sees himself, how he is seen by his elders, and how he is most likely to fit into and shape his nation's future -- is a tough subject to tackle.

But also a fascinating one, and one for endless conversation and ar gumentation. TIME considers itself Liniquely equipped to examine such a subject: for the cover story in this issue we sent out queries weeks ago; our reporters from every region of the U.S. and our stringer correspondents from virtually every major community took advantage of an opportunity to ask basic questions and get basic answers from and about teenagers.

The result was some several hundreds of pages of reporting. We found that parents, educators, social scientists, politicians and -- well, you name it -- were willing and eager to express their ideas about the teenager. Much more important, we found that the teen-ager was almost desperate in his desire to talk about himself, his hopes, his aims, and his future.

The story, written by Mitchel Levitas and edited by William Forbis, will not, we trust, end all that conversation and argumentation about the teenager. Nor should it. But we would hope that there would be a consensus on the fact that today's teen-ager is more advanced, better educated and -- sometimes distress ingly so -- more sophisticated than his parents. The key word is "educated," and amid all the pros and cons about the teenager, one fact came through loud and clear: whatever he is, for worse (as some said), or for better (as a majority insisted), the American teen-ager is the product of his educational system.

The cover illustration was done by Pop Artist Andy Warhol, who has made his name and fame by getting his literal renditions of Campbell Soup cans into leading art galleries. Warhol, 33, worked in a five-and-ten as a kid in McKeesport, Pa. For this week's cover he took seven youngsters--aged 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, and all relatives of TIME staffers--to a Broadway arcade, where they posed for pictures in one of those old five-and-ten type camera booths. These pictures were Warhol's starting point for the cover illustration. We asked him to use the same techniques for the accompanying "self-portrait."

TIME advertisers over the past 42 years have frequently been innovators--starting with the adventurous 15 who invested in Vol. 1, No. 1, and continuing with the first companies to use our color pages, gatefolds, inserts, regionals and demographic editions. A sample of that spirit appears in the center of this issue: the Aluminum Company of America prepared a seven-page, four-color gatefold insertion--the largest single advertising commitment ever made in any issue of TIME.

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