No Sex, Please, We're British (was ethics in the WW )

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 83321

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" <drednort at a...> 
wrote:
 > I watch American TV shows supposedly about teenagers (and I'm not 
stupid 
> enough to believe those shows are particularly accurate) and the 
common 
> depiction of how young people date, and how often sex in their 
minds seems very 
> alien to me. That's because my experiences growing up are 
different - and I think 
> the same is true of the kids at Hogwarts. What they experience 
seems very 
> realistic to me.
>

And Gorda wrote:
I think we may be having a cultural difference here, either between 
Britain and
the US, or between those of us who have been to high school recently 
and
those who, er, have not.

Personally, I went to high school in the early 90s in Mexico and 
although
some people were having sex, it was quite rare. Most of us just 
talked and
thought about it non-stop...

Now *I* say:
I do wonder if we're having a cultural difference here between US & 
UK kids.  Perhaps it's also a boarding vs. public school difference?  
But while you, Shaun, may be wise to take the US television shows 
with a grain of salt [mostly because they have gorgeous 20-somethings 
playing all the "teenagers", with nary a zit nor 30 extra pounds ever 
to be found--totally ludicrous], I'm not so sure that the amount of 
sex portrayed is that far off reality here in the U.S.

I taught high school, did a counseling practicum in a middle school, 
and worked w/ teenagers at my church.  I also think back to my own 
h.s. years [graduated in 1980].  Granted, what I'm referring to all 
concerns *public* school kids, not boarding school kids--and that may 
be the key difference--but I can tell you, there's a **whole lotta 
sex goin' on** in America...even as young as ages 13 and 14.  

American kids are bombarded with dual messages:  authority figures 
telling them, "Don't do it!! It's wrong, sinful, bad, shameful, [fill 
in your own heavily-weighted term].  You'll get pregnant, AIDS, 
STDs!" and at the same time they have TV shows and magazines and 
music videos that all *scream* sexy-sexy-sexy at them from a quite 
young age [even if parents try to filter/monitor].  It's a confusing 
message, but I do think many American teens hear that cool kids "do 
it."  Perhaps opportunities are much easier found/made for public 
school kids than for our Hogwarts gang, or perhaps there really is a 
difference between U.S. & U.K. mores?

Thoughts??

Siriusly Snapey Susan