Ever since Socrates, adults rue the behavior of teens. We get a fair amount here on the blog. ANd the BOE, well they banned bakes sales based on assumptions that there’s widespread childhood obesity. The famous quote, to launch centuries of repition:
The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.
So its somewhat a surprise to see that today’s sheep, youth, are finally falling into line. Like the Dow Jones, incidences of various behaviors are down. The Advocate reports:
Here are some points Hafner makes to bolster her case that things are not as bad as many parents she counsels seem to think. She attributes many of her points to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual survey of risk-taking behavior by teens.
They include the revelations that:
* Binge drinking is down.
* Cigarette and other tobacco use is down.
* Teen birth rates, pregnancy rates, abortion rates and rates of sexually transmitted diseases are down.
* High school dropout rates are down.
She also notes:
* The peak of teen births was in 1957. “So that was my generation’s parents,” notes Hafner.
* And despite former President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, kids are having no more oral sex than before. “It’s about the same,” says Hafner.
And all that talk about the problems of teen obesity? “Our kids are a little heavier, but not by a lot.” She reminds parents that 83 percent of kids are not overweight. “And the best way to address the problem is by modeling good behavior, not banning bake sales at schools.”
So bring back those bake sales and chill.
source: Advocate, What every parent needs to know; It’s not as scary as you think, By Beth Cooney, July 13, 2008
