Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Knowing too much, too soon

Before I Die, my current book on CD, is recommended for listeners from 14-17. The first part of the book describes, quite vividly, a 16-year-old's journey to her "first time" with a boy.

I read books with similar scenes when I was a teenager (and younger, truth be told). But I wish I hadn't. Books and t.v. shows (i.e. "Santa Barbara") and movies (i.e. "Dirty Dancing") that I watched during this time (generally without parental knowledge or approval, but through no fault of theirs) put "stuff" about sex in my head that I certainly wasn't ready for. So I had all this adult "stuff" in my brain that I had no use for, and that I wouldn't have a use for until after I got married more than two DECADES later. (I was 31 when I got married.)

Everything I really needed to know about getting ready for "married things" I could have learned in the books we purchased in the months leading up to our wedding, not in the books, t.v. shows and movies I watched starting when I was 10.

1 comments:

Reed said...

Yes, you're absolutely right. Even though the message may not be apparent to us, as children, it is stillpresent. Garbage in, garbage out! I try to keep my kids' exposure to adult content very limited for that very reason. Thanks so much for sharing that!