Hobag. Wow, I haven't said that word in years! It's kinda funny...hobag. An.Y.way. When I read this article yesterday that stated more than 40 percent of U.S. teens are doing the dirty dirty, I wanted to vomit. But, I can't say that I'm surprised.
With role models like Miley Cyrus out there, how's a young girl to know that putting half-naked pics all over the internet really is NOT OK? (Miley, I love you, but c'mon girl.) I'll tell you how: Mothers. This is where YOU step in. Instead of encouraging your daughters to have boyfriends at the age of 11 (no, it's not cute), put the smack down on them when they want to call boys and go on movie dates like my mom did. (Sure, every guy in middle school through college thought I was a prude, but that's better than the alternative.) Actually, the other day at the grocery store, I witnessed a mom showing her six(ish)-year old daughter how to send a text message. Ewww, she's going to be sexting by the time she's nine—what the crap lady?! This is how it starts! And she was singing along to "I Kissed a Girl." OK, so I didn't have my first lesbian fantasy until just last year—this girl is going to be way ahead of me. I suppose most young girls are these days. Sad.
Tell me: Does it surprise you that almost half of teens today are gettin' busy? What rules did your parents give you when you were younger? I loved the "No watching Dirty Dancing" rule—we always found ways to watch it at sleepovers!
Posts
Wow I usually don't mind Miley Cyrus, but really?! I didn't really have any rules when I was younger, but I was always a good kid. I went on my first date when I was in the 10th grade, got my first phone when I was in the 9th grade and I never cared to watch any real sexual movies when I was younger haha.
ReplyDeleteI had to LOL at the "Dirty Dancing" comment...I can't tell you how many of my elementary-school friends have said recently that they remember my parents were the ones who let us watch "Dirty Dancing"!
ReplyDeletei wasn't allowed to watch dirty dancing either!!! totally snuck that one and flashdance whenever we could.
ReplyDeleteyoung girls are look like sluts to me these days. i don't know what it is, but they just look so much older than what i remember looking when i was that age. it's insane. and scary!
I wholeheartedly agree- kids these days are growing up wayyyy too fast (yes, I realize I sound like an old hag here...) but seriously- I was wayyy behind on this stuff but in the end it was certainly for the best. And the texting/ sexting craze is only making parenting more challenging these days. Oy. Worries me a bit, as I would like to have kids someday (someday being ten years from now!)
ReplyDeletep.s. Foodie soulmates fo life, yo.
My mom would only let me watch the dancing in dirty dancing. She left out the whole pregnant, botched-abortion, sex part.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have many rules as a teenager other than curfew and the ever-present expectation to make good grades. I was too busy to be bad, and I was very intimidated by sexy stuff anyway.
SCS
I'm seeing a recurring theme among the comments that you were just not really interested in sexin at 14. DITTO. the problem is that these kids today have been overly exposed to EVERYTHING. My goodness, when i watched Golden Girls as a kid (RIP BLANCHE DEVEREAUX!) i didn't get the jokes. kids these days get the sex jokes, hell they have better sex jokes. its so much harder to parent now, because even if you teach your kids better, popular culture is kind of hard to avoid, unless your kids are home schooled jungle freaks, (lol thank you mean girls). And somewhere along the line, a lot of parents decided to be their kids "friend" and not their parent. sad sad sad. and shame on that mother in the grocery store. SHAME!
ReplyDeleteIs that Really a Pic of Miley Cyrus ? My 5 year old loves Hannah Montanna. What a shame.
ReplyDeleteYes, unfortunately that really is Miley! I've met her several times and she really is a nice, down-to-earth girl BUT she's also totally boy crazy!
ReplyDeleteI thought people would be able to relate to the Dirty Dancing "rule." Shannon, that's hilarious that you got to watch only the dancing parts. Even at the beginning when Baby carries that watermelon into the dancefloor sexfest party?
And I'm with you Nadette...the parenting/friend line is often very blurred. You can be "cool" without being THAT parent. Yikes.
I love Miley! haha I'm a 25 year old tween. But for real, I don't think its about rules as much as it is about an open dialogue. My mom was really cool and honest and I was pretty good and honest back. I have friends whose parents were really strict and they were the biggest sluts and knew nothing and hid everything! Talk to your kids, you know?
ReplyDeletehttp://thenylife.blogspot.com
Hey, hey...Miley's dad was right there when she took that photo, she was under parental supervision.
ReplyDeleteWhy do her eyes look like the glass eyes of those creepy olde dolls from the 1800s?
We think those things are creepy now, and they are. We were raised with ultra-cuddly neon-plush toys not realistically deadish children toys. But I imagine a kid from 1823 seeing a Monchici or a smurf doll or Barbie or even a Cabbage Patch Kid and being horrified at the creepy strangeness and exaggerated features of them. Except Smurfs, you can't really exaggerate features of imaginary things, I guess.
Elizabeth, I agree. I just think parents have to what's right for their kids and family in general. The strict thing worked on me, but umm, yeah, lots of kiddos totally go the other way and rebel later on!
ReplyDelete