PG-13


This commentary has been stewing and brewing inside me for a long time; so the first thing I'm going to do is RUIN it, completely and totally, with the second sentence...What the fuck HASN'T a 13 yr. old seen by now? Think about it; tits, machine guns and murder in prime time. Previews for the new version of Dragnet have them going after a serial killer in the first episode. Apparently there was a decapitation on a recent "Sopranos" episode (already being copied by teenagers); do you think kids don't see that show? 13. Back in Georgia, I met a 13 yr. old girl pregnant with her 2nd child; and some of my S. Carolina people work in group homes with multiple 13 yr. old moms.

There are single parent and "no parent" households being run by 13 yr. olds; not millions and millions of course, but every community has something like this in it. 13. Many, if not most, 13 yr. old girls are sexually active; and that's not entirely their own fault. Puberty starts in the single digit ages now; 5th grade girls wear bras because they need to, and predator males are more than willing to teach sex education.

The adults of just a few years ago argued and compromised to the tune of making "13" the age of guidance for movie entertainment, considering that the rating of "PG" could now include almost all profane language and sexual implications (It makes a person wonder what kind of incestual cannibalism a movie needs to achieve an "R" rating now.). The adults of a few years ago were positive that no "good" parent would allow their young children access to such moral decay. Okay, I'm dancing all around the core issue here, and that's NOT my style.

The 13 yr. olds of the early 80's did not have sex and babies yet, and it would have been absolutely insane to predict this current reality back then. Boy how times have changed, ain't this a hoot? I remember when a girl's first abortion was usually in her first year of college; and now Arizona has the largest number of facilities for teen mothers to finish high school. Wow; talk about a "shift" in attitude.

So; giggle when you hear of something being rated PG-13 (I do). Does anybody take those "ratings" seriously anymore? Do you remember the short lifespan of the "NC-17" rating? Hell, the kids working at the theaters (working for minimum wage, I might add) encourage their friends to sneak into R-rated movies, duh. You're going to have to do a little thinking for yourself; consider BEING 13 in this world, right now, and imagine your reaction to people pretending that you're still a kid.

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