body

a few days ago i caught the episode of oprah where they were talking to those girls who were videotaped with the hazing thing. after that they talked to a family who went away for spring break and came back to find that their son's friend had snuck into the house and threw a massive party which left over $10 000 in damage. they described the state of the house as everything being trashed, furniture being urinated on, blood on the walls, and condoms everywhere. if the neighbors hadn't called the cops, by the end of the week the kids would have burned the hose down.

this brings up two issues.

one is this whole "condoms everywhere" business. i just don't like the idea that there are people out there having meaningless sex.

the second is how hard it is to be a parent in today's world. i couldn't do it, i'd be too paranoid. i can't compete with television. i don't think i can instill any sort of values in my kids if i'm always competing with tv and peers, which say that actions have no consequences, and that nothing means anything. how can i compete with friends who offer drinks or drugs? how do i deal with a twelve-year-old daughter coming home pregnant, with a 16-year-old who wants to drink, with a teenager who's a drug dealer, or a 40-year-old who cheats on his wife? how exactly are you supposed to raise an adult in this world?