Puritanical U.S. has Mixed Messages for Teens

POSTED BY: firefloozysuzie
UPDATED: Saturday, April 8, 2006 20:30
VIEWED: 5317
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CHRISISALL

Thursday, April 6, 2006 4:00 PM

Sexual urges + business + religion = a recipe for unpleasantness.

Sex sells Chrisisall

RUE

Thursday, April 6, 2006 4:09 PM

That's hot.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, April 6, 2006 4:33 PM

I'd show you what's hot, but Haken wants this forum to be accessable to kids, too.

Chrisisall

FREMDFIRMA

Thursday, April 6, 2006 5:16 PM

Yeah, the whole smackin some 18yr old kid with a sex offender bite cause his girlfriend is 16 and her parents are pissed is downright ludicrous..

Supposedly that's what judges and juries are FOR, right - but that neither has been mentioned is a good case example of how little trust anyone here has in them, and rightfully so.

Think - those that are SUPPOSED to fix problems like this, don't.
And you're still paying their salaries with your tax dollars... why ?
Something to think about come Apr 15.

A few responses, too.

Fire

Quote:
They've got the urges EARLIER, but the means of caring for the potential product of those urges LATER. Big trouble. Thank God for condoms.

Till the repuglicans outlaw them.

Between trying to ban abortion, morning-after pills, and shovelling the abstinence factor while simultaneously trying to absolve men of any responsibility for their actions, it sure smells like an eventual attempt to ban birth control is gonna follow the rest of this garbage soon, you'll see.

Guy fawkes is a pretty good example of what thoughts enter the minds of folk when the government tries to ram relgious crap down the throats of people who, unlike congress, live in the REAL world.

Not tryin to sidetrack, but what kind of message DOES it send when the Gov tries like hell to absolve men of any personal responsibility related to sex, and then denies women any means to guard against, and/or terminate, the end result ?

People have sex - it's normal, it's natural, it's not evil, sinful or vile, and any philosophy or theology that says different is twisted and warped.

This one's an issue for parents, and women as a whole - believe me, you wanna make a social change to stem this chauvanistic tide ? stop puttin out till the men play ball.

That'll learn em!
(historically, it works, you think it was just marches that got women the right to vote?)

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Filter

Quote:
Dude, I understand your point, but those that joined the US military did not join to blow up people in foreign lands, we joined to save you from being blown up in your own land. I know, I serve. But I do agree with you about the drinking age.

Um, actually that WAS why some of us signed up, especially back in my days, aggressive males who wanted to kill other aggressive males, and get PAID for it - it had jack diddly to do with honor, dignity or the defense of the nation, it had to do with the way our society produces hateful and pyschotic people after they're run the mental and emotional trauma gauntlet called 'high school' .. what a joke.

Ask some of these 17/18 yr olds who are signing up, get them to talk to you as a person, and not an authority figure, and they'll stop parroting the 'right answers' they've been told and start being honest with you.

What prospects do they HAVE without a student loan, scholarship, or family influance ?
Some of em might get lucky, yeah, but they look at the social and economic cliff that awaits them when the folks gleefully boot them out the door at 18, and then start to realize what society has done to them, and the rage and hate builds, and the army starts looking like a good idea to them.

Not ONE of 4th Platoon, Bravo company was there "to defend our country" - they were there cause they had damned few choices left, and wanted to expend their rage in a fashion our messed up society approves and encourages.

Our platoon motto, ironically (the real one, not the one the DI handed us) was "Old enough to die for it, not old enough to drink in it!"

--------------------------
Rue

Quote:
In terms of teenage years, just from the little I looked up on EEG interpretation - the brain is remodeled from about the midpoint forward to the frontal lobes. Messing around with brain development at this time (with violence and drugs - including alcohol and tobacco) has serious consequences.

You'd be seriously interested in the CITIVAS initiative down at Baylor U.
The child trauma academy

FANTASTICLAUGHINGFAIRY

Thursday, April 6, 2006 5:56 PM

Well I live in the UK, and have noticed that (and been annoyed by) there is a growing amount of 'teenagerism'. This may sound strange, but many people either treat us as children, which is both annoying and degrading, but also tends to make (the more immature among us) lash out. There are others of course, who just treat us all as yobs, to the extent that when we leave school at dinner-time, we are banned completely from some shops (for no reason that I know of) and others make us queue up outside for up to 1/4 hour (whilst other - older customers, are allowed straight in) - a third of the time we are given for lunch;we often barely have time to get back to school in time to register, and are often told off for being late.
I even heard of a shopping centre further south using a device that emmitted a loud,annoying high-pitched sound, which was discernable by most under 20s, but hardly any of the over 30s, as a measure against vandalism or some-such. This particularly annoyed me, as it discriminates against the whole age group.
I also find it frustrating that at 16, though you are allowed to join the army, killing others and possibly yourself, leave home, get married and pay taxes, we are still unable to vote or drink alcohol. I feel that as we can contribute to the government's wealth, we should have a say in how it is run. I also feel that alcohol being completely denied till 18 is bad, as, let's be honest - it doesn't stop us obtaining alcohol. It is amazingly easy to obtain fake IDs, and there are always plenty of people who are either older or who can pass for it, who will be willing to buy it for you. I think that the worst thing about all this is that it drives people out into the streets - where they commit these crimes, such as vandalism etc. Surely it would be better for us to drink in pubs, where landlords can keep an eye on us, to make sure things don't get out of hand etc. I also think that rules on alcohol should possibly be lessened at a younger age - looking at most European countries (France and Italy for example) children are drinking moderate amounts at a much younger age (a glass of wine with a meal etc.) so that when they are of an age to drink seriously - they have more experience of alcohol and it's effects and are less likely to binge than their British (or American) counterparts.
I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but the increasing binge-drinking culture says that something's wrong.
I also agree with the original poster's statement, if a 15yr-old girl and her 16yr-old boyfriend had consenual sex, then it would be classed as statutory rape, no matter how mature th 15yr-old was mentally. If the girl's parents decide to press charges, her boyfriend could be put on the sex-offenders' list for 7 years or more (there have been cases of this). This significantly affects his chances of geting into any college and university, and would also prevent him getting any job in the public sector. I feel this is wrong, and that something should be done about it, although I agree that many people aren't psychologically ready for this under the age of 16, (or even older) there are also those who are, however, it is also true that children need the full protection of the law- particularly when it comes to this.

Sorry for my ramble, but I thought it needed saying.

'Just say no' prevents teen pregnancy in the same way that 'Have a nice day' prevents chronic depression.

RUE

Thursday, April 6, 2006 6:15 PM

Frem

The old double standard - men play and women pay - happened b/c historically while it was never possible to know who the father was, it was always possible to know who the mother was. Thank the scientists for modern technology that makes fatherhood ID indisputable.

Unfortunately the laws have not kept up. Look at child abandonment. The person nailed with it is simply the person who walked away LAST - the mother. Biological fathers aren't even accounted for in that scenario. And the old male-dominant culture is fighting back.

Personally I have no problem with teen sex - or even sex between teens and much older partners, as long as nothing illegal happens like rape or intimidation, and as long as no one gets stuck with a life changing issues - like STDs or pregnancy. No harm, no foul.

But older people who create problems for younger people more than once should be seriously punished. They are obviously intentional abusers.

And I am enraged by businesses that prey on teens' need to be accepted and their sexuality. It's impossile to grow up with a sexuality untainted by commercialism.

Nearly everything I know I learned by the grace of others.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, April 6, 2006 7:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by fantasticlaughingfairy:

'Just say no' prevents teen pregnancy in the same way that 'Have a nice day' prevents chronic depression.

LOLROTF!!!!
Well, well said, FLF!!!
When I was sixteen, I made a fake (but real-looking) ID, but never bought beer or ciggarettes, it was for getting into R-rated movies and purchasing Playboys...

Another tragic tale of wasted youth Chrisisall

CHRISISALL

Thursday, April 6, 2006 7:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by rue:

And I am enraged by businesses that prey on teens' need to be accepted and their sexuality. It's impossile to grow up with a sexuality untainted by commercialism.

Girls, you must dress like hookers, but not engague in sexual relations.
...I guess that doesn't seem right to you. Me neither.
My seventeen year old co-worker just told me (seriously) she's getting breast implants for her 18th birthday, as a present from her mom.
She's quite attractive and doesn't need them, but she said all her cousins have them, so...

Chrisislost

FIREFLOOZYSUZIE

Thursday, April 6, 2006 7:31 PM

Quote: When I hear marijuana described as “one of the least toxic and most useful plants that the human species has yet found” by legalization proponents....that's such a deceptive and uninformed statment..."

Please reread my post. I'm quoting an ethnobotany textbook here, not a pro-legalization tract.

The chapter on cannabis reports that human populations have been relying on that plant for THOUSANDS of years, and that archeological evidence suggests that hemp was one of our first "domesticated" crops.

Hemp has been used for millennia. It has centuries and centuries of history as food, sacrament, medicine, oil and fiber source, a history stretching back long before the plant became associated with jazz musicians. You might want to look up a few facts about the hemp plant. It would surprise you. Perhaps if you spent a little while engaged in unbiased research, YOU would sound a bit less uninformed, Finn.

FIREFLOOZYSUZIE

Thursday, April 6, 2006 7:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by rue:

And I am enraged by businesses that prey on teens' need to be accepted and their sexuality. It's impossile to grow up with a sexuality untainted by commercialism.

Girls, you must dress like hookers, but not engague in sexual relations.
...I guess that doesn't seem right to you. Me neither.
My seventeen year old co-worker just told me (seriously) she's getting breast implants for her 18th birthday, as a present from her mom.

She's quite attractive and doesn't need them, but she said all her cousins have them, so...

Chrisislost

EWWWW. Oh, God, and I just read an article about how middle-aged and older women are having such a time with removing their old breast implants and needing reconstruction. Eventually those implants can develop leaks and cause all sorts of trouble before the doctors fish them out again. Has that girl's mother ever checked into what the expected lifespan of those implants will be? She could be giving her daughter the "gift" of surgical complications, followed by breastfeeding complications, followed by midlife surgery to correct the wandering, leaking old implants she got as a teenager. ((((Shudder)))

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