|
|
Currently no members online:)
You are an anonymous user. You can register for free by clicking here |
We have 28 guests online !
|
|
|
 |
 |
| Articles: Operation Oatmeal |
Posted by
bettie_x on Friday, April 12, 2002 - 04:03 AM PST
I've a question...
I had the oportunity to speak with a teacher the other day during a day long lull at work, and we got on the subject of children. She asked me if I felt music, movies, and video games were responsible for the violence in children, for hypersexual awareness and in general, behavior problems.
I flat out told her no, and she was sort of shocked that I was so blunt. I then said, to her in effect, that it's not the music, the movies, or the games that were destroying kids, it's the lack of guidance and supervision from their parents that makes them unable to distinguish between entertainment of any sort and real life. They grow up in daycare, then they're sat in front of the babysitter box, drop kicked to the mall's curb and bade "go play", and then they can't figure out why they're unhappy or violent or out of touch with reality, so blame the music and movie characters they associate more with mother and father than their own parents. So naturally when the kid does something wrong, of course it's not something they did, they didn't do ANYTHING...since the kid was born...it's because they did NOTHING.
She gave me the most astounded look I've ever seen anyone gave me in my LIFE. I'm assuming she'd never heard someone put it that bluntly...and coming out of the mouth of a five foot 22 year old with 1/2" stretched ears working retail.
I said I was sorry, that I'd probably said more than she wanted to hear, and she was just flabberghasted... said she knew exactly what I was talking about.... gave me her card, and said that if I ever wanted to know what it's like to be a teacher, to call her and I could sit in on some classes at the elementary. Wierd!
ANYWAY...
I also discussed with several kids during back to school about dresscodes. Do you know that in the schools in my area, tanktops on girls aren't allowed? That the straps must be four fingers wide to be acceptable, as the shoulder is considered "provocative"? I know *I* get all hot and bothered at the sight of a supple tender teenage shoulder....
That some kids aren't allowed to wear anything with studs on them, shaped or pointed? Or wallet chains at all?
I asked a lot of them why, and they said they were considered weapons. More and more schools are changing to dress codes to keep the cliques and peer violence/bullying down. They actually think it will eliminate it!
Take away the stimulus, extinguish the behavior, right?
W R O N G ! ! ! ! ! !
What you are doing is just that...eliminating the stimulus so the "symptom" of the behavioral problems don't bubble up and bother people. Not to mention that now these children are immersed in a homogenized mass the equivalent of orderly rice pudding..... and when they finally graduate and hit the "real world" they won't know how to handle people who perfer ambercrombie over the gap let ALONE *gasp* they run into a hippie...what's wrong with their hair?!
Chances are they'll graduate, step out into the real world, have the shock of their lives, have an aneurism and die on the spot.
Don't get me wrong... I have admiration for educators... I hope to be one some day. Most are fine people who care... some are hopeless unhappy hypocrites who don't even know what their job is anymore. They are expected to raise america's children, but aren't given the authority or the grounds to help the kids that need it... it's a tough job... give them some slack.
Anyhoo.... so, in their effort to deal with bullies and social picking and singling them out, they take away the fragile individually they are trying to establish, make the bullies and the victims invisible to each other, right?
Again, wrong. Bullies are bullies, victims are victims. Bullies will find something to pick on, if it's not how someone dresses, it's their hair color/style, it's their weight, it's their music tastes, how they talk, how they walk, how they eat, what they eat, where they sit and who they talk to etc. They'll find something, they'll find a victim to release their insecurities and hurt on, just as their parents put it on them by showing the child they don't care by not watching them, not talking to them, not caring...all pleasantly and nicely wrapped in the chant of "kids will be kids".
Of course, the only reason they're being picked on is their clothes, right? OF COURSE! *sarcasm*
So we'll force conformity on the only freedom they have, their dress, and they'll be happy cause they're not getting picked on for being the freak they are, right? Sure...keep telling yourself that.
People don't want kids anymore...they want orderly, obedient, miniature replicas of themselves that are content to sit and mimic and be quiet. Seen and not heard..... They don't want to deal with the behavior problems that they caused, they don't want to deal with their questions, their problems, their MINDS... after all, kids don't have minds, do they? What?
They don't want to empower the helpless and humble the viscious...they want them to just forget about it like they do... wrap it up in polo's and slacks, pat it on the head and say "there, isn't this much nicer? now go to the mall and play, mommy and daddy want to be alone."
I have fucking kids come to ME with questions! To ME with what they did at school.... to the black haired lady with the seahorse tattoo at the mall. Sad, isn't it? My coworkers and I are the ones telling them why they need a job, why they need to think of the future, listen to their stories and their awful jokes... sad, isn't it?
Wrap them up in cute little outfits no different from their neighbor and solve their problems. Mask the bullies and bury the victims. Peace in indifference. Utopia in a polo. Seen and not heard.
Sound good to you?
|
| |
| |
|
|
This article has not been rated
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Operation Oatmeal | Login/Create an account | 34 Comments |
|
| | Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
True dat
by VampCourt (Morbidchic@hotmail.com)
on Apr 12, 2002 - 05:57 AM
(User info | Send a Message)
http://www.geocities.com/vampcourt/index.html?1017202482720
|
this made me think about when my friend and i were at this mall in OR and we saw a group of what looked to be a bunch of 13 yr olds. and they were all wearing your typical abercrombie/gap/tommy/whatever you wanna call it clothing.. The girls clothes were all tight and little and constricting. Tight little tops and tight tight pants. The boys however wore baggy clothes.. baggy pants, long comfy t-shirt.. big bulky shoes. IS there something wrong with this picture??
And also too.. when i was out there.. i saw a news report about two girls being abducted. they were of the ages 12 and 13. Sure. but if you saw the way they were dressed.. adorend with makeup and piercings and slut clothes. It made me angry. Who are these parents who think its cute that thier kids are dressing like adults. Sure its fun for dressup.. but tis scary when they want them to be a pedophiles dream. Get what i Mean??
|
Re: True dat
by goathead (toxic@hotbrev.com) on Apr 12, 2002 - 07:31 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://http:// | | yeah, i agree.. the way the fashion industry influences kids barely even into their teens is like a dream come true for pedophiles.. it's disgusting.. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Britney Spears
by gothvail (vail@gothicamateur.com) on Apr 12, 2002 - 08:40 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www.gothicamateur.com | | And just think! Britney Spears is getting 12 year old girls everywhere to dress like 40 year old men want them to! This is because Britney is owned by a corporation run by 40 year old business men. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Re: Britney Spears
by kat_vamp (catvamp@msn.com) on Apr 17, 2002 - 08:47 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www://communities.msn/catvamp | | I agree. Also, just because you're bleeding doesn't mean that you are psychologically and emotionally capable of dealing with sex (or pregnancy, abortion, or childbirth and motherhood for that matter.) |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Re: Re: Britney Spears
by hipperthanu on Apr 20, 2002 - 05:38 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www.angelfire.com/goth/glaiven/ | Blaming Britney Spears (and/or the corporations that tell her what to sing) for young girls dressing in Abercrombie clothes is just like blaming Marilyn Manson for Columbine and the like.
It's a double-edged sword. The media influences people, yes. But I hear way too many people saying that what they like isn't to blame, but then when it comes to blaming Britney for little sluts, McDonalds for fat people, and Microsoft for their computer crashing.. they're yelling at the top of their lungs.
These things DO influence people. But they can't be blamed. It's all of society, it's the parents, it's the climate, it's everything. You can't place the blame in one place no matter what the subject is.
Of course give me Manson's music to Britney's anyday, but that's a different topic entirely. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Britney Spears
by Schizo on Apr 22, 2002 - 05:34 AM
(User info | Send a Message) | The ultimate blame, of course, lies on the individuals themselves. McDonalds and Abercrombie couldn't survive without each customer making that decision (which customer, however influenced by other people, still generally retains some degree of control of their decisions) every day to overeat or dress like an unoriginal slut.
Not saying we shouldn't be compassionate. But it helps no one to pass the buck. Admit where the trouble is so it can be taken care of. That's the only true compassion.
Even genetically fat people can keep away from obesity. It's just harder.
Even 12 year old girls immersed in pop culture can demonstrate taste and originality. It's just harder. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Britney Spears
by hipperthanu on Apr 22, 2002 - 10:53 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www.angelfire.com/goth/glaiven/ | I couldn't agree more. Our society is so obsessed with blaming everyone but ourselves. Video games and movies cause our violence, lack of money in schools is the reason our kids don't know anything, the cigarette companies gave us all cancer, and on and on and on. Not that I think corporations are always nice but I never see an anti-smoking commercial where the person with the tube in their throat says "I wish I wasn't such a damn idiot." Compassion is need but first people need to admit when they mess up.
"I'm not to blame cuz my videogame got my mind, oh yeah." -Spacehog "This Is America" |
[ No anonymous comments ]
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: True dat
by callei (plyn@plynlymon.com) on Apr 12, 2002 - 10:07 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www.plynlymon.com | i could be wrong here, but i think pedophiles would want them to dress as little kids.... since a pedophile want to be with a kid, not an adult. dressing or acting like an adult would seem to make you less desierable to a pedophile. could be me...
Anyhoo.... these kids that you are talking about, these 12-14 year old girls in particular, are not "little kids". they can and do get pregnant, have breasts, periods, all that stuff. biologically theu arent children, they are adults. Unfortunatlry they also live in a culture that thinks women never become women by stay little girls forever, and thinks that 18 years old means grown up. this is not really relevant since it was based at least partially on when girls and boy matured when underfed and with no hormones in a very cold climate that retarded physical development.
this 18 year old line was 2 years after the first period for women. MOST girls these days in the US have thier first period by the age of 11, so giving it two years for them to get used to being a functional adult.... that makes it what 13? and many girls have thier first period at 10, some even younger.
Is it really a case of children pretending to be adults or is it young adults trying to make thier own lives in a culture that wont acknowledge thier adulthood or give them adiquate training to be the adult that they are at 14?
I mean it is legal for 14 year olds to get married (in some states, 16 in most others) but not legal for them to see a scary movie? or move out? or choose thier own classes?
I think we are raising our kids wrong, in that we dont give them responsibities until they are already too old to learn how to handle them, no rights until they are sick of being disenfranchised, and artificially elongating "childhood" until it becomes detremental to them. We want them to stay cute little dolls that we play dress-up with and (due to being badly raised ourselves ) we dont know what to do with them after they start to think for themselves (around age 3-5).
But that is my rant. Obviously these "kids" have brains and needs and wants and desires, they are HUMAN. and they know how to try to get those needs filled, they may not be the best ways, but they arent significantly different from the way that "adults" get those same needs filled. Watch a soap- opera if you think im full of it and see adults acting like "children" |
[ No anonymous comments ]
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: True dat
by VampCourt (Morbidchic@hotmail.com) on Apr 12, 2002 - 04:37 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www.geocities.com/vampcourt/index.html?1017202482720 | woah no no.. alot and i mean Alot of pedofiles target little children that dress like adults. and its fucking sick.
Also too.. Watch the porn industry.. There's always little hints here and there about how great it is to violate a young girl to make her more into a slut.
I think its called the virgin whore complex.. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: True dat
by callei (plyn@plynlymon.com) on Apr 12, 2002 - 09:54 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www.plynlymon.com | just to be silly here:
"It is important to understand the differences between pedophiles and molesters. Pedophilia, which is a psychological disorder, is a distinct sexual preference for pre-pubescent children. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 111-R), which is published by the American Psychological Association, supplies this definition of pedophilia: “recurrent, intense, sexual urges and sexual arousing fantasies of at least six months duration involving sexual activity with a pre-pubescent child” (DSM, V.3, 1987). Generally, this means the target of the fantasy will typically be less than 12 years old. ....
Child molesters, however, can have many different motivations for their crimes. And those motives, surprisingly, are often not of a sexual origin. "(http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial/pedophiles/index.htm)
so we are both right, that 13-15 year old women are not a pedophiles choice, and that there are some truely sick fucks out there that take it out on kids.
|
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: True dat
by callei (plyn@plynlymon.com) on Apr 12, 2002 - 10:16 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www.plynlymon.com | My point i guess is that many of these "kids" are having sex by choice, because they want to and are having sex with willing partners. Yes it is illegal (well ok in some states and with some partners) in this country. So are drugs and "kids" do those by choice too. I am not saying that it is good, since lots of "kids" at this age have no real grasp of the consequences of sex, but then most people seem to be unaware of the conswquences of sex judging by the spread of AIDS and unwanted pregnancies.
When does a persons body become thier own? at thier first period or wet dream? at 18? at thier first pregnancy? at the birth of thier first kid? after they finish med school? Traditionally in this country and in western culture, children are possetions that are owned until the age of 25. Yes 25 not 18. you are not a legal adult at 18, you are just no longer a minor. does that mean that our "kids" dont own thier own lives until they are 25?
You are drive at 15 1/2, a terribly dangerous activity that kills thousands of people every year, but you cant have sex, a rather safe activity even with AIDS out there, until you are 18.
as a final thought, i would gladly go to jail or give my life to stop a child molester or a rapist. I would gladly give my life to stop one BEFORE they commit the act, or to somehow reverse the act so that it never happened. I will also talk til i am hoarse telling a teen to think about why they want to have sex and try to help them see what it will really mean in thier lives (social shunning, guilt, lonliness, going agaisnt thier own beliefs, pregnancy, STDs, etc). But i wont tell them that they cant have sex, that they dont have the right to choose what they do to and with thier bodies. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: True dat
by kat_vamp (catvamp@msn.com) on Apr 17, 2002 - 09:17 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www://communities.msn/catvamp | Okay, I've read all the comments from others on this topic, and I must say that Everyone has good information and Part of the truth.
I agree that people should be in charge of their own bodies...from 18 months of age onward. At 18 months they are begining to learn about their badies and their bodies become their own.
I also agree that our society is all messed up when it comes to educating our children about their bodies and how to become a responsible adult. Yes, our culture babies our children for way too long. Yes, women Are expected to remain "kids" and that sucks. Our culture sucks in general and these are just more examples of how.
Pedophilia is molestation, but molestation is not always simply pedophilia. A person can be molested at any age. And not all perverts (of the icky variety) want real children...some do prefer young adults or women who dress young. A common fantasy is the 20 year old woman with a schoolgirl uniform and a lollypop. But that's beside the point.
UNTIL YOU HAVE THE SELF AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE that you are in charge of your body, your life and your experiences...that is to say, until you are an enlightened person...you CANNOT be totally responsible for what you are doing.
Teenagers ARE young adults. They should be treated as such. But they DO NOT have the life-experience to handle such things as sex and it's consequences. Teenagers are young enough to still beleive they are invincible and immune to the consequences of their actions. It's up to the parents to teach them these things...and yes, most parents fail miserably at this. Teenagers do not have the Emotional Capacity to handle the consequences or even the actions, due to their short time on earth and their lack of experience because of that.
Now...if I beleive that a person is in charge of their body from the age of 1 1/2...it doesn't neccessarily mean that I beleive that they are responsible enough to make all of their own choices without guidance. And just because I agree that teenagers deserve respect and to be treated as the adults their bodies say they are (most teens have really great minds too!) doesn't mean that I beleive that they (as 1/2 child-1/2 adult) are responsible enough to handle sex and it's consequences.
Also...It doesn't matter how a person dresses, wears makeup, or flaunts themselves about...it doesn't mean that they are "asking" for it (rape.) That is a horrible fallacy that perpetuates this sort of violence. Rape has nothing to do with age, sex, sexuality, looks, actions, or anything else...RAPE IS A VIOLENT ACT OF ONE PERSON CONTROLLING ANOTHER. So those girls that got abducted did not "deserve" it, and I feel horrible for anyone who goes through that sort of trauma. (Coming from one who has been there.) I wish I could torture, then let live, every molester and rapist in the universe. I fantasize about that. I have dreams about that. I despise them all. And if I could stop them, I, too, would give my life. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Re: True dat
by kat_vamp (catvamp@msn.com) on Apr 17, 2002 - 09:20 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www://communities.msn/catvamp | | PS: although I hate Brittany as much as the next person...children and young girls DO imitate her. So, again, where are the parents to guide these girls? And if they are old enough to make those decisions without guidence, then why complain about how they are dressed? |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by gothvail (vail@gothicamateur.com)
on Apr 12, 2002 - 08:36 AM
(User info | Send a Message)
http://www.gothicamateur.com
|
I must say that I agree with you that music, movies, videogames, etc...aren't to blame for the problems kitds have. But I'd like to put a slightly different spin on it (you're not wrong, I just wanted to look at things from a different angle for a minute).
I grew up in a two-parent home where we had no video games. My sister and I were allowed one hour of TV each day, except on weekends when we could each choose a film to watch. My mother never allowed us to watch R-rated movies. Even now when I go home for vacations, she won't have them in the house. If any of our CDs had parental advisory warnings on them, she threw them out.
And how did I turn out? I like to think I am pretty normal and well-adjusted. I am also bisexual, polyamorous and run an erotic website. I live with my boyfriend, to whom I am *not* married, and he is not the only person I have ever had sex with. My mother never would have allowed material concerning any of these behaviours in the house while I was growing up. So I can only assume they came from within me. I never even thought about doing/being any of these things when I lived at home, but since I moved away 5 years ago, they have become so much a part of my life that when my mother calls and asks what I have been doing lately, I have to tell her "nothing".
Does anyone see what I am driving at here?
|
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by bettie_x (strangersangel@hotmail.com) on Apr 13, 2002 - 09:27 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://bettie_x.tripod.com/strangeasangels/ | I think you are correct...we're all born with a predisposition, a personality, and though external factors help mould the person we become, they merely INFLUENCE the base personality. Some children are born with "winning" personalities, grow up in an abusive home, but strive to rise above it. Some are born without such personality and drive, same abusive home, and drown in it.
Look at me....loud, explosive, verbal and off the wall. I was raised in what could be called an "ideal" childhood, loving attentive parents, never in need nor in want, never had a hand raised to me. My middle sister is the very image of better homes and gardens...My eldest sister was always the troublemaker, the "wild child", and then me, big mouthed but more conservative than my eldest sister, only wierder. All raised the same, in the same condition, all at opposite ends of the spectrum. Because we were all born with our own unique personalities. Very OPPOSITE personalities.
Oddly enough, I get along better with my conservative sister who is married with her first baby, owns a home, two vehicles, and has a pretty normal life...versus my eldest sister and I who when not in a bar are at each other's throats unless faking it for the sake of family.
Your parents raised you with respect and a RESPECT for respect, it seems...a lot like my family. My mother would just rather not know...hell when I'd stay the night at my then boyfriend's house, I'd tell her we were watching movies for crying out loud! I'm 22 and she STILL doesn't know I smoke, and never WILL, DIDN'T know about the two tattoos on my back until I tried on my wedding dress, and she made it clear she wishes to remain in the dark, so I respect her wishes and let her be blissfully ignorant of the life I've chosen.
You respect her by not loading the juicy bits of your life that you know she'd have an aneurism over on her...you respect the fact that if given the choice she prefers the dark. She's made you a good person (from what I've seen), one that can make decisions for their own life, and one that can respect the wishes of others not to be horrified! (like my mom)
You can't change the personality, but you can influence it. And only that. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Re: Operation Oatmeal
by kat_vamp (catvamp@msn.com) on Apr 17, 2002 - 09:31 AM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www://communities.msn/catvamp | Right on...that's the Truth!
I was adopted by a very conservative family, raised Protestant, and given good morals...all of which I threw in the basket!
I was soooo different (not opposite) than my adopted parents that it was a cinch we couldn't get along, and never understood each other. Except for the good morals I learned from them when I was young (which have turned into my own morals...different from theirs) we are nothing alike. Yet, when I finally got hold of my information on my Biological family, it was funny to find out that most of the things that I am ARE biological! I have the same interests and talents that my biological family has. Maybe not ALL, because I still don't know who they are yet. Anyhow, how one is raised (and I use that term loosely in my case, as I left home at 13 and finished growing up on the streets) does affect their personality...but your basic personality does come from within...be it biological or spiritual or whatever.
Very interesting. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by Ironboots on Apr 12, 2002 - 04:23 PM
(User info | Send a Message)
http://ranger.vr9.com/Flash.html
|
I think, in a sort of oblique way, tv and related media -has- made kids like that... Before television and such, most children got their information from their parents (who controlled the flow) or miscellaneous sources. But now, they have the television, for which to become aware of the world. They have music, most of which is negatively charged (government sucks, love sucks, corporations suck). And they have the internet (which is just really cool. I'll leave the pretty 'net alone ;).
But this adds up to a lot of negative news... And they have to just sit and watch it, lacking the freedom to react. That's bound to twist someone into knots...
Just watching anything on tv destroys my moods... damn noisy flashy box...
And that is a very good point on uniforms... Covering up the spikes and such isn't going to make a 'good fer-nuthin punk' into a nice, well-kempt person. Its like when bad butchers simply dye the spoiled meat so it doesn't look bad to customers. At my school, we have uniforms. Doesn't mean we don't have assholes. There are at least five in one class... Don't tell me bullying is about clothes, g-man...
And don't get me started about whether single-sex schooling helps....
|
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by bettie_x (strangersangel@hotmail.com) on Apr 12, 2002 - 11:26 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://bettie_x.tripod.com/strangeasangels/ | Of course media affects children....but I watched television...back when they still played the old ones where daffy would get drunk and chase daisy, smoke cigars etc. I watched the news...I was old enough to understand what was going on when they showed the attempted assasination of regan, the challenger explosion, the LA and Chicago riots, the murders, the rot of society. We had video games too..not like kids do now...I'm talking atari (frogger, pacman, riverraid, iceberg bob) and later nintendo and such. Granted, video games are a LOT more violent now, but I also watched horror movies (when mom was at work..my dad was the best babysitter in the world. Don't cry and don't tell your mother *grin*) I turned out okay, so did my sisters. We watched soap operas with mom when she was doing dishes or something, and we all know what THOSE are like.
The difference? I had parents around that when I saw something they felt could influence me, they explained it. If it was fictional violence, they explained it was fake, and that in real life it would hurt/kill someone and it was bad and wrong. If I heard dirty words in the street or on television or in movies, I would be told that it was not a nice way to talk to someone (okay, so I've got a mouth like a drunken pirate, but I can CONTROL it)
When mortal combat came out and I played it in video arcades, my mom actually asked me if I understood that if I did the things in the video game to other kids that they'd get really really hurt! I was like "duh mom" because I KNEW it was fake because they had guided me and educated me since I was aware of it.
When my little nephew plays "smackdown" on his playstation (which WE bought him) he thought it would be cool to try it on his little brother when they were playing on the bed. I caught him about to do something *ack!* and stopped him. He said he saw it on the game, and I asked him if he knew that if he did it to his brother, his brother wouldn't get back up, that he'd be hurt bad. I asked him how he would feel if he hurt his brother or a friend because of what he saw on a video game or on tv. He thought, and then said he would feel very sad and sorry. I asked him if he knew it was fake. He THOUGHT, and said "yes". I asked him if he wasn't going to do things on tv and games to others. He said no. I've not seen him do anything like it again.
Kids have brains..kids are sponges...you have to put as much good into the sponge as bad stuff gets in. It's called balance...it's called parenting...it's time consuming, difficult, and well worth it. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by darclight (an_impression_of_sound@yahoo.com)
on Apr 12, 2002 - 09:41 PM
(User info | Send a Message)
|
i can really only speak from my experience, but my mother teaches second grade and my father is a college professor. i'm 21, and having grown up in a household with two teachers for parents, hearing all the stories they've brought home over the years, i can honestly say kids are fucked up these days because of parental problems, not video games, music, or movies. media may perpetuate the problem, but it doesn't start the problem.
my mother teaches in a public school, and let me tell you she has had to deal with some seriously fucked up kids. one kid had to be watched constantly because he had a habit of running off to the bathroom to literally eat shit out of the toilet. his parents, knowing he did this all the time, had the response "oh, just put your hand on his forehead. if it's wet then you'll know he's been eating shit again." another family she's had to deal with lives in a small one-story house completely overrun with guinea pigs. hundreds of the animals live there, in the beds, on the couch, in the sinks, and everyone knows that all guinea pigs do is piss. but the mother sells them to local pet-shops, so supposedly it's all okay. she doesn't have them in cages, and when you drive past the house you can see the things crawling in the windows. a third family my mother has mentioned is really just a mother and a daughter. the mother owned a strip-joint downtown for one thing. for another, the daughter had really long blonde hair, and in that hair lived a colony of lice. the first time the girl came to school with lice in her hair, she was sent home, presumably to have the mother take care of the problem. it was obviously wrong to presume that, because the girl came back a week later still with lice. this time she infected half the school. after that settled down, a couple months later the girl had lice again.
seriously, what the heck do some of these people think? i understand these are fairly radical cases, but my mother doesn't teach in that big of a town, probably only 30,000 people. on several instances, special ed kids (not just borderline cases, but rather severly limited children) have been forced into my mother's classes by will of their parents, because the parents don't want to think their child is any different. these people totally ignore the fact that not only are they hurting their child by doing so, but they're also poorly affecting other kids in the same class.
all of this doesn't even begin to touch on the problems the rest of you have mentioned. i mean think about it...in second grade a kid eats shit out of public toilets on a regular basis and his parents accept it as commonplace. you can't tell me he won't grow up to be some sort of psychopath.
and is my mother supposed to magically fix these issues, because she's a school teacher? she can't do a thing. teachers have no rights in schools these days. and do video games tell kids to eat shit out of toilets and do movies depict kids having fun while they pick lice out of their hair? i can understand to a degree the argument that televised violence may lead some kids to actual violence, but the tv is not the root of the problem. too many people are horrible fucking parents. they may be great lawyers, or whatnot, but they're just horrible parents.
it's a system that perpetuates itself in so many ways. it begins at home and then becomes multiplied via peer pressure, media-hype, chemical imbalances, etc, etc.
|
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by bettie_x (strangersangel@hotmail.com) on Apr 13, 2002 - 09:28 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://bettie_x.tripod.com/strangeasangels/ | jumpin jesus on crack, and to think I want a piece of the public education system....NEVER MIND!
Though I'm sure michael would love to get the gossip.....and he just about pissed himself over the "just put your hand on his forehead..if it's wet he's been eating shit again"
|
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by Mara (maraisgod@yahoo.com)
on Apr 12, 2002 - 10:23 PM
(User info | Send a Message)
http://
|
|
First off, I (as well as everyone else...i think) completely agree with you.... I just love to sit back and listen to mothers (yes mothers!)who rant and rave about the music and moive industry have to censor themselves to protect the youth of america and the only reason they`re running their mouths is because they bought little jimmy a new cd (that had the parental advisoray right on the front) and were soooo shocked when it said fuck after every other word or took little tiffany to the R movie and were disgusted by some random chick running around with her breast flapping in the air and fuck after everyother word.....this the point where i start screaming you fucking idoit u should be beaten to death with the stupid stick but I`ll save that for a better time.... Anyways on to dress codes .... this leads me in to an interesting little situation for a friend of mine daughter is in. She has just been suspended for 10 days(which got reduced to 3 by the power of angry mom) because she wore a bandana .... not cause she was in a gang and wanted to show her pride or did it have anything offensive on it. it was a plain bandana she wore because she didn`t have enough time to do her hair that morning which of course is such a good reason to suspend some one for 10 days (the school system at its best) and stories like that are just the tip of the ice burg of fucked up ways school has tried to screw people over....And whats their excuse (and i quote) "Its all done for the safety of the students". Well that what they told my mom when tried to suspend me for fighting back when a group of about 5 guys ganged up on me (I won of course) but since i was the "odd" child I`m the one who almost got punished (thank you power of angry mom) that kind of thing happens everyday and it never going to stop until gap starts selling corsets and leather pants ...... But then where would we all be... now thats a scary thought.
|
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by oohp (oohp@gotik.nu)
on Apr 13, 2002 - 02:39 AM
(User info | Send a Message)
http://thorns.wox.org
|
When I was in school they tried to put us in some kind of dorky uniforms, make all of us look like stupid marketing people. I know the next day I put on some antisocial clothing and my anarchy sign around the neck. And when they closed the school's doors during breaks (in order to make students not skip classes and not smoke?) there was some massive skipping going on. I, myself skiped a lot of classes just because they closed the damned doors. Well, in the end they gave up most of this bullshit.
But now, my girlfriend tells me similar stories. Uniforms, parents and so on. The sad thing is you are too right about this.
|
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by kat_vamp (catvamp@msn.com)
on Apr 13, 2002 - 07:05 PM
(User info | Send a Message)
http://www://communities.msn/catvamp
|
OH GOODIE! I get to rant about parenting too! :-)
I was the mother of three rugrats by the time I was 22. Being *so well raised* by my *normal, upstanding, Christian* parents (I left home when I was 13) I had plenty of skills (learned all from the streets) for raising kids. (Can you feel the sarcasm dripping?) I lost the first child (and went mad) and gave the other two up, for their own sakes (I simply was NOT capable of being a parent at that time.) So I know alot about how NOT to parent. I got spayed and said "Never Again." (As I played with my crayolas and wept.)
Since that time I have learned even more about how NOT to raise a child. I was a nanny for 10 years (the ol' mommy hormones were too strong for me to stay away.) I have seen some serious abuse and neglect of children (and reported what I could when I could.) I have done everything I can to learn parenting skills. What they teach you in those classes...*pftttttt* PLEASE. The best I learned is that kid's is peoples, and deserve the same respect as others; also, I got some really great teaching techniques! I do a great job at being a step-mommy to my GF's brats!
Now comes the BITCH.
I've studied childcare, and been a nanny FOREVER. I get with a chick who has three kids...kewl! NOT. What I did not expect was the mess I stumbled into. These children had been abused and neglected (by both parents) for 13 years before I came along and said :STOP! Well, stopping wasn't easy for her, but she did it! It took 2 years together for her to go into classes and therapy and get it...but she did it! I am sooooo proud of her!
Still, now we are dealing with 3 very messed up children. All of them have emotional/psychological disorders. Before I entered the picture, my partner had already lost her eldest son to CPS for his starting fires and going balistic. She's the one who called the cops on him. Good choice, now he's in a psych-facility for teens and doing great. He's still paranoid, and has behavioral/emotional problems, but at least he's in the right place to get help. I love him!
Enter child #2...a 7-year-old with a disorder called "reactive attachment disorder." It's nothing like it sounds...beleive me! She was totally incorrigible. I tried so hard to be her friend...but to her EVERYONE was the "enemy." Without going into it too deep, let me just say it got really bad, and my partner decided to let her live with the child's aunt...she's doing great now, too.
Child #3 is our developmentally disabled 11-year-old. She is our Angel! But I tell you what, it's still really hard. She's 11, and has the capacity of 18 months to about 3 years. She goes to school, and has been rapidly progressing. However, I must say that her tantrums are HELL.
I knew when I couldn't handle my children anymore. My partner got to the point where she knew she needed help, too. CPS is the Devil. But why can't people realize what their behavior is, and how their problems affect those around them (especially the impressionable ones?) What we have had to do in order to give our children the best we could has caused deep pain to us...a pain that never goes away. But the CHILDREN ALWAYS COME FIRST!!! I am constantly reminding my partner...I am constantly teaching her as well. She created the mess, I tell her, now she's the one who has to clean it up.
I wish more people would clean up their acts. I wish there were less children on the street (that is the roughest life for a kid in the world...but sometimes it's better than home can be.) I tell you what...CPS doesn't help a damned bit. They tear the families apart under the guise of "helping" the parents and kids. That causes trauma for both! I see our girls go through it each time they talk to their brother over the phone...one just cries and can't even talk, the other is apathetic and has no true emotions at all. You guess which is which...I'll bet you're wrong.
I d
Read the rest of this comment...
|
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by kat_vamp (catvamp@msn.com) on Apr 13, 2002 - 07:08 PM
(User info | Send a Message) http://www://communities.msn/catvamp | | BTW: I think the question was about the Entertainment Industry? I do think it affects the kids, and adults too, however, if the children (or former children) had been brought up better, given attention, listened to, and taught...it wouldn't BE so damned effective! I blame the parents. |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Operation Oatmeal
by nocta on Apr 14, 2002 - 02:15 AM
(User info | Send a Message)
|
My belief is that tv, video games, music, etc. can cause some limited violent acts, like Bettie's nephew trying to emulate Smackdown because he didn't understand that it would actually hurt the other participant. But the kids that are fucked up to begin with, the ones that eat shit or do any number of goofy things, those are the ones that are very adversely affected by tv/video games/music. But it really isn't the boob tube or the Playstation or the Marilyn Manson that makes the kid go nuts; the kid is predisposed to that sort of thing and the television or game or cd is just the catalyst. What I'm saying is that normal, well-raised kids don't have much trouble with playing nice, and the mean kids will be mean whether they watch that tv show or play that game or listen to that cd or not.
I for one am all for mandatory, free birth control. I think everyone should not be allowed to have kids until they've taken a class or passed a test or something to prove that they won't mess up the next generation.
And high school dress codes can kiss my ass; when I was in high school, they made a no coats rule after the Columbine shootings. It wasn't very well enforced...except on me. I can recall standing in front of the office between classes, talking to the principal about why I should not have to take my (trench)coat off, while countless other kids wandered by us on their way to class wearing their Fubu, Adidas, etc. coats. That trench didn't even have any pockets, let alone places to stash guns. I mentioned this, and offered to sign a form saying the school could search me at any time if I were just allowed to wear my coat. I was denied and offered a suspension for my trouble. What really gets me is that nobody cared that I wore a spiky black leather collar and bracelet- also against the rules. They just cared about the coat, not the jewelry that I actually could have used as a weapon. I think that schools should deal with the students' problems rather than their clothes. If the Columbine boys had just gotten some help from their school (or anywhere else), they never would have progressed to the point of guns in the coats.
|
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Re: Operation Oatmeal
by nocta on Apr 15, 2002 - 01:53 PM
(User info | Send a Message) | | :) Thank you! I guess I've had a lot of opportunities to think about those subjects. I'm glad i got my point(s) across! |
[ No anonymous comments ]
Re: Erm.. sumthin
by SDPaperCut on Apr 20, 2002 - 06:22 PM
(User info | Send a Message) | | Well, Yeah. kids are pretty messed up these days, and you have to wonder how they got this way. They're growing up in a world where society has presented itself to be nothing more than a cruel and sexual game. It seems that all people are thinking about it how to present themselves to others. It's a scary thing when Im walking down the street and I see five teens in exactly the same color tops and bottoms, all of which have altered themselves to play a role in the "majority's decision." It isn't just the kids. I've seen plenty of messed up adults in my lifetime thus far. They're all thinking along the same lines. I prefer to call them zombies, because they've let others influence their own decisions in life. they end up feeding off of eachothers thoughts, and evedentually, there's too little to go around. Well, what Im trying to say is, that it isn't just the kids.. it's society, one that I'd like to have hope for, but really don't |
[ No anonymous comments ]
|
|
