The News Today… March 12, 2008
Posted by Michelle in General.Tags: alcohol, budget, news, smoking, STDs, views
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I’ve just been drinking my coffee, and taking a look at the BBC news. I just thought I’d share a few things, and give my thoughts on them.
This was a study looking at girls aged 14-19. HPV was the most common, followed by chlamydia, trichomoniasis and herpes. The really sad thing is that HPV can go on to cause cervical cancer, and chlamydia often affects fertility.
I’m not sure what saddens me the most - the fact that young girls are in such a rush to start having sex, or that they’re not taking care of themselves when they do so. Condoms can play such an important role in preventing many STDs, but for some reason, young people seem so reluctant to use them.
“Tube workers vote to go on strike.“
Again?! Honestly, there are so many underpaid jobs out there, who deserve better, but choose not to strike, because of the effect it will have. When tube workers go on strike, they cause travel disruption for so many people. Is it really justified, time and time again?
Which leads me on to my next point..
Apparently the chancellor has decided not to put any more tax on the price of petrol, considering it has jumped so high recently. Friend’s of the Earth have said, “Abandoning plans to increase fuel duty will seriously undermine the government’s green credentials.“
Ok.. this may sound selfish, and I might get shouted at, but right now, rising petrol charges are more important to me that the government trying to look ‘green’. I know the environment is important, and we need to get out of our cars as much as possible, but there are plenty of times that we need our cars, and petrol costs are getting ridiculous. And what are the alternatives for people.. public transport isn’t always close enough, or reliable (plus at school times, there are lots of loud, rude kids to deal with), and there’s point relying on the tube, because they’ll be out on strike! 
There’s also talk of greatly increasing alcohol taxes, to try to curb binge drinking.. in youngsters in particular. I’m not actually sure that it will help with that particular problem.. instead something needs to be done about this culture that is arising with youngsters.. of hanging around, and getting drunk, because there’s nothing better to do. I’d like to see more coffee bars, youth centres, activity centres etc.. let’s give young people something to do with their time.
As for cigarettes, let’s make them as expensive as possible.. in my job, I see the health effects that they have, and it makes me so angry.. but let’s also make smoking cessation help even more readily available. The NHS are doing better, with lots of support available. However, how about making patches etc free for all, if they see an advisor. As with everything, those on benefits get these free, whilst others have to pay prescription charges. Let’s make it equally available for all.
This guy admitted in court that he had been daydreaming, and distracted by his laptop. He drove into the back of a car, and pushed it under a horse box. The two ladies in the car, only in their 40s, both died.
Distracted by a laptop?! Whilst driving a lorry on a motorway?! And.. only three and a half years? Not enough!
Well, there you go, my ramblings are over! As Jen would say, Just Sayin’!
UGH! Watching the news is frustrating isn’t it?
And I hear you on the petrol prices.
Golly, when you set out to hit nerves, you really go for it, don’t you, woman? LOL!
Re: young girls contracting STD’s. I may get stomped into the ground on this one, but IMO, it goes back to parenting–or the lack thereof. You can’t keep your kid with you 24/7 BUT you can control to some extent what your child watches on TV, what they listen to on their MP3 players (uh, yeah, listen to it yourself and delete the crap!) and for heaven’s sake MONITOR their internet usage.
Kids are being bombarded with sexuality all the time and since we can’t do anything about the bombardment, we can at least shield them from it as much as possible. I see so many parents who are caught up in this idea of being their kid’s “friend”, that they forget to be a parent. They have friends…and their friends won’t protect them and nurture them…that’s a parent’s job. So why do so many parents not do their job???
And again, I may get stomped, but may of these kids are participating in oral sex because, thanks to that flea-brained sex hound, Bill Clinton, oral sex isn’t “real” sex.
It boggles the mind at how parents can be so blind to the raging hormones flooding through their children…hormones that are fueled by the media. Don’t they remember what they were like as kids? Don’t they *want* to protect them? Or are they playing ostrich in the hopes that if they can’t see it, it isn’t there?
I really can’t comment on the Tube Strike or the Budget…we have our own issues here that irritate the holy hell out of me, so I won’t inflict them on you.
Teen drinking…see above paragraphs. I haven’t seen figures for alcholism in France and Italy, but I believe they have the right idea in their attitude toward drinking.
Teens are drawn to the forbidden…so if something like drinking is restricted to adults, of course, they’re going to want to do it.
When my girls were kids, we never made a big deal out of drinking. My dh doesn’t really like the taste of alcohol, so I was the one responsible for teaching them how NOT to abuse the stuff.
Beginning when they got curious about it, I let them have a tiny taste of wine or beer. Being kids, they instantly disliked the taste.
As they grew older, I’d let them have a single little bigger sip of whatever I was drinking and told them that when they reached 21, they could legally drink, but they had to be responsible…
I advised them that since it affects your judgement, you shouldn’t attempt to drive, etc…I told them that if they ever got into a situation where they felt they couldn’t drive home, from a party or club or whatever, they could call me and I’d come get them, no matter what the time of day and they could count on me not to lecture or judge them, but we would discuss it when we were both calm and sober.
Thankfully, they’ve both grown into mature adults who are social drinkers who drink responsibly.
Lorry driver with the laptop. Ya know, I’ve seen people here driving with their laptops, or Blackberrys. Scared the crap out of me! And now, our police have laptops with internet access in their cruisers…I’m just waiting for an accident to be reported where THEY were the cause!
Okay, I’ve ranted enough…time to go suck some blood!
Love ya!
Do you feel better after that, Cindy?! LOL
I for one am not going to stomp on you, because I also feel that poor parenting has alot to do with these issues. I don’t want to judge anyone, but there do seem to be alot of parents out there who just don’t *talk* to their kids. I’m always open with Beth, just as my mum was with me, and I’m trying to arm her with the common sense to deal properly with these things as she grows, and most importantly, to take care of herself.
I don’t think that the increase in STD’s among teenage girls has really anything to do with President Clinton at all. I think there are two parts to this problem here in the States. The first is, like Cynthia said, the society we live in is hyper sexualized. And I don’t think that the majority of parents take enough of an interest in what their kids are watching on TV or seeing on the Internet. But it’s not realistic that the society is going to change any time soon.
The other side to this problem is the lack of sex education in many schools. A lot of states have “abstinence only” programs, and kids are not given proper information about safe sex. Let’s face it, teenagers are going to have sex. They have raging hormones, they see it everywhere, it’s just going to happen. For schools and parents to decide that safe sex education promotes sex in teens…it doesn’t! Everything else in our culture does! But not educating kids about safe sex and protection is doing them a grave disservice.
That’s just my two cents on that issue. I don’t know much about the other issues in the news, but I am concerned about high gas prices, and the impending oil crisis facing the world. I hate paying higher prices, but I think more people should use alternative means of transportation, and that our governments have a responsibility to provide them. Otherwise, in less than 30 years, there’s going to be no more oil left.
Raising teenagers is no easy thing, that’s for sure. They DO have minds of their own. But if you’ve taught them solid principles based on a strong moral foundation — you’ve done the right thing. Whether or not they choose to follow that right path is still up to them. A sad statistic there about the sex. Sad.