Whatever happened to innocence?

[Rabble Rouser]

I was laying in bed this morning, listening to the radio, and was deeply disturbed by what I was listening to...and it wasn't the music.

The station I was listening to went around to local elementary (keep that word in mind) schools asking kids about their New Year's resolutions. They aired about 10-15 kids resolutions. Between "being nice to my sister" and "keeping my desk clean," three of them said "to quit smoking." All three of them were nine years old! Obviously shocked by that, the dj asked one of the teachers "Can you believe this?" and her response was a nonchalant "Where have you been?"

Have I also been asleep for the past 10 years? These kids are only 10 years younger than me...I would give anything to be nine years old again. I know that kids are maturing younger than they used to, but this just came as a shock to me. Why do they rush to grow up? I'm not trying to cite smoking as a rite of passage in any way, but speaking from my experiences, most people start to "act more grown up." You only have so long to be a child, to be innocent. Why rush to have responsibilities (and in this case, diseases)? Why grow up too soon? Thoughts/comments?

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"You did it, Nibbles! Now, nibble through my ball sack!" - Principal Skinner

[Mr. Snrub]

I have no problem with growing up fast. Hell, i went through my early 20s idealistic phase when i was 7. But the fact that children that young are smoking does disturb me. That's what really scared me in Germany, seeing bunches of little kids smoking because they could get the cigarettes from the vending machines that are sprinkled around. It pisses me off, these kids are too young to make a judgement on whether they really want to do something that will stunt their growth and give them all sorts of health problems. I'd like to get my hands on the piece of shit who sold the cigarettes to them.

[King Bastard]

you asked, so I will sum it up like this...

hindsight is always 20/20 (I know it's a Megadeath lyric, and a cliche, but it fits)


sad truth of it is, youth is wasted on youth. I used to be an idealistic 10 year old, and now I'm an idealistic 27 yr old. Thing is, those ideas have changed. I had the want to come off as more adult, more worthy of the notice of adults.... that might be the reason I started to smoke ciggies. Or mayhap it too be the fact that I could, another good reason to do things back then. Suffice it too say that kids will be kids. And if they want to do things that they know are bad for them, like smoking, they will.

Regardless of all the info I had on the dirty habit back then, I still wanted to do it. Why? Still not sure.... But I do it to this day.... and I regret the habit.

Most everything happens for a reason (another cliche) and if this reason, in my case, is to learn the value of life, the gift I've been given, then the ciggies have done their job quite well.

and let me close this by saying that beer is good.


That's my excuse for the poorly structured rant above.

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I'm a firm beliver in a ruling class, especially since I rule: Randall Graves-Clerks

[Asmodeus]

Agreed. Kids will be kids. On a moral standpoint, it is sad to think that children are starting bad habits that early in life. But, such is life.

I can't say I didn't do bad things when I was a child, besides torturing cute furry animals of course, because I did. My parents have a quaint little picture of me drinking a beer. I was still in diapers. I smoked cigs when I was five, stole a car when I was ten, got plastered and laid for the first time when I was eleven...nah, I didn't do any bad things when I was a "minor".

It kind of goes like this: kids now days see what the kids of yesteryear(us) did when we were that age, and they are trying to outdo us. They are trying to find that new taboo to break. Sorry to burst any bubbles people, but there ain't no new taboos to break, not anymore.

What our parents did when they were fifteen, we did when we were ten. It is just a progression. What we did at ten, our diogenies will try to do at eight. There is a learning principle involved. There are so much more schools of thought now than there were when our parents were our age. And just like them, when they became self aware, we did the same, and so will our children.

Just think, there was no internet when we were mere tikes, thinking a water hose and spraying perfect strangers was a good time. Now, kids have interactive viewing, learning channels(which teach the wrong things I might add), etc etc. There are so many more and new things out in exhistance now than when we were young that the children of today have so much more to learn, is less of the time it took us to learn what we don't know or have chosen to forget for the sake of propriety.

So, it is only practical that children are starting things earlier than we did. It gives us a sense of perspective to what our parents went through trying to raise us without strangling us in our sleep.

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Good shot...shoot him again.