Selling their bodies for fashion

[plazul]

Middle and even upper middle class girls have been prostituting themselves at the Mall of America to get money for expensive designer clothes and jewely.

F.B.I. says none of the girls it interviewed were coerced into sex and that most came from "good families" and stable homes. My question is, where did those families think their daughters were getting the money for hundred dollar jeans? Maybe the girls concealed the clothes, I don't know.

This is really a sad development for girls in our society. To think that the competiton for fashion statements and status is so fierce some girls are willing to risk abduction and murder to look good. A friend of mine is a buyer for a major department store chain and she says that fashions change so fast nowadays a garment might be out of style in a few months. When she was young trends developed much slower and while girls were just as catty they were less conscious of popular trends.

I think its high time for all schools to go to uniforms. What must it be like for a low income girl to have to wear the same clothes for two, maybe three days in a row? Boys are competitive but they can't match the cruelty of clique conscious girls who torment peers who don't conform to their standards.

Consumers need to put pressure on the industry by telling them to quit trying to sexualize twelve year old girls with low rider hip huggers and skimpy halter tops. But the best way apply pressure is to refuse to buy your daughter these type of garments and to petiton your school board to go to uniforms.

[Warsai]

I remember when back when I was in elementary school. We had to wear uniforms and it was like bliss compared with the other schools I went to. There wasn't any pressure to look the best, because we all basically wore the same thing. It's a sad day when teenagers would go to these lengths to look good.

[Tombstone]

Here's a shocker: I put a lot of blame on the parents. They are complicit.

Obviously there are a few negative things going on in these "good families". (What does this "good families" mean? No felonies? Neighbors haven't accused them of running a crack house? )

1. The parents are obviously absent. No excuse for that. I don't care if the parents EACH have two jobs. There is no excuse for keeping your eyes closed and not engaging your kids.

2. The kids were raised devoid of any values. Obviously no role-models at home. It is not possible to debase yourself more than these kids have. They have absolutely no respect for themselves or any intellectual chops to think through what the long term effects could be. (STD's, AIDS, victims of violent crime, drug use, the list goes on.) Thanks for the moral compass Mom and Dad!

3. These kids should have after school jobs. Need money? They learn that they need to work a real job for it. If not that, they should belong to some kind of after-school activity to keep them busy. If they are busy with sports or academia, they hardly have the time or *inclination to do tricks in the Mall.

That's how I see it.

[plazul]

Maybe we should license parents and fine them when they screw up (rhetorical).

I know a number of affluent people who don't have a clue what their kids are involved in. They're just on automatic pilot and they give their kids whatever they want. Consequently, (I don't know for sure) the kids get bored and go looking for bigger and better kicks.

My best buddy is an ER doc and when I was over there recently I noticed that his twin's eyes were red and dialated. They just grinned mischievously and shuffled past me when I arrived. They were obviously high, and I know I wasn't imagining it. I didn't say anything but you'd think that a man who routinely deals with drug overdoses would recognize an intoxicated person.

Poor people aren't the only ones that have parenting problems.

[Tombstone]

Some of the worst behaved children come from wealthy homes.

Again, it doesn't have to do with money or fame. It has to do with parental responsibility.

The wealthy kids who run into trouble are the ones who are never expected to have any responsibilities.

I would drop a hint to your friend who is having his kid(s) run amuck. Friends warn each other of impending disasters. Hey, this may be a good topic over on the friendship forums.