Sex in media boosts teen promiscuity-study

[scotrace]

I'd also understood that hormone additives in foods were the driving force behind earlier puberty.
And anything that is secret, forbidden, "adult," or dirty will have more appeal than it deserves.

Are we blaming the wrong event in pointing to the sexual revolution?:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

So, we're blaming Kinsey, or not?

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

We could always blame the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees around him ...

 

[Lena_Horne]

Oh no I have nothing against Kinsey or Masters & Johnson, as I am a proponent of being well-informed if you all will remember. I just think that it's gotten far too permissive, too cool and far too casual. I guess I don't know what the answer should be...

Does anyone find themselves excited about all this debate over Abortion in those states that are outlawing it? I watched an episode of Frontline on PBS back in January documenting Mississippi and its crisis over abortion clinics (there's only one left in the entire state). Now if I get right down to it I dislike abortion but I would never tell someone (especially if they are in a financial bind) not to get one, particularly in the case of rape and/or incest. But I wonder if restrictions on the availability of abortion would affect minors decision to have sex. All signs point to no, and the minors being placed in more danger when they (might) attempt to get an illegal abortion.

This reminds me of my Biology of Human Sexuality class that I took about a year ago. There was a documented case back in the 1930s or so of a woman and her husband that couldn't afford to have another child but she unfortunately kept getting pregnant because contraceptives weren't available. She almost died getting a haphazard abortion and was warned by the nurse (who's name escapes me at the moment) that she would die if she had to get another one.

Well one thing led to another and the woman ended up in the same situation once more and died of the resulting bloodloss and infection (I believe). Afterward the nurse quit her practice and devoted her life to improving sexual health in women.

I don't think its necessarily fair to expect married, consenting adults to forego having relations nor should we condemn them to such terrible circumstances when the wife ends up pregnant.

Once again were faced with the merits and detriments of abstinence-based education but also the inherent pitfalls of being misinformed and/or just plain ignorant.

Personally I feel that the risk of AIDS and other STD's should be enough of a deterrent but many youths have the age old problem of hubris and "It can't happen to me"-itis.

Oy.

L_H

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Abortion is illegal in Chile. (And until recently, so was divorce.) Chile also has an extremely high rate of one-parent families. By one estimate, more than 50% of the kids born there last year are illegitimate. And not so long ago, Chile's Catholic parochial schools did not allow illegitimate children to enroll. Nice, huh?

 

[Lena_Horne]

Another nice study

TUESDAY, April 4 (HealthDay News) -- The key to keeping kids on the straight and narrow may lie in keeping them physically fit and away from the TV.

A new study finds that teens who take part in many different kinds of physical activity -- particularly with their parents -- are less likely to get involved in drinking, drugs, violence, smoking, sex, and delinquency than teens who spend a lot of time in front of the television.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20060404/hl_hsn/fitteensmaybesaferteens

---

A sort of "eureka" news article to me. I think the vast majority of people have known this for years but these days its not very fashionable to put much work into parenting. So who knows if it will mean anything (of course the action itself does) or if people will (hopefully) shift back into that hands-on role. But I for the most part doubt it. The baby boomer generation saw both parents away from home for essentially the first time, it is what they know. They raise their own children that way and now the new generation for the most part will continue the cycle... Hm.

L_H

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Is it any of our business?

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The key to keeping kids on the straight and narrow may lie in keeping them physically fit ...

This is exactly why Victorian-era England and America promoted school sports and exercise so vigorously. Ministers, moralists and early psychologists argued that making boys run around would leave them too exhausted for, er, "other indulgences".


.

 

[Lincsong]

Reminds me of that scene in the original "Yours Mine and Ours" (1968) where the stepdaugther asks Henry Fonda if she's being "old fashioned". Fonda tells her; "it's not getting into bed with a guy that proves you love him, it's waking up in the morning and going through the good and the bad. They wrote Fanny Hill 200 years ago and nothings changed. The same guys were saying the same stuff when I was in high school. If all the girls did it, then why did I always end up with the ones who didn't?":eusa_clap

As far as the illigitimacy rate in Chile, isn't it common down there for married men to have two families? One he's married to and the other he keeps on the other side of the tracks? ala Evita Peron.

50 years ago, if a girl got pregnant it was expected that the father of the child would marry her. Start counting the months between when a couple were "married" and when the first child was born. Even the holier than thou Pat Robertson's wife was pregnant when they got married.

 

[Lincsong]

A similar topic is alcohol. Underage drinking seems to be rampant in America, and is glorified by those that are underage. But in societies, such as in Europe, where drinking is a part of the culture from an early age, is it less of a problem?

Brad

One bad thing about the Reagan years was when the adminstration forced states to raise their drinking age or lose highway funds. This happened in 1985-1986 and underage drinking has gone up. Alcohol was not a big thing when I was a kid, Dad and uncles drank a lot, I even admit to stealing a sip of their beer when I was a little kid of 6 or 7. I didn't drink the whole can, but I'd take a sip. So drinking was never a big deal with me when I went to college. When I entered college in 1987 it was one year after all the states started raising their age so all the classmates were big on boozing it up. To me drinking was no big deal, and getting plastered every weekend seemed rather idiotic.[huh]

 

[John in Covina]

Ralph!

When I entered college in 1987 it was one year after all the states started raising their age so all the classmates were big on boozing it up. To me drinking was no big deal, and getting plastered every weekend seemed rather idiotic.[huh]

**********
It is a question of maturity.

You would think that vomiting and hangovers would loose all their allure much quicker.

Painting the toilet, projectile vomiting, the technicolor yawn or ralphing were the euphemisims in my day.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

As far as the illigitimacy rate in Chile, isn't it common down there for married men to have two families? One he's married to and the other he keeps on the other side of the tracks?

Not since the '50s or '60s. It got too expensive to support two families! :eusa_doh:

 

[Lena_Horne]

Not since the '50s or '60s. It got too expensive to support two families! :eusa_doh:

That sounds incredibly disturbing. Not that it never happened here in the states (of course it did) but I wonder at the well-being of the children involved. And what's the point of nursing two families? I thought the point of getting married (at one time) was to establish a legitimate family even if (barring morals) you planned to play around on the side?

As for whether or not any of this is our business. Our tax dollars go to cleaning up the mess such teenages leave behind. Treating their infections, hauling away their car wrecks, supporting their children when the father refuses to take responsibility and the mother (sometimes) ends up on welfare.

The old social mores might have been restrictive but at least society didn't have to foot the bill for the results to the point that they do now.

L_H

 

[mysterygal]

nothing can take the place of parents,and with what we're seeing today is the product of too many parents not taking the initiative to be involved in their childs life or opting to be the 'best bud'.
I'm strongly for finding where your childs interests are and helping them pursue them...as they grow older it makes sense that they'd be less likely to get into real trouble

 

[jake431]

nothing can take the place of parents,and with what we're seeing today is the product of too many parents not taking the initiative to be involved in their childs life or opting to be the 'best bud'.
I'm strongly for finding where your childs interests are and helping them pursue them...as they grow older it makes sense that they'd be less likely to get into real trouble

I've never trusted the "my (insert parent here) is my best friend!" thing. I have frienships with my parents, but a) I'm 31, and b) they developed later, starting from when I was a teenager and growing to actual friendships as an adult. But first and foremost - they are my parents and when I needed parenting, that was paramount. And even though I say "friendship", I mean mutual affection and respect - and that's what any good friendship should have. My parents are good people, and, I hope, they have raised a good person as well. I wanted to earn their respect when I was a child, and in many ways, the open dialogue and friendship I have with them now, as an adult, is very much a validation of the respect I feel they show me now. But that developed out of having been shaped and parented by them, not befriended by them when I was 12 and sad. My impression is more often than not it is mothers who become "best friends" with their daughters - and from the friends I have who grew up in situations like that - it does not lead to happiness later in life.

Sorry, that was a longer post than I intended.

-Jake

 

[mysterygal]

believe me Jake, there's people who post much longer I agree it's usually the mothers that try to become the best friend. The sad part is when the child gets into adolesence they need that strong arm, since that's when the boundary pushing comes in and needs some good insight and direction to make it safely into adulthood. This is one of the (many) areas of what not to do from my mom...I have to admit that I thought it was cool having my mom as a buddy as a teenager but now wish she would of put her foot down a little more

 

[jake431]

believe me Jake, there's people who post much longer I agree it's usually the mothers that try to become the best friend. The sad part is when the child gets into adolesence they need that strong arm, since that's when the boundary pushing comes in and needs some good insight and direction to make it safely into adulthood. This is one of the (many) areas of what not to do from my mom...I have to admit that I thought it was cool having my mom as a buddy as a teenager but now wish she would of put her foot down a little more

I don't want to hijack the thread but I have to say I feel a large part of why parents feel so compelled these days to be "friends" with their kids, especially in the teenage and young adult years is that youth culture seems to be the end all be all in our society these days - there isn't a grownup culture that the youth aspire to become a part of that I see. Youth is king and all else seems below it. So, who wants to grow old? I think befriending the young is a (misguided) way to feel young for many parents and that is the trap they fall into. Just my 2 cents on the subject.

-Jake

 

[mysterygal]

getting old, or older has such a negative ring in this culture. Personally, I love my maturity level now than what is was when I was 18. Although, I really wouldn't mind always looking like a 20yr old

 

[TheSwingingBee]

Jake, I agree completly. I have an amazing relationship with my parents now, but that comes from the fact that I'm 22, work for my Mom, and my parents and I respect each other. I admit there were times growing up that I couldn't stand my parents, and I thought their views on things like sex were so archaic, but I've realized now, that I was lucky to have parents so involved in what I was doing, who I was hanging out with, and where I was. My parents knew everyone of my friends in highschool, and still know most of them, and they always wanted to know where I was and what I was doing. I hated this at the time, but now I'm so thankful for it, it helped to keep me out of a lot of bad situations that I could have gotten into. I think this whole sex debate really does go back to parenting. I don't know why the media is expected to raise children, I mean that's what being a parent is all about. I think that it's one of the scariest things to be raising kids, that's why I'm waiting to have them, but also it's one of the most wonderful. You can end up having wonderful, well adjusted, considerate children with morals.

Sorry for the rant
Bree

 

[jake431]

It's true - who doesn't want to look young for as long as possible? I am fortunate in that (from what I can gather from women anyway), I look better now than when I was in my twenties (but to most people I still look in my 20's, at least if myincessantly getting carded for booze - for me, and smokes - for others, is any indication). Which is pretty cool, I have to admit!

But the value of looking young and feeling healthy has been trumped by being young, and it's just not possible. It seems like real human grace has been lost in the process. Cause the saddest thing I can think of is trying, and failing, to be young. People have been getting old since the begining of the human race - it's sad to see us now so bad at it.

-Jake