Maybe if we take away the cell phones, they won't have sex

Did you hear about the latest "sexting" scandal at a Bethesda public school? Students were charging fees for forwarding cell phone pix of other students in the buff. When the scandal was discovered, parents and school administrators were shocked! Aghast! Who could believe this kind of lurid behavior was occurring right under adults' noses among middle and high school aged children?!! Umm, I could. Color me jaded, but nothing involving adolescents and sex surprises me, and frankly, this one was a gimme. A certain percentage of adolescents (more than most parents want to believe!) is sexually active in some respect. And adolescents are risk takers. And adolescents LOVE to talk to other adolescents about themselves and their "conquests." Add a cell phone with camera into this mix and you have the modern day equivalent of the bathroom wall, the locker room, the diary that gets passed around. The basic equation: sexual impulsiveness + technology = sexting. I'm not saying that parents shouldn't be upset about it; they should. These images might stay around indefinitely and could impact their kids' futures in unimagined ways. I'm just saying that parents need to get their heads out of the sand about what their kids are up to. Talk to them about sexting (and about sex). Even more importantly, LISTEN to them. Denial is one of the most dangerous behaviors there is.

OOOH PICTURES!!!

OK, this is WAY too technical for me, but Allison says I can have a Photobucket account to keep my pix since I don't want bunches of pix taking up blog space. So....I attempted to put my Peeps Diorama pix into an album on Photobucket. These are my and Allison's entries from 2008, 2009, and 2010. Sadly, we have yet to win, but you know what they say; if at first you don't succeed, you failed. The same may be said for my attempt at linking to Photobucket. Let me know please. Here's the linkeroo kids: http://s590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/sdtardio/Peeps%20Diorama%20Contest%20Photos/

Cougar Hunting Season Open!

Will someone please bury the term "cougar?!!" I absolutely HATE this term and everything it represents! First, why does the word exist at all? (BTW, if you haven't gleaned it by now, I'm talking about the word used to describe a woman of a certain age with a man of a certain lesser age, not the feline). Obviously, the concept of women in their 40s or 50s who are dating men in their 20s or 30s is so unthinkable, so untenable that there must be a special word for the phenomenon to underscore its bizarre nature. Notice, there is no special word for men who date women decades younger than themselves, as this is just expected behavior. Why don't we have an animal label for these men? How about turkey vultures or dung beetles? Second, with all the tabloid and TV talk of cougars being bandied about, one would think that there are scores of middle aged women everywhere having wild sex with boy toys. I, for one, don't believe this for one minute. Just because Demi Moore and Madonna can Botox their wrinkles away and plump and lift their boobs to fight the ravages of age, childbirth, and gravity, doesn't mean that most of us middle age women have bodies that young men are drooling over. Last I heard cankles and muffin tops weren't making the pages of Penthouse! I think the image of the cougar is just one more male fantasy that needs to be given a reality check. I don't care if a woman dates a younger man; more power to her! Just put the term "cougar" on the endangered species list please!

Another Rant (Naturally!)

*Today's Rant:* I am vexed by children who are afraid of dirt, won't touch bugs, and act like they're 86 instead of 6! (Shannan feels my pain, right?) For those who may not know, I volunteer as a teacher at Cypress Swamp Nature Center and work mostly with first graders. I am continually amazed and annoyed by the total unfamiliarity with nature that is shown by the kids I encounter and, worse, their lack of interest, curiosity, and compassion for the world around them. With rare exceptions, these kids are either terrified of nature or display an appalling apathy or disregard. They reluctantly leave their fluorescent lit cocoons and turn off their Wiis only when forced and then only when their parents cover them in toxic aerosol insect repellents and rub them down with hand sanitizer every 15 minutes. It's no wonder they think the outdoors is a dangerous place! Parents, get a grip! A little dirt won't hurt! Kids should WANT to get dirty, to catch bugs, to play outside, to run around. Not the kids I see! After a short walk on mostly flat ground, I invariably hear the call of the Southeastern Juvenile Whiner, "It's hooooot. I'm tiiiiiired. I'm huuuuungry." If you keep listening, their calls rise to a piercing crescendo; "My feeeeet huuuuurt! I'm tiiiiiiired of waaaaaaalkiiiiiiing." Good gracious, my grandmother has more energy than these kids and she's been dead for 10 years! What have we created by harping on the dangers of sun exposure, Lyme disease, anaphalactic shock from bee stings,and other evils that lurk outside in the world? We have created a generation of kids who know all of the risks and dangers that await them but never get to experience the joy of unfettered exploration in the natural world and never gain the skills, experience, competence, self-esteem, and empathy that comes from forming a bond with nature. What a shame.