Sunday, May 01, 2005
TEENAGER TIRADE
7th Grade sex ed., taught by Ms. Armstrong, was a fiarly painful experience. Mrs. Armstrong was 7 million years old - and slightly (rightly) disgruntled. Her field of experitse was Home Ec. The powers that be, however, decided sex education would be a part of the home ec, curriculum!
After giving the required spiel on abstinace, STDs, pregnancy, etc., she veered from the pre-packaged script and editoralized, "If teenagers were supposed to have sex or get pregnant, Adam and Eve would have been teenagers."
This point was lost on my heathan classmates-- and while I would have LOVED to argue that logic with her, I did not give teachers trouble. (The path of least resistance was my preffered way of enduring school).
But Mrs. Armstrong's logic scares me.
She was teaching in the public schools, and could not "Preach" to studnets - but her occasional snide coments make me quite certain tha she was one of those republician christians that are out to legislate morality.
Thinks Juile - If god didn't want teenagers to get pregnant, puberty would start at 21 instead of 12
Most adults think that teens are stupid.
But they aren't.
They might not always think in mature ways - but they aren't stupid
Teenagers are very capable of making decisions - they do it all the time.
(They're just smart enough not to tell you!)
Thinks Julie - If Ms. Armstrong and the Flordia Legislature could, they would make a law saying that 13 year old are too young to deal with menstration. After all, puberty causes pregnancy!
L.G. is a 13 year old in Florida
You've probably read about how the state has blocked her abortion because she's not "mature" enough to make a decision.
Teenagers aren't stupid
Teenagers CAN think for themselves
Thinks Julie - Didn't athletes in the former Soviet Union take drugs/anti-hormones to keep their bodies young until after they won olympic gold?
There aren't enough facts out there to have a truly informed opinion
We don't know the circumstances of LG's case/life.
We don't know why she ran away from the shelter
We don't know if the state has a good reason to think she's immature
BUT . . . kids aren't dumb.
And L.G. isn't dumb
I hope she gets a very lucritive book/movie deal out of this experience (when she is "mature" enough to sign the agreements!)
Sometimes, I really really hate the world.
7th Grade sex ed., taught by Ms. Armstrong, was a fiarly painful experience. Mrs. Armstrong was 7 million years old - and slightly (rightly) disgruntled. Her field of experitse was Home Ec. The powers that be, however, decided sex education would be a part of the home ec, curriculum!
After giving the required spiel on abstinace, STDs, pregnancy, etc., she veered from the pre-packaged script and editoralized, "If teenagers were supposed to have sex or get pregnant, Adam and Eve would have been teenagers."
This point was lost on my heathan classmates-- and while I would have LOVED to argue that logic with her, I did not give teachers trouble. (The path of least resistance was my preffered way of enduring school).
But Mrs. Armstrong's logic scares me.
She was teaching in the public schools, and could not "Preach" to studnets - but her occasional snide coments make me quite certain tha she was one of those republician christians that are out to legislate morality.
Thinks Juile - If god didn't want teenagers to get pregnant, puberty would start at 21 instead of 12
Most adults think that teens are stupid.
But they aren't.
They might not always think in mature ways - but they aren't stupid
Teenagers are very capable of making decisions - they do it all the time.
(They're just smart enough not to tell you!)
Thinks Julie - If Ms. Armstrong and the Flordia Legislature could, they would make a law saying that 13 year old are too young to deal with menstration. After all, puberty causes pregnancy!
L.G. is a 13 year old in Florida
You've probably read about how the state has blocked her abortion because she's not "mature" enough to make a decision.
Teenagers aren't stupid
Teenagers CAN think for themselves
Thinks Julie - Didn't athletes in the former Soviet Union take drugs/anti-hormones to keep their bodies young until after they won olympic gold?
There aren't enough facts out there to have a truly informed opinion
We don't know the circumstances of LG's case/life.
We don't know why she ran away from the shelter
We don't know if the state has a good reason to think she's immature
BUT . . . kids aren't dumb.
And L.G. isn't dumb
I hope she gets a very lucritive book/movie deal out of this experience (when she is "mature" enough to sign the agreements!)
Sometimes, I really really hate the world.