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Post by Rainbow Blight on Sept 1, 2005 14:24:34 GMT -5
If any of you are familiar with the policies of ASFAR (www.asfar.org) or NYRA (www.youthrights.org), discuss your opinions on them here. I for one am entirely supportive of them (especially ASFAR, the more extremist of the two) and NYRA has managed to have some success in certain areas.
Do you agree with them? Disagree?
Discuss.
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rocker
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Post by rocker on Sept 1, 2005 17:47:43 GMT -5
Are they mainly about voting?
I for one think the voting age should stay 18 (in Canada). You will get dumbass punks voting for the fun of it if you lower it. However, I do feel people should be able to apply to vote if they are under the legal age. And lets face it, a 13yr old usually doesn't care about who is leading their country.
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Post by Rainbow Blight on Sept 3, 2005 17:00:35 GMT -5
It's not only about voting; it's about everything that is being denied to young people: alcohol, cigarettes, hotel reservations, cars, porno magazines, the right to have sex with whoever they want, the ability to move across state lines (in some locations), being able to buy a fucking LIGHTER or SPRAYPAINT CAN, Jesus Christ it's ridiculous.
Sure, many young people are complete idiots but then again so are many older people. Most 13-year-olds are not into politics (and if they are they tend to usually be anti-Conservative [omg bush is trying to ban gay marriage obviously the most important issue on earth let's hate him just for that omg] because of their listening to shit like Green Day and all), but a small amount of them are. I started becoming politically active when I was 14 and am very serious about changing things.
Don't you believe that perhaps when you personally were, say, 16, you would have been interested in having a say in who runs your country? You pay taxes every time you buy something at the store. It's not fair that you would have no way to prevent the election of some crazy guy who wants to raise the taxes 80%.
Taxation without representation was one of the main beliefs of the people who created the United States. Young people are being taxed, and there is no one but the few noble crusaders of NYRA and ASFAR to represent them.
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rocker
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Post by rocker on Sept 3, 2005 17:27:41 GMT -5
Here in Canada, you pay taxes on items...but you also get all your tax money back if you work. Sounds fair to me.
Persoanlly, I am glad there are age limits on cigs and booze. I would rather keep the younger generations healthy as long as possible.
As for lighters and spray paint, well...you can get both of those here at any age. So I agree on that. Lighter could just be for camping for a fire.
And I was not talking about stupidity, I was talking about maturity. And being able to be a kid! Stop rushing to grow up everyone! Enjoy your teen years while you can. It has been said again and again, todays society is about doing things as fast as we can, faster cars, faster internet, faster growing up. I personally think we should all just slow down a bit and let kids be kids.
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Post by Rainbow Blight on Sept 3, 2005 23:02:50 GMT -5
Ah, let kids be kids. But what do you consider exactly a "kid?" We're both 18, I consider ourselves to be adolescents; not children, not adults. I don't see a 14- or 15-year-old as a kid; they shouldn't be playing on the ground with toys or whatever; if they want to have a can of beer or smoke a cigarette, it's not going to hurt them as long as they don't overdo it and get sick.
Instead of restricting these things from young people, why not just allow them to engage in these activities, while at the same time encouraging safe behavior? The whole "forbidden fruit" thing is partly one of the reasons why so many young people abuse alcohol, overdo it, and end up sick with alcohol poisoning in the morning.
Once they are allowed to do it, the excitement goes away. Here in the United Emirates, anyone can drink alcohol as long as they're not a Muslim so it's a normal thing here. Therefore I've seen much less alcohol abuse among adolescents. It just loses its luster.
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rocker
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Post by rocker on Sept 3, 2005 23:54:23 GMT -5
Ok. Lets say you smoke. Your 9yr old son comes up to you and asks for a drag. Would you give it? I sure as hell hope not.
I agree that putting restrictions equals more temption. But it also creates fear, punishment, and alot more. Young teens should not be drinking booze or smoking! Their bodies are still growing.
And as for the let kids be kids, I don't mean be young children. They can try to sneek their smokes or booze from their parents, do dirty things with each other, swear and lie. It is all about testing the waters and deciding what type of adult you want to be. Not being thrown from the playground into a cubicle in some 50story building making $9.50 an hour. There are certain responsibilites that come with age, and must be a gradual thing. Most people cannot handle getting everything at once.
Think about it. Your first job is delivering papers, mowing lawns, babysitting. The next summer maybe in the kitchen of a resturant doing odd jobs, and maybe the next a waitress or retail, or cook. See how the responsilbility grows with time so it is not such a shock?
Remember, you walk before you run. I personally, am just being to run and enjoy it that way.
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Post by Rainbow Blight on Sept 14, 2005 3:55:24 GMT -5
Ok. Lets say you smoke. Your 9yr old son comes up to you and asks for a drag. Would you give it? I sure as hell hope not. Heh. I wish we had a better "embarrassed" emoticon than the , because I would definitely give my 9-year-old a drag of my cigarette if he were to ask. The younger he realizes that it's unhealthy the better. If I were to tell him that no, he cannot have it, I think he would probably want it even more, unhealthy or not. When I was a wee lad I asked my mother for a puff of her cigarette and I got it; I didn't really like it all that much and didn't think it was all it was cracked up to be. I never grew up thinking that it was "cool" to smoke or anything, and now that I'm older I don't even smoke all that much (I've had a whopping two cigarettes in the past four or five days). Correct, their bodies are still growing, but nevertheless they would not suffer permanent bodily harm if they keep it in moderation. I'll give my 9-year-old a little alcohol and tell them that it is quite a dangerous drug and how much of it he decides to drink is up to him, but that he must know his limits and if he overdoes it he'll end up sick. Hopefully he would have alcohol poisoning early on as a deterrent to him overdoing it in the future. If he were to feel the headache, stomach pain, and emesis associated with alcohol poisoning firsthand, it would be more of a deterrent than me "not allowing" him to drink alcohol ever could be. I want my children to grow up to be able to drink responsibily; better teach them how to at a young age. Ah, but they wouldn't be "getting everything at once." Rather, alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs would be something that they would have always had. They would never experience the forbidden fruit syndrome because they never would have seen these things as taboo, since I would take the more "European" attitude towards such things (namely alcohol).
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rocker
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Post by rocker on Sept 14, 2005 8:15:16 GMT -5
You are assuming everyone thinks logically and whatnot.
And you know...my parents don't smoke, but my grandpa would never let us have a drag. And I have one or two smokes every few YEARS.
Kids don't need to experience everything to know something isn't good for you. And I know alot of teenagers who do not listen to their bodies when they say it is time to stop drinking. I have one friend who began to being booze to school in grade 4. She drinks like a 40yr old 500pound man now who uses his gut to rest his beer.
I have hung out with a whole group of teens whos parents let them smoke, drink, do light drugs at home starting fairly young, and I can tell you, I thank god my parents never let me do that. Cuz they are the ones wasting their money, going to the hospital, failing classes, not being able to keep a job...
So ya...you cannot assume people will just learn through expereience. Our race is not that smart.
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