How Far Is Too Far

I stayed up last night reseraching, even watching a 60s cult classic called " PSYCH - OUT, where it was sex, drugs and rock and roll. Every ones was tripping on LSD. Jack Nicholson was in it, and a few other big names. Anyway, although the plot was simple. Peace not war. The sex or love making was kept unknown and taking the drugs, was kept unseen. All the trips were bad. So I guess that is a plus, left you thinking, boy I sure don't want to go through that. Next, I checked out the 70;s cult classic " Go Ask Alice, about a fifteen year old girl, who wrote a diary, stating how a shy girl got slipped LSD in her coke and liked how she felt, but it caused her nothing but grief and ended up over dosing at seventeen and died. So that also, wasn't appealing. Making kids thinks twice to go down that path.The book was made into an ABC movie in 1973 and still is being published holding strong today. There also was a movie Havoc, a 2005 movie with Anne Hathaway, where she plays a trouble teen. Shes from the good side of the tracks somhow finds herself in a gang, only wanting to get out, but couldn't before somoene was dead. Last movie to tell you about today is the Imformers. They make this movie look like every teenage dreams. Acting too old and having the time of their lives, being reckless. In the movie, the one girl, who was indulging in sex with many people, ends up dying from aids alone on a towel on the beach. So each movie shows the dark side of partying and being wild. If you talk to teens, they say the shows that are on are close to reality how teens really do act. Are teens acting how the are taught to act or are reenacting what they see. I have a feeling after talking to many teens and watching many shows on different stations, Nickelodeon, especially, Degrassi and Giantic, way over the top in every aspect. MTV has a new show called Skins that news is calling it child porn, because all the shows stars and extras are minors. Even if you didn't have cable you can find all this action on the prime stations. Children are watching shows like this but adults are free to watch shows that are just as captivating, and of couse we are allowed. We as adults still are influenced. We are shown what is appealing or what is right and we act upon it. From what to eat, how to dress, to what is attractive or appealing to us we still act on. So if we as adult are still impessionable, imagine what what it is doing to our children that are still learning, and their behaviorals are still be molded. What is going to be acceptable in the furture. We already have nudity and sex. So as a parent, you have to ask yourself how far is too far? XO Barbara Jeanne