Oprah Today 10/2

[Anonymous]

Oprah will be dedicating her show today to troubled teens and the movie "Thirteen"  Interesting to see what she finds as a solution and hopefully won't leave us hanging!

[Anonymous]

Well... this was a great show! I am re-defining what is mainstream "normal" teenage behavior.  

It's normal to go to sex parties, get multiple piercings, act out what they see on t.v. (and not just MTV!) and the internet.  Abortions are as common as slamming doors, it seems.  Girls that cut for stress relief is very common.  And on and on.  So this is NORMAL?  Then NORMAL teenage choices and behavior needs intervention.

What the hell is wrong with a parent that thinks that's okay?

[Anonymous]

She really is living in lala land.  The solution is to spend time with your kids.  Most of those kids are beyond even wanting to be in the same room with their parents.  Way beyond that.

[Anonymous]

On 2003-10-02 16:05:00, Anonymous wrote:

"She really is living in lala land.  The solution is to spend time with your kids.  Most of those kids are beyond even wanting to be in the same room with their parents.  Way beyond that. "

Well, it beats sticking them in one BIG DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY which is what these programs are.

[MelissaR]

The movie thirteen is NOT an accurate, or even close description of what life being a 13 year old is. Not at all!!!!When I saw that movie, I was disgusted by the interpretation, and thought parents of these teenagers who saw this movie must have been sick to their stomachs. Unless you live in a ghetto ass trailor, and your family is fucked up beyond belief in the first place, there is no way in hell this would happen to a 13 year old kid. I have a 13 year old brother, and he still takes naps, and plays video games all day. The biggest battle we have is trying to get him to do his laundry, pick up his room, etc. Definitely not to stay clean from acid, and not sleep with girls.... kids experiment with some drugs and sex for sure, but definitely not 3somes and tripping acid after school

[Anonymous]

Melissa - maybe you're the one living in lala land.  Take a walk around a junior high campus sometime....You're talking about a 13 y.o brother...check out the girls, then report back

[Anonymous]

Melissa - did you see oprah today?  Thirteen year old girls from good families are going to Rainbow parties, getting multiple piercings, dressing like they're much older.  I agree with the above post.  During your stay at Spring Creek are you saying that they didn't have 13/14 y.o girls there?  Maybe they didn't accept them that young.  I'm sure you and your mom had plenty to "talk" about after the movie.

[Anonymous]

A small percent of 13 year old girls from good families has always been disturbed enough to take drugs early, have wild sex, etc. etc.

People are simply not educated about statistics.  What we'd like to know is:  is this proportion higher than in the past, rather than, can dedicated TV bookers find 3-5 teens that age out of the millions in America to represent the worst case scenario as average?

When you look at the research, you find that kids today are taking fewer drugs, have fewer abortions, have fewer pregnancies and drink less than teens in the 70's, 80's and early 90's.

SAMPLING MATTERS-- NEVER ASSUME A TV SHOW IS REPRESENTATIVE, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT PURPORTS TO LOOK AT TROUBLED TEENS.  EVEN AMONGST THE TROUBLED, THERE ARE MORE MILD-MODERATE PROBLEMS THAN SEVERE ONES.

[Antigen]

Don't believe everything you see on Oprah. A rainbow party is the kind of gay sex party often organized at cop and biker bars. Nothing at all like what these freakes came up with.

We don't know anything about the way this up and coming author interviewed these girls. Most of what she had to report sounded made up. Do you not know that young kids will often exagerate to impress or to gain attention? Hey, come to think of it, isn't that one of WWASP's favorite indictments against kids?

Believe me, I DO spend time with my kids actually talking and listening. That show did more to inform school skippers of fictional peer standards they'll now try and live up to than to inform middle American mothers of what to look out for.

It's amazing to me, still, that you people will believe any old torrid lie about your own daughters, the more outlandis the better, but you won't believe them when they tell you the strangers you entrusted with her care are hurting her. Not your problem, right? Just let Oprah tell you how to raise your kids.

You are some sick, sick people and I wish nothing more than for your kids to escape your influence and find sane and reliable people to depend on.

Real criminals walk free every day to rape, rob, and murder again because the courts are so busy finding consensual criminals guilty of hurting no one but themselves.... To free cells for consensual criminals, real criminals are put on the street every day.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0931580587/circlofmiamithem' target='_new'>Peter McWilliams

[kaydeejaded]

talk shows ect are taking over the world I bet a millon mothers watched Oprah today and now think their daughters are on acid having sex ect Oprah and her nonsense needs to be taken off television. Well meaning as some of it is. She is thinking for too many people at once now. It is cultish.

What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.
-- Sigmund Freud

[Anonymous]

Oprah Winfrey is an Airhead.  She is a Ditz.  She is a fluffy-bunny Moron.

Anybody who would take Oprah Winfrey's advice on anything except public relations and running a talk show needs their head examined.

Why in the world people think that just because someone is famous they're smart or know anything about the price of tea in China I'll never know.

"Experts" on talk shows aren't hired because of how good they are in their field of supposed expertise.  They're hired because they're entertaining.

Good lord, to hell with "Where's the love?"  What I want to know is, "Where's the goddam common sense?!"

Look, preteens and teens are not adults (duh).  They don't have adult judgement (duh).  Hence, except in very, very exceptional cases they need adult supervision (duh).  

Some parent thinks his/her kid might be having sex parties after school?  Yeah?  Then why the heck isn't the parent THERE.

If the parents of "good families" cared less about the next Lexus and more about the kid, one of them would be there when the kid got home from school.

But instead of judging themselves, it's more comfortable and easier to judge the kid.

The parents who send their kids off to these behavior mod places need to watch The Dead Poets' Society and realize that the movie is about THEM.

[Anonymous]

On 2003-10-05 15:59:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Oprah Winfrey is an Airhead.  She is a Ditz.  She is a fluffy-bunny Moron.



Anybody who would take Oprah Winfrey's advice on anything except public relations and running a talk show needs their head examined.



Why in the world people think that just because someone is famous they're smart or know anything about the price of tea in China I'll never know.



"Experts" on talk shows aren't hired because of how good they are in their field of supposed expertise.  They're hired because they're entertaining.



Good lord, to hell with "Where's the love?"  What I want to know is, "Where's the goddam common sense?!"



Look, preteens and teens are not adults (duh).  They don't have adult judgement (duh).  Hence, except in very, very exceptional cases they need adult supervision (duh).  



Some parent thinks his/her kid might be having sex parties after school?  Yeah?  Then why the heck isn't the parent THERE.



If the parents of "good families" cared less about the next Lexus and more about the kid, one of them would be there when the kid got home from school.



But instead of judging themselves, it's more comfortable and easier to judge the kid.



The parents who send their kids off to these behavior mod places need to watch The Dead Poets' Society and realize that the movie is about THEM."

It's obscene how much these talking heads make but look at what the cast of Friends is/was earning per episode?  What pisses me off is one of the reasons why these celebrities make as much as they do is because the popularity of their shows drives up the cost of advertising (commercials).  Now, when you consider the age group of viewers for shows like Friends, imagine how much money TEENS and YOUNG PEOPLE are spending on the products these shows push during commerical break? The buying power of youth is HUGE and it's time these hypocrites like Ophrah showed the younger generation some respect.

[Anonymous]

Too bad you choose to believe this isn't happening, Antigen, because it is very true.  You're correct, rainbow parties used to be parties organized by Gays and Lesbians in order to meet people, named rainbow after their choice on the rainbow to represent them.  But it has taken a change of name, rainbow parties are now a meeting place for Straight kids now too, how do I know?  One was going on down the street from my friends and I the other night, they are rumored all over school, children aren't as innocent as you are making them out to be.  Just because your children don't do it, doesn't mean no one does.

As for the person who claimed that "Thirteen" wasn't a realistic movie, you couldn't be more wrong, the girl who played "Evie" was actually the girl who wrote it, and she wrote it around her own experiances.  So nice job researching before you overacted.

[Anonymous]

Remember Sally Jesse Raphael and her anti-teen schtick?  That show used to make me just sick to my stomach, watching those poor kids (mostly girls) being dragged off the set by Sally's favorite boot camp promoter (can't remember the guy's name) while the audience cheered and the parents high-fived each other.  At least Montel was not anti-youth, just a real believer in discipline based on his own military experience.  As I recall, he also had a couple of shows that featured teens and parents who alleged they were abused at for-profit boot and behavior mod camps which had a big impact on educating the public about the controversy surrounding this industry.

As for Oprah, I never watch the show because I'm afraid Dr. Phil (who I absolutely despise) or some other equally sickening self-help guru will be one of the guests.  

Teens need to have their own talk show.  Why hasn't this been tried before??

[Nihilanthic]

When I was younger and saw that shit on Sally I always got angry and scared by it.

In hindsight it was like I was watching something evil happen. Its hard to stand knowing people do that sensationalist "FUCK YOU KIDS" kind of crap to get ratings and entertain people who get whipped up into a fury and hating people. Maybe they were in need of help but guh.

My own issues make me especially sensitized to having a large group of... large men humiliate, degrade and terrify me. Ugh. America is soooo advanced and humane, huh?