The Current Culture

As I was clearing away trash this weekend, I happened to pick up one of my 13-year old's Seventeen magazines. There were articles about a mom who buys her daughter flavored condoms, a girl asking if porn was okay, and if sperm could transmit anything after it had been air born. Now that my five-year old can read, I think those magazines are banned from the house. Don't get me wrong, if I'd really looked at this magazine before, I would have ended it long ago for the 13-year old too. I've always been for sex education, but saying that Seventeen Magazine is educational is like saying Playboy can teach men to be good husbands.

Our kids are inundated with messages that I don't think I want them having. I'm about ready to move to Amish country. We discuss the way that the dolls dress.

Boo's 23-year old cousin was telling us at Christmas that she couldn't find a doll that was dressed in a way that she would want a 5-year old to have it. All of the fishnet-wearing dolls looked like little hookers! At least, it opens up the discussion to talk about what is classy and what isn't.

For now, I've put the children in church every Sunday, and I am looking for any religious camp or activity I can put them into. I don't want my daughter to grow up and act like these girls in the current culture, and I don't want my son to think it's okay to treat a girl the way that these girls seem to be begging to be treated. A cute movie that made a statement about parenting and manners was Blast from the Past. Maybe raising your kids in a fallout shelter with news, movies, and customs from 1950's is the way to go.