what up gangstAAAA!!!!

This morning as I sat on Jakes couch watching Degrassi, I silently rehashed and contemplated an old and ongoing thought: Why is the media so hell bent on portraying high school characters as teens with the sexual activity of a southern frat, and Jenna Jameson's comfort with casual sex? I remember watching 90210 with Danielle the other night (she only has basic cable OK) and the "popular, beautiful girl" (played by an actress pushing 30 on a good day) made fun of another 15 year old girl for being a virgin. Needless to say, me and Danielle were flabbergasted. This kind of media portrayal of teenage sexuality may be the most damaging and disturbing trend in TV since Family Matters introduced "Stefan Urquelle." It instills a sense of desperation and motivation for High School students to not only become sexually active, but to disregard the beauty of sex and most importantly,IT'S JUST NOT TRUE. How many 15 year olds did you know in High School having one night stands!? Young sexuality in daytime TV has become a blur of devastating pregnancy, schemes to get a morning after pill, and jocks raping shy girls who are pretty but introverted. Once in a blue moon teenage sex is a positive experience for the character, but the character then goes on to become "the sexually active one","the cool one", the mature one who "knows things." Don't get me wrong, sex during the teen years is extremely common and can unfurl in a beautiful and natural way. But let's not forget even younger kids. Middle school kids. And I see its influence everywhere. 12 year old girls who I mistake for 25, 11 year olds feeling pressure to have a guy finally touch their boobs, 13 year old boys trying to have sex before they're even 5 feet tall. Maybe it's weird I'm so passionate about this, seeing as I have no younger siblings or any real ties to "tweens", but I remember being young and feeling the beginning stages of sexual pressure. Pressure to be part of a world and society which I considered so crucial and incumbent in my growth as a young women. In the past 5 or 10 years that sexual pressure continued to grow and grow,until one day a slightly developed 12 year old girl decided to stop being curious and actually give a blowjob to her 15 year old neighbor with severe acne and a sparse mustache that glimmered in the sun. What I'm really saying is that at some recent point the flood gates opened, and they haven't shut. I wish I could tell these kids how incredible it is to be young! A time for scrapped knees and imaginary games where you jump through a sprinkler and you're in a world where flowers can talk. For the love of God, when I was 12 I wore shoes with Velcro.