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Published April 17, 2009 @ 12:52 by Tania in Amazing Kids

I am not sure I have ever seen as many responses to an article as I found today in Maclean's mail bag.

OMG!!! What Happened To Teenagers? Was an interesting collection of articles which tried to present a snapshot of current Canadian teens. The subhead read, "They're drinking less, smoking less, having less sex. An exclusive report on a momentous social shift."

In Maclean's mail bag, the articles seemed to have offend teenagers and like minded adults who felt as if sex, drugs, and alcohol are an important part of growing up. There are some really dumb comments, like, "Growing up, I found that sex, drugs, and alcohol were important aspects of my life that helped me mature and find my place." Really?

I remember back in high school that out of over 200 girls in my year, one sometimes smoked up on weekends, courtesy of her older brother, and the rest of us were shocked that she brought a joint to school. Drinking was more prevalent, but not amongst 13 and 14 year-olds. And sex before 16 seemed to be unheard of. I don't think that we were pure or unusual. I don't even think we were particularly well behaved. By grade thirteen there was much more sex and alcohol, but we were 18 and 19 years old!

Getting up on my soapbox - I blame parents who want to be their children's friends, not their parents. Parents who "remember what it was like" and "we did it - no big deal." Parents are more open to drugs being legalized than teens, and I think we send conflicting messages. Plus, parents find it easier to give their teens freedom to make their own choices, mostly because it gives them more time to do what they want.

I worry about the attitudes towards drinking and drugs, specifically for young teens. We have a high school near us where kids smoke up outside in the morning, and the police drive by because there is no point in doing anything about it. I take my kids to a parkette near my house, and there are always groups of teens smoking up in the middle of the day, not even trying to conceal the behaviour. I asked a group of teens not to smoke up on my front lawn one day, and got attitude while they crossed the street. The LCBO near us always has teens trading money and bottles on the bench right outside the door.

In my opinion, there is something wrong with a 14 year old smoking up; there is something wrong with a 14 year old drinking alcohol; and, there is something wrong with a 14 year old having sex.

Let's give them better experiences to help them mature into happy, healthy adults. Try competitive sports, outdoor activities, volunteering, travel, arts and drama. I consider those much better outlets for teen energy than sex, drugs and alcohol.