Topic : 10/07 The Latest Debates

Okay! First I don't have children.......But I work in retail.......... And the things parents let their children do in public is quite annoying to me!  My parents Dr.Phil would not allow me to be a nuance to others while out in public with them.  Many times if I acted up in public my parents would stop what they were doing and one of them would take me to the car or to the rest room to get me in hand!  At resturants I was not allowed to raise my voice or cause attention to our table.  I was told that we were in public and bad behavior was not acceptable!  That woman on your show who had the three kids who's pastor told her to only bring one child in at a time well that should of been her wake up call!  And she is now going to have another child! God I hope she reads your book!  I have to say that I do have a habit of interjecting my views when I see or hear unacceptable behavior out of children.  I was cashiering once at my job.  There was a woman in my register lane who's child was screaming and crying "I want a toy"!  For the twenty minutes it took for this lady and her child to pass through my check out line the entire front end of the store had to listen to this child scream! 

I never scanned groceries so fast in my life - I wanted that child out of the store pronto!  When it was finally this woman's turn at my check out her little boy was still screaming he wanted a toy!  And mom very calmly says " Well dear your not getting a toy"!  I checked out her groceries and gave her back her change and when her little dear made another requestful scream for a toy  I told the child very bluntly " No! You can't have a toy. And even if your mom wanted to buy you one I wouldn't sell it to you because you don't listen"!  Not only was the child surprized but mommy was quite tickled by my announcement!  She laughed and said Thank you to me!  I realize that children can be controlled like robots but they shouldn't be allowed to be a public nuance either! 

I found this show extremely interesting for the fact that I'm actually writing mock legislation for a non-profitable political youth organization I'm a part of regarding mandatory sexual education in schools (gr.5 to 12) and having condoms available and shown how to properly use them is a huge part of it. 

Ladies and Gentlemen what we have here is simple: it is not only children who are naive...it carries into adulthood too.  What do I mean by this?  Many adults/parents have this theory that condoms in schools equals "ok kids, you have your equipment now go get it on!!"  Can the same not then be said of sex ed or the sex talk that (some) parents have with their children?  If you (the parents) tell us (the kids, and yes, I am part of that "us"...I'm 20) how sex works and how to protect ourselves then are you not giving us the "equipment" we need to embark on this wonderful thing they call sex?  I had condoms available to me through my school since I was 14 and I can guarantee you that those who did have sex in high school did it for status before they did it for the fact that they had free condoms lying around.  And so some say "But it should be the parent's responsibility to educate their children in sex."  Fact: Many parents don't educate their children...many of my friends, myself included, are first generation Canadians...our parents don't talk about sex.  And honestly, 90% of these parents I am referring to believe in sex after marriage so they'll teach us abstinence and quite frankly...it's a waste of time.  We passed the sexual revolution...We live in 2005 where sex has become an expression of self that is not as taboo as it might have been when my parents were kids.  Now back to the sex for status theory: maybe that was too general or harsh, who knows, maybe they did it for "love."  The fact is that the kids had sex and it was way too hard to get condoms at the local drug store without knowing someone every few feet away.  Pick your situation (and the option of your child having sex after marriage is not one because it's just not): #1 your kid having unprotected sex because he/she was too embarassed to confide in you and/or to purchase condoms or #2 your kid having protected sex with condoms that were handed out at school.  You can't always assume that what you expect out of your kids is going to happen... Like you taught us so many times "Better safe than sorry."   

This had nothing to do with Dr. Phil's opinion but more with his ability to reach people.  He's a public figure and ultimately has a strong influence on people.  He simply could have added some words of encouragement for breastfeeding moms or provided information about the medical benefits!  He chose not to and for that I was disappointed.   

I hate to tell you this but drugs, sex and crime are also in private and catholic schools.  Kids are commiting suicide for many different reasons.  To say that it is because they do not have spiritual belief is very narrow minded.  One of them is that they do not feel that they can go to their parents to talk about their problems.  Perhaps they feel guilt because their religious parents would not understand that they made a mistake or do not have the same beliefs as them.  Some have major medical illness such as serious depression that is completely unrelated to religion.  Do you think that no spiritual people suffer from depression? 

I  have to say what I think about this.  

What is the big deal about breastfeeding in public???  If you are hungry you are going to eat, if the baby is hungry, the baby is going to eat. I don/t see how breastfeeding can be offensive to anyone 

Condoms in school, I am all for it. But you have to have education about sex as well. I think that is a great way to get teen pregnancies under control for example. I read somewhere that US have the highest amount of teen pregnancies and Holland have the lowest. Holland do have good sex education in school, I don't know if the hand out condoms though but my shool did when I was in high school. It worked wonders. 

Someone else disciplining your child. It all depends on the situation. If I am on a plany with my 2 year old and he is kicking on the seat in front of him and I have told him a gazillion times to stop. I wouldnt mind having the person he is kicking telling my child to stop.  

These are my thoughts on it.