Comments on: 1 in 7 American Teenagers Think They’ll Die Young

By: reg

reg — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:33:15 +0000

I hate being on the same page as Woody – fucking hate it, even if it’s a joke – but if you watched the BET Awards and compare the wonderful O’Jays tribute segment with the great men themselves and Johnny Gill to the puke-worthy performances by degenerate scumbag Lil Wayne and mindless moron Drake I think this thing about the influence of some of these utterly clownish, nihilistic “artists” on the outlook of kids isn’t totally nuts. Don’t have a plan, but it’s a long way even from the most hardcore blues to the shameless, idiot antics of Lil Wayne and it ain’t pretty.

By: Woody

Woody — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:57:30 +0000

We need a bonfire to destroy those rock ‘n roll records that lead our youth into sin and dispair.

By: esperanza

esperanza — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:29:39 +0000

… waiting for the breakdance duel soon to break out between Woody and Reg.

By: reg

reg — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:00:22 +0000

“We need to read more poetry to these kids.”

Or maybe as Decalicious suggests, they’re reading too much poetry. Actually I blame it on that jazz music (what do they call it these days ? “Hip hop?”).

By: reg

reg — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:52:37 +0000

“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.”

James Dean

(good call, decalicious)

By: Dr. Forrester

Dr. Forrester — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:41:43 +0000

“You could say it goes back to James Dean, Shelly, and teenagers who donâ€™t care if they die -Parents and researchers just donâ€™t understand, Celeste”

Booze is still the best answer Celeste!

By: dacalicious

dacalicious — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:18:57 +0000

Well-meaning social scientists can labor over all the studies they want, but the nature of adolescence doesn’t change. You could say it goes back to James Dean, but try Shelly, Byron, et al. Teenagers are natural existentialists, who not only think they’re invulnerable but imagine they don’t care if they live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse. Parents (& researchers) just don’t understand, Celeste …

By: Woody

Woody — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:37:35 +0000

We need to read more poetry to these kids.

By: Pokey

Pokey — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:03:55 +0000

Surprise, Surprise

It seems obvious that the kids who are participating in gang violence including murder, and attend numerous funerals of other children would be much more pessimistic about a long life for themselves. These children may have an accurate view of their longevity, when the â€œaverage life-span of a gang member is 20 years and 5 monthsâ€.

Celeste, as I recall has attended close to 50 funerals of kids killed violently, which is a horrifyingly sad number of lives extinguished in their prime.

The answer to the problem has nothing to do with â€œinstilling a sense of hope and optimism in youthâ€, but it does mean building â€œStrong connections with parents, families, and schoolsâ€.

Until children have actual families that replace gang families, this cycle will just get worse. But liberals canâ€™t stand that idea of having the government pushing the idea of traditional families.

Imagine the liberal backlash, if we taught in schools and legislated the importance of the nuclear family of a father and a mother.

By: Rodger Jacobs

Rodger Jacobs — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:28:23 +0000

Quite coincidentally, the Pew Research Center released the results of a national survey on age and aging today; most adults over the age of 50 feel at least 10 years younger than their actual age but — get this — most respondents under the age of 30 believe that you’re old by the time you hit 60.