This genration's teens...

Whatever happened to today's youth? How have this generation's youth become so corrupted? Whatever happened to childhood innicence?

I'll tell you what happened. The media happened.

I'm taking a psychology class in my high school this year and I'm SO GLAD I did because I'm really good at it, and I find it extremely interesting. Anyways, during one of my psychology assignments, I came across an article in Psychology Today about how today's youth as young as four years old are being pressurized to look and dress sexy. Please, tell me if you think this is right. Tell me if you think this is crazy.

Health Scare of the Week: Too Sexy, Too Young

"The media's incessant focus on female sex appeal has created harmful pressure on young girls to "sexualize," says a new report by the American Psychological Association. When girls as young as 4 get the message to look attractive, or to act "sexy," the report says, both their physical and emotional health suffers. The report, which analyzed more than 300 studies, said that TV, films, music, andtoys that portray girls as sex objects can increase young girls' susceptibility to eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression. The study was especially critical of songs by the pop band Pussycat Dolls and of the Bratz line of dolls, which depict preteens dressed in fishnet stockings, feather boas, and miniskirts. The trends extend to girls' magazines that promise "A Fierce Body Fast," and clothing manufacturers, which sold $1.6 million worth of thong underwear to 7- to 12-year-olds in 2003. Sex educator Deborah Roffman tells The Washington Post that these messages are more potent than they were just a decade ago. "The message to children is, 'You're already like an adult. It's okay for you to be interested in sex. It's okay for you to dress and act sexy, right now.'"

That's the entire article I clipped from Psychology Today. Man, this is just wrong. The minds of children are the most susceptiple and the easiest to manipulate, so it's no wonder the media is stooping so far to tempt little children to become promiscuous. Oh it makes me so mad! Are they really THAT desperate for advertisement, and selling their products that they have to lower themselves to this level? Why can't there be a ban on this sort of thing? This is just wrong! The media is encouraging our future generations to become sexually active, or promiscuous. One can only predict this will lead to an increase of teen pregnancies, the spread of STDs, unprotected sex, divorce rates will be higher than ever, and I can even see this extending to the point where young children might molest other children because they don't know any better!

Really, we have guidelines to what kinds of music we can play and what we can't. If radio stations have to have censors on their music, why can't we censor the media? Really! Why hasn't this been an issue with congress yet? You'd think that one of the self-righteous political women such as Tipper Gore would have made a stand to do something about this by now! She threw such a fit about censoring music that she got her way, but why stop there? If someone's going to be a crusader for moral rights, why would they fight just one moral battle? Why not fight all moral battles until the world is a better place? No one else was calling for a change in music, so she made a stand and did it herself. Well, if she's going to take it upon herself to get radio censors, why not fix all the problems with the media?

Now I really like the idea of this whole "TV boss" where the parents can set controls and block what they think is unsuitable for kids. I suppose this is one way the media can be filtered out. If I had kids, I'd definately use the parental controls on my TV. I'd rather my children learn about the "birds and the bees" from me, and not from the examples that the media sets for them. The freaking O.C., Laguna Beach, and all the drama-ridden soap opera-esque series they've got running these days.

And don't even get me started on teens and drugs. Oh it makes me so mad. Why do teens feel the need to smoke pot? Why even TRY it? And once they've tried it and it becomes a habit, they tend to defend it. Some say they need it to relax, and claim that it calms them down. And it makes me so mad because they don't even know what they're talking about! If you need to relax and calm down and get rid of stress, go kickboxing! write a poem! Do something productive! Something other than sitting on a couch, collecting dust and losing brain cells!

What REALLY makes me mad is how some pot-smokers defend their habits by saying that you can't get addicted to pot. NOT TRUE! While it IS true that you can't PHYSICALLY get addicted to pot, your brain becomes MENTALLY addicted to it, and the synapses in your brain trick your mind into thinking that you need it, hence the excuses and defensive behavior on behalf of the pot smokers.

I can't stand it! How did today's youth become so STUPID?! It makes me sad!

As Pink says in her "Stupid Girls" song, "Whatever happened to girls with ambition?"

That's my whole attitude about today's youth. Whatever happened to setting the bar at high expectations? Whatever happened to setting goals and reaching them? Where's the motivation? The inspiration? Where did society go wrong? How can we get today's youth back on track without being total Nazis about things? Man this world is a screwed up place.

Thanks for listening
Kaitlyn

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