Appaling picture of teenage America

[Saint Marcus]

To be fair, the documentary you saw was what we call "sensationalist piece". Certain areas of the country with certain groups of people tend to do certain stupid things.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/georgia/

That's the incident I'm refering to. (different documentary though, but a link on the dutch site refered to this one).

It also states that this is not an isolated case, which it certainly isn't since I found the same things on my trip to Florida.

Sex and drug use (and STDs) aren't quite as rampant as you think they are, but they are a problem (I disagree on some drugs, though )

% of people infected with AIDS is a LOT higher than in other western countries, according to the UN it's 2.5 times higher in the US than in Europe. Must be a reason for that.

But why do you think that's a bad thing ( the 3/10 number, I mean)? I'd say that trying marijuana is nothing shameful.

yeah, you're right. Though I do think that 3 in 10 would be too high for people in juniorhigh/highschool.

[Saint Marcus]

Actually, the documentary he saw sounds like a Frontline piece I saw on the same subject a few years ago. Probably just translated into Dutch. Frontline's a rather well respected PBS TV news program.

It wasn't a translation of Frontline, but a seperate program called Zembla. However, they did work with Frontline and there's a link on the dutch page refering to Frontline.

[Jon Miller]

I am from Oregon

most of my stats were from when I was a sophmore in highschool

I know that they have gone up (reason for the +, a few are updated from talking to youger siblings)

and I agree that 10%-35% trying marijuana by the end of college is OK (it really is not that bad of drug, only real problem is makes people into losers (not all))

Jon Miller

[orange]

I would say that 35-40% of the kids in my graduating class have or often do use marijuana. Closer to 75% drink regularly or have consumed large amounts of alcohol at sometime. Probably less than 10% have used hard drugs like heroin or crack.

Me, I fall into none of those categories

[Zealot]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
Of course, I'm sorry. You said that parents in the US aren't mature enough, and that they don't have realistic life goals. The question I asked is why that is different in Canada or Europe? Are parents and people really that different, and if so, what caused this?

Well, I'm portuguese, european, not american, so I just can say what is my oppinion about americans.

IMO, you become wise with experience. Being wise is to have the abillity to avoid bad moments and bad experiences in your life. When you reach the status of a parent (wich the majority of the people world wide does), and you haven't been able to aquire a position about what a good morality is/should be, you just won't have anything to inculcate to your off-springs. This way they are exposed to pier pressure and to the bad examples of "how easy life is" that you see in TV/movies/comics or even games!
What I mean is that everybody needs to be set a path in their lives. If this doesn't happen, kids will "take the long way home", if you get what I mean. And when they become parents, the lack of guidance will be much greater, as we can currently see in our society, but even more in the american society.

[Shi Huangdi]

As much as I hate to say it, Mark is for the most part correct. Pot use is indeed very widespread, use of alcohol almost universal. Hell, I knew plenty of people who smoked pot in Grade 7. Sex is rare but existant pre-9th grade, but pretty common afterwards. Columbine-type incidents are of course rare, and when they happen it is international news, but in many schools there is widespread bullying and violence that can lead to such occurances.

[Wraith]

I'm going to have to save a copy of this thread. That way, next time one of the gun control threads gets going, and someone asks me "what cultural differences", I can say, "ones like this".

That said, the public education system in this country is either the root cause or a major contributor to a lot of this behavior (and I'm talking the teachers and policy, not peer pressure from students). This isn't exactly a new problem.

Wraith
"Killing people isn't always the best solution, but it does keep them out of your hair while you think about what to do."

[Natan]

I think that the raw numbers conceal the complexity of the matter - this stuff will very a lot depending on where you go and what sort of people you poll. For example, as a result of the implosion of the black family, a extremely large number of black teenagers have sex, (and often without protection, which accounts for high STD numbers in the black community and partially for the high numbers in America as a whole) and many try drugs. Certain social and economic groups probably have various correlations with these things as well. It probably varies by region of the country as well.

Also, who says that this problem is actually getting worse rather than just getting more exposure? We all know that American society has been getting more conservative over the past decade or two, so couldn't this be the result of increased concern rather than increased cause for concern?

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Natan
I think that the raw numbers conceal the complexity of the matter - this stuff will very a lot depending on where you go and what sort of people you poll. For example, as a result of the implosion of the black family, a extremely large number of black teenagers have sex, (and often without protection, which accounts for high STD numbers in the black community and partially for the high numbers in America as a whole) and many try drugs. Certain social and economic groups probably have various correlations with these things as well. It probably varies by region of the country as well.

Also, who says that this problem is actually getting worse rather than just getting more exposure? We all know that American society has been getting more conservative over the past decade or two, so couldn't this be the result of increased concern rather than increased cause for concern?

I know that it got worse in my school from my 8/9 time until 12 and has gotten worse since then (I have younher siblings that went there (thankfully no longer, the youngest is now being sent to private school dispite my family not having the money (my parents are frightfully in debt), that is why I am pro vouchers))

my school was mostly white with a strong hispanic minority

and I knew a number of dealers who were in 5th and 6th grade (they have since grown older, probably still young ones I do not know though)

and the schools and the town is just getting worse

Jon Miller

[Natan]

Originally posted by Jon Miller


I know that it got worse in my school from my 8/9 time until 12 and has gotten worse since then (I have younher siblings that went there (thankfully no longer, the youngest is now being sent to private school dispite my family not having the money (my parents are frightfully in debt), that is why I am pro vouchers))

my school was mostly white with a strong hispanic minority

and I knew a number of dealers who were in 5th and 6th grade (they have since grown older, probably still young ones I do not know though)

and the schools and the town is just getting worse

Jon Miller

By contrast, the biggest problems in Ithaca High School are the cutting of and talking during classes.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Natan


By contrast, the biggest problems in Ithaca High School are the cutting of and talking during classes.

Are you really sure about that? I bet there are more widespread problems than you think.

[Natan]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi


Are you really sure about that? I bet there are more widespread problems than you think.

Of course, but my only point here is that the problem is likely to be concentrated in certain areas - that doesn't mean that no one outside the "inner city" does drugs, but that the really severe problems like the kind discussed in this article are not the rule for American schools.

[Shi Huangdi]

Well, I go to a rich surburban public high school, and about half school does pot, nearly everyone drinks beer, sex is common.... And as far as bullying, Columbine High School was in another rich, suburban high school.

I think the current problems plauging schools are nearly universal.

[Natan]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
I think the current problems plauging schools are nearly universal.

I disagree.

[Jon Miller]

there aredecent schools

there is just no way to generalize

Kon Miller