kids

god does not want 16 children

tracya — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:15:24 -0700

"Who are you to judge? Who are you to say that the more than slightly creepy 39-year-old woman from Arkansas who just gave birth to her 16th child yes that's right 16 kids and try not to cringe in phantom vaginal pain when you say it, who are you to say Michelle Duggar is not more than a little unhinged and sad and lost?
And furthermore, who are you to suggest that her equally troubling husband -- whose name is, of course, Jim Bob and he's hankerin' to be a Republican senator and try not to wince in sociopolitical pain when you say that -- isn't more than a little numb to the real world, and that bringing 16 hungry mewling attention-deprived kids (and she wants more! Yay!) into this exhausted world zips right by "touching" and races right past "disturbing" and lurches its way, heaving and gasping and sweating from the karmic armpits, straight into "Oh my God, what the hell is wrong with you people?"
read more

Balancing freedom for adults with safety for children

Elizabeth — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:36:57 -0700

What happens when protection for kids unreasonably restricts freedoms for adults? For example, when Internet filtering software interferes with adults -- as well as non-adult -- access to information about sex? A while back I blogged about how my blog was blocked as inappropriate by the filtering software used by the New York State Thruway Service Plazas. In that case I don't even see how children are being protected, but surely the harm they could be exposed to is minimal compared to the limitations on the freedom of adults who want to do their work, entertain themselves or get information.

Sex play

Elizabeth — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:29:24 -0700

What is the difference between the kind of sex play or exploration that kids naturally do, and inappropriate sexual interaction? I was reading in "Everything you never wanted your kids to know about sex," that sex play and experimentation is pretty natural, and that the key is that it not become coercive.

What is the cut-off age for being a kid?

Elizabeth — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:26:20 -0700

I think lots of people actually feel differently about older teenagers having sex and younger teenagers having sex. And they certainly feel differently about either of those groups having sex than they do about "kids" or "children" having sex. What is the cut off line between being a 'kid' and not being a kid?

Do kids need protection from sex or from sexually explicit material?

Elizabeth — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:22:54 -0700

And if so, what kind and how much? For example, does a child need to be protected from sexually suggestive New Yorker cartoon (I saw one recently that showed three people in a bed together, and another that showed internet porn). And how do those needs change with the age of the child? And what, exactly are the dangers to which the images expose the child?

What to make of this?

Elizabeth — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:43:27 -0700

Four fifth graders had sex in an unattended classroom, posting a fifth student as a lookout. Click here for the story on CNN.

Four of the five students have been charged with felony obscenity in juvenile court and the lookout was charged as an accessory.

What do you think? Is this sex play among pre-adolescents or is it felony obscenity? (The sex was had in front of about 10 other students.) What's the story here?