Society must confront the sexualisation of children and teenagers.

by hehheh Wed Jun 21, 2006 14:27

So was I wrong to start masturbating when I was eleven? I could not help it. Honest.

by Ryan Wed Jun 21, 2006 14:34

An eleven year old who masturbates is perfectly natural.
An eleven year old should not be having sex or having children.

The point I am trying to make is that it is no suprise that if a mother and a father allow their eleven year old girl dressed in a make up, a belly top, hipster jeans with a thong and high heels to run wild without supervision, it is no suprise that by the age of 13 she is drinking alcohol, smoking, sexually active or pregnant or taking drugs.

by ex-young person Wed Jun 21, 2006 20:08

I am not sure that I agree with your solution to the problems outlined above because they are very authoritarian.

First off, a cut off age of 18 is just such a crude rule. There are vast differences in the level of maturity between teenagers at that age. As we know nothing magic happens on your 18th birthday. You don't suddenly grow up.

And I am not even sure about your analysis of the problem. Yes it is absolutely true that through mass marketing young people are clearly exploited.

On the one hand the media via pop-stars and celebs, hip TV shows and so forth parades and encourages the sexuality of teenagers and then on another level gets on the high moral ground about it. In other words it is happy to use teenagers as a selling tool and to mass market to them to sell them product like fashion, phones, etc.

We have got to remember that not so long ago teenagers could marry at 16 and in many other countries they still do at this age and younger, actually thats the case in much of Asia and Africa. While it is generally frowned upon here, just because they allow it elsewhere is not a reason for us to follow suit. At the same time it tells us something which is not everyone sees things the way moralists do here.

Another important point is that our so called modern society actually discourages teenagers from maturing. When you are a teenager you are placed in a no-mans land of, you are neither a child or an adult. Yet in earlier times, young men grew up, had families, jobs, and even lead armies at the age of 16 or 17. But now teenagers are not really supposed to work even though many do, they can't vote, so they are not supposed to think. There is lots of stuff they can't do and general trend in some countries such as the USA is to push these age limits up to 21 -especially for drinking. What society does is it draws out the last few years of teenage life quite painfully. I know of numerous teenagers in their last years of school where they become utterly bored with the whole thing. It is in these last 2 or 3 years that their spirit seems to get crushed. This is the very point in the biological life when they should in theory be most fit and active both physically and mentally, yet we seem to bar them from everything. They are hardly allowed to kick football on the streets. Yet they are prey to their marketeers.

Funny thing though is society is quite happy to send them to the army at 18 to go out and murder.

I think overall you have identified some problems like the gross sexualisation of young teenagers through the media and consequent peer pressure when they are far too young. But your approach is to decree blanket bans on this that and the other. You fail to identify the central role of media and corporations, indeed the very structure of our economy and the fact that teenagers have no voice and at the same time by wanting to impose a lot list of rules you are giving them no credit for being able to think for themselves. Its a very ham-fisted solution that you impose.

Until teenagers are allowed to mature and find their own space, they are naturally go to seek outlets that give them thrills and those will remain to be drink, sex, drugs and joy-riding.

Regarding your point about how and why parents allow this, yep I agree that is part of the problem, but you have to ask yourself why they do?

Lastly though teenager pregnancy is not a new thing. Ever wonder why we had so many orphanages in Ireland in the past? I would hazard a guess a say that a fair percentage were teenage pregnancies or pregnancies out of 'wedlock'. It was just hidden then.

by kIPPY Thu Jun 22, 2006 17:19

I agree with "ex-young person" that your solutions are very authoritarian and you seek to cut off the head to cure the cancer so to speak. The social problems you have outlined are clear as day. Sadly the most vocal people trying to tackle the issues you write about tend to be religious nuts, whose grip on logic is as as febble as there attempt to analysis the root cause of these social problems, (we are seen as consumers rather than humans, you are what you own...etc

by teenage marketplace Fri Jun 23, 2006 04:04

You raise several very valid points. I agree that the media have a very detrimental effect on young teenagers. For example, the latest generation of sexist rap music videos encourage dressing in overly provocative ways while the language used in the songs objectifies women and to an impressionable young mind, these images and ideas can find root. I frequently overhear kids emulating this whole rap terminology. It's rather sad.

The drinks companies are never taken to task sufficiently for my liking over the effects their products have on the fabric of our society on so many levels. They cynically introduced "alco-pops" which have mesasurably contributed to excessive drinking by young teenage girls.

The fact is , in our consumer drink oriented society, we do not protect our children from the dark side of rapacious capitalism which readily exploits a lucrative tenage market.

Regarding sexual behaviour, IMHO people should not have sex unless they are in a good relationship with someone with whom there is good communication, so matters of contraception and STD's can be dealt with in an adult way. In practice the media glorifies casual sex and puts tremendous pressure on youngsters to indulge. Ironically such awkward drink fuelled sex is rarely much good either by all accounts.

Perhaps the introduction of the morning after pill as an over the counter option as in other countries, will at least offer a last ditch option to some teenagers who find themselves in difficulties. The GP's in this country are currently hindering this process, under the guise of the need for guidance, but methinks it is just to ensure they get their 40euro+ for the consultation. this is just another barrier to poorer people who find themselves in difficulty. Sure they need guidance but at this stage the horse has well and truly bolted, and if GP's really believe that this expensive 5 minutes of guidance is so crucial, then why aren't they offering to waive their fees in such cases? Fat chance.

Sex is fine in a good relationship and wear any clothes you like when you have your own mind, but when you are still an impressionable child, I believe you need the protection of parents and society from the forces of advertising and capitalism and this is not forthcoming it seems. Too much money to be made by vested interests from the teenage marketplace.
Sure, people mature at different rates but short of there being some sort of citizen exam you can take which makes you a certified adult, I can't see how we can deal with many of the issues on a case by case basis. And thus far, I have met very few 18 year olds who were yet strong and mature enough to resist the forces of marketting and peer pressure. The pressures to drink and have drunken sex at that age are tremendous.

some things you can do:
--------------------------------
Take an active interest in and spend time communicating and doing stuff with your children (or don't have any)
watch "the ad and the ego" (before you throw out your tv!!)
turn off your TV and ideally, get rid of it
don't buy or let your kids buy stupid glossy magazines full of adverts.
don't drink on front of your kids (preferably don't drink alcohol at all if you have kids)
encourage everyone you know to stop drinking (best of luck there! you'll need it unfortunately)
support comprehensive sex education in schools
support school uniforms. these remove competition and peer pressure regarding clothing and ensure that teens are modestly dressed

by Josef Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:05

Typical socialist - enforce this, ban that. Aborte him, prosecute her.

by Josef Fri Jun 23, 2006 17:34

I think that, ideally, everyone should homeschool their kids. To keep them away from lefty propaganda and the pushing of the immorality agenda for as long as possible.

A decent parent needs nowadays to be sure that he has armed the child with sufficient prayer and counter-arguments before he exposes him to the half-baked notions that he'll encounter from the Teacherhood.

You wouldn't expose your child to cholera without first innoculating him would you?

Some will say, "what about the childs s*****ization"? And I think the asterisks there tell you what I think of that idea. If people were refering to the child's ability to get along with others that's easy solved. Give him loads of brothers and sisters. And encourage your family to give him loads of cousins. And sign him into the GAA.

by d'other Tue Sep 12, 2006 18:14

As a socialist of the libertarian bent, how in gods name do you extrapolate from the hysterical rantings presented by Ryan that he is a socialist? It seems to me Ryan needs a healthy does of reality before spouting out moralistic shite about the sexual mores of the nations youth. I'd imagine several things could be implemented to off set teen pregnancies such as free contraceptives and proper sex education in the schools, then more easily availible emergency contraceptives in an over the counter manner. Not to mention removing the shame of discussing sexual issues by challenging the screaming condemnations mooted by Ryan and recognising that such dialouge forces out the voice of reason in such debates.