Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Allow Me to be a Prude for a Moment

I LOVE "Friday Night Lights," as well as "Parenthood." I think every grown up person should watch these shows and I think they teach good values, generally speaking. But I would never let my kids see them, because, have you noticed all the teenage promiscuity going on on? And it's not just the fact that it's going on, it's the way all the adults respond to it on the show!! The only time anybody ever gets in trouble or is involved in scandal is when a pregnancy is involved--and then somebody just gets an abortion, cries for a day, and in a few months they are right back on the beauty pageant circuit as if nothing happened at all. Their parents tease them: "hey, be sure to use protection next time, you fools!" I mean, what the what??? It's the reason why I hated Juno, even though it has a cool soundtrack and has likable characters or whatever: it teaches kids that it's okay to be promiscuous, even get pregnant, because in the end you will have a really sweet boyfriend who loves you for who you are.

Is this for real!!!???

Is this a reflection of reality, a gross exaggeration of it, or a pernicious suggestion to our youth? I was hoping that "Parenthood" would handle it differently, but of course they didn't. When faced with the fact that their daughter was you-know-whatting, the usually conscientious parents did this: "Oh, man. I wish she had waited!! Oh, well, let's get her over to the gyno for a birth control prescription!" Hello??? What has happened to this world? Can't anybody say "NO! Don't do that! Don't do it ever again! And let me tell you why not to do it..." anymore? Or do we just have to roll over and accept that kind of behavior? I don't get it. Remember the sitcoms in the 80's? Remember how it was such a SCANDAL and such a HUGE DEAL if there was ever a suggestion of promiscuity in the teenage kids of Cliff and Claire Huxtable? Those were the days....

9 comments:

  1. Too bad you are not writing for the newpaper any more. You have some good thoughts there. In Oregon we have a governor who has a live-in girl friend and everyone (well almost everyone) thinks it's just dandy. She is considered "our first lady". gag

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  2. I don't know if this is true or not but my friend told me she read this article that the abortion on FNL was the first time on a (network?) TV show where someone actually went through with one.

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  3. It's hard for me to think of pre-marital sex as not being morally wrong, but it seems like, no matter what you believe, high school is not the right time to start doing it. The thing that bothers me the most is that the parents on the show clearly thought their daughter was too young, and didn't want her to do it, but they felt completely helpless. It seems like parents ought to be stepping up and parenting their kids, especially when they start doing things like this. I don't know the right words to say, and it's definitely a delicate situation, but something should be said.Thank heavens that I don't have teenagers yet! But when I do,and we have discussions about all this, I'm glad that we will have our religious beliefs to strengthen us.

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  4. Well, I've been the mother of a teenager for almost 2 weeks now, so let me tell you--it's so hard! Just kidding. I actually try to talk to him about sex and standards and what we expect and what mixed messages media send about all of it, etc. and he'll have none of it. I have thought the same thing with these shows (PS you have excellent taste in tv) and I'm just sick of it always being one-sided. When have you ever seen an example of sex being talked about openly and honestly and it working out well in the end for the high schooler? As in, they're morally responsible and the parents are left to look like idiots. Like, a great example of how to talk about it/follow up? Never. Someone needs to write that story.

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  5. Good point! Another thing that bothers me is that if the guy is sensitive and mature then it's not a problem at all. I don't know a lot of sensitive and mature teenage boys. I mean, I'm sure they exist, but these shows make it seem like they aren't hard to find, and when you do, you should definitely have sex with them so they can be your boyfriend forever. Just because you find the "right person" doesn't mean it's the "right time." But I need to get off my soap box now...

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  6. What would have been really cool is if her boyfriend did the mature thing and said he wanted to wait. That would have been spectacular!

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  7. Welcome to High School world! When the subject comes up, I say what I can, and preach abstinence based on teenagers' lack of emotional and real world readiness. Also preach going to college and not getting caught in the baby trap. We have about 360 in our high school, and each year we average about 2 babies. Mostly from incoming sophomores.

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