Every ski season it seems as if at least one case crops up that underscores the need to teach kids about slope awareness.

The consequences of not pounding home the concept of controlled skiing and maintaining safe buffer zones can be tragic. In late December and early January, a 15-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy - both wearing helmets - lost control and struck trees at Wolf Creek and Breckenridge respectively.

For many reasons, it's important to teach children respect for other snow riders. Adults could use lessons in respect, too. This season's mind-bender is the case of 8-year-old Scott Swimm, of Eagle. Last season, when he was 7, Scott skied into 60-year-old David Pfahler, of Allentown, Pa., prompting Pfahler to sue Scott and his father, Robb, for medical expenses, lost vacation and work time.

Pfahler says he was hit hard enough that he wound up with a torn rotator cuff and damage to his clavicle. Robb Swimm says his son barely tapped Pfahler's boots.

I've been on both ends of this equation. Just this season I nearly was struck by a young snowboarder in the gondola maze at Vail. He came in hot to impress his friends, showing utter disregard for me or my 4-year-old son.

But I've also been dismayed by my own 7-year-old son's lack of awareness. I've watched him cut across a catwalk right in front of another skier without even looking up. We had a long talk about watching for other skiers.

Technically, under the Colorado Skier Safety Act, the overtaking skier or snowboarder must be in enough control to be able to avoid snow riders below them or ahead of them on the trail, so if Scott Swimm hit David Pfahler from behind, the youngster was in the wrong. But that calls for a lecture, not a lawsuit.

The slopes are now apparently the purview of extremists, kids with Jackass Generation disregard for human life and limb, and adults who freak out and go utterly ballistic if someone even comes near them on the hill - threatening violence, lawsuits or both.

Last season, a snowboarder collided with an 8-year-old girl at Vail and fled the scene after being punched by the girl's father. The father was charged with assault; the snowboarder pleaded guilty to harassment.

As more and more people travel at higher rates of speed on better and better equipment at increasingly congested mountains, the only way to reverse these trends is to make slope awareness - defensive skiing, if you will - a much larger part of instruction.

Kids will get it if the basic precepts of courtesy and caution are drilled into them at an early age.

And the ski resorts need to be much more aggressive in policing the major choke points on the mountain. Understaffed ski patrollers can't be everywhere, so ski areas need to put even more yellow jackets and other personnel in the position to crack down on reckless skiers and snowboarders.

If the resorts don't take the initiative, the government may be forced to take a much more active role, with sheriff's deputies or Forest Service rangers acting as ski cops, and at that point skiing as we know it will no longer exist.

Skiing still remains one of the best ways to enjoy the mountains, but we all need to take responsibility for ourselves and our kids.

And the ski areas need to do much more than hold an annual skier safety week (Jan. 19-25) to show how serious they are about keeping things civilized on the slopes.

Tips for teaching kids to ski safely

* Observe NSAA (National Ski Areas Association) National Safety Awareness Week (Jan. 19-25) in a meaningful way, by talking to your kids, whatever their age, about the basics of slope awareness and then practicing those basics yourself.

* Teach slope awareness the first time your kids get on skis. Tell them to constantly look around them on the mountain and be aware of other snow riders and obstacles on the slopes. And insist that your ski instructors pound the points home.

* Ski behind your kids in high-traffic areas, especially choke points where trails converge. Other snow riders can see and avoid you better than your low-profile kids.

* Outfit your kids in bright colors. Red or orange helmets and jackets help other skiers spot and avoid your kids on the mountain.

* Preach the mantra of "control, control, control." Kids need to learn early on to ski so that they can stop safely or avoid other snow riders and obstacles. That way skier safety will become ingrained when they're teenagers in the terrain park.

David O. Williams, a Colorado resident since 1979, lives in Vail with his wife and three sons.