I have been a regular “lurker” here for quite some time now. I’ve always lived by the saying that “it is better to keep your mouth shut and have others think of you as a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” However, I feel the time has now come for me to spring forth and become a regular “poster” to the board and let it be now my thoughts, concerns, etc. For the record, I am currently in the middle of writing my first book concerning how we has a nation have become a more tolerable society, and how commonsense has become an uncommon commodity in rural America. More on my ideas and book in further post . . . so stayed tuned if you are interested.

With that said I would like to ask everyone a question. With all that is believed concerning the material that under-aged adolescent view and partake in what are you feelings regarding the new R-Card that some theaters are selling to minors? GKC Theatres, a Midwestern chain, sells the card to parents who agree to allow their children under 17 to see R-rated films without their parents/guardians being present.

So what are your thoughts? Are we as a nation becoming more tolerable as to what our youth view? Will this further provide ammunition to the battle that a movie, video game, song, corrupted a child’s mind which lead to him/her doing something illegal, immoral, or worse . . . deadly? Is it time for Americans to stand up and demand that we bring back morals and values? Or, is it too late, have we already lost the battle?

WEll good to see ya here. Writing a book about a very good topic and i bet it will be very popular.

About your question. I think its one avenue to go. I think instead of that they should have stricted policies. SC has one that you cant even buy a rated R tickect unless you show id that ur old enough. A friend and I went to the movies awhile back and we are both of age to see it and they would sell him a ticket or let me buy 2. That is a way to stop it right there.

But Kids are kids. If they wanna see it really badd they will. least this way parents can somewhat moniter.

I dont want to give up hope for america but each day it is gettin harder and hared to think we can climb back up from this slippery slope. Im scared for my kids in the next 10 years when i plan to have em. I dont know if i want to bring them into something like this

[Edited on 5^24^04 by Quicksilver]

welcome to the board, Thimp.

Regarding your question, I'd never heard of these cards. I suppose it's a good idea, because like quick said, kids will see the movie one way or another if they really want to. I don't think it's beyond impossible to sneak into a theatre after buying a ticket for a movie that isn't rated R. I know here they only check your ticket once, to get into the main theatre area, and not to get into the specific theatre.

Also, I recall reading an article where people were lobbying to get movies that contain smoking, or other 'adult' things to be rated R, as well. (I'll try to find the link), but if that were to go through, these cards would work well, too.

I think people are definitely becoming more tolerable to what their children view, violence and the like are common place, in games, on the internet, television, and movies, and I suppose this is proof of it.

Welcome! Glad to have you aboard and I look forward to hearing more about your book and research.

I personally think the R-card is a good idea. Parents should be responsible for what their children see and hear, not the government. I do have reservations though. In someways it takes the responsibility out of the parent's hands because it gives kids blanket permission to see all R movies, whereas before the consent would have been on a case to case basis. As Quicksilver said though: if the kids want to see the movie, they will. How can you stop 15 year olds from seeing a movie if the only thing in their way is the 16 year old taking tickets?

I do not think that we will ever stop under aged viewers from seeing an R-rated movie, if nothing else the rating just entices them to want to see it even more. I guess my main question and concern is, are we becoming more tolerable to the actions that were once considered “sinful.”

Like the others, I welcome you.

I think my view is different though from the others though.

I think as a society, we shouldn't be limiting what our kids see. I think by telling our kids they can only watch cute cartoons until they are a certain age limits how fast they grow up and mature. Look at the difference between kids now and kids 300 years ago. Granted they didn't have anything like they have today, but 300 years ago if a family was having a hard time, the 8 year old could go and get a job and make some money. Now, good luck getting the 8 year old to cross the street by themselves.

I do think the parent should be aware of what the child is viewing, but they shouldn't be too strict. Blood, gore, sex; it's out there. It's real life. By denying our kids to view it, we're denying them real life. When it actually does happen and we're not around, then it'll be 10x worse.

It's just like the whole 'drinking before you are 21 is illegal' thing. I grew up in an Arabic household, and my parents had a glass of wine at dinner usually. They didn't mind about letting me try it sometimes, or even have a glass of Arak (strong arabic alcohol) just to try it. They were lenient and laid back, but they pushed the fact of responsibility. They made sure I knew that it was ok to drink, but not to get out of hand. I grew up, and I never even drank till I got to college. And even in college, I was never into drinking. I always kept it in moderation. Why? Because I grew up with the stuff, so it wasn't 'exciting' now that I could do it without my parents knowing. Usually I told my parents if I drank anyways when I'd be talking to them telling them about my night before.

I've also never done drugs or smoked a cigarette. I think the whole responsibility thing that my parents always pushed is to blame for that. Cigarettes are absolutely terrible for your body. Why would I want to ruin something that I was responsible for? That and I think they smell terrible.

Either way, I hope I can bring my kids up as well as my parents did me. I'm currently 21 and have never had the urge to do any drugs or cigarettes. If I drink, it's something with dinner. I'll go to parties, and I'll drink there, but it's rare that I get drunk. I'll have 1 or 2 beers.

Responsibility. That's what we need to push to our kids. Not censor them to what's really out there.

the problem with society isn't what our kids see in the movies.

the problem is the idiot parents at home that can't teach their kids discipline, courtesy, compassion, etc.

curb the problem at home, and the movies will be what they are meant to be- entertainment, not a life lesson.

Originally posted by dz
Responsibility. That's what we need to push to our kids. Not censor them to what's really out there.

Now that is what I am looking for. It is my belief that if we as a nation can learn to be more responsible and accountable for our actions, and teach these qualities to our children, then we can get on track to becoming a society that values moral principles and beliefs. I am a principal of a middle school in Tennessee and all too often I hear "well it's not my problem", "it's someone else's fault", "what can I do?" To sum it up on-one wants to accept responsibility for anything these days. We must start accepting responsibility for our share of the problem. Someone has to own the problem before we can solve it. We all have a part to play in this process, not one individual! Not one group! All of us!

I am often told that our young people are the problem and many statistics would indicate that. It has been my experience that our "youth are not the problem, but the solution". If we can teach our young (and we do) to be violent, to hate, to be bigots, to be disrespectful, we can teach them to care, trust and to respect.


[Edited on 5/24/2004 by Thimp]

R-card = bad idea...

whats next,

c-card, parents letting kids buy cigarettes..

the B-card, parents having the ability to allow thier kids to purchase alcohol ?

laugh if you must, but it's not all that crazy of a thought.

Originally posted by Thimp
Now that is what I am looking for. It is my belief that if we as a nation can learn to be more responsible and accountable for our actions, and teach these qualities to our children, then we can get on track to becoming a society that values moral principles and beliefs. I am a principal of a middle school in Tennessee and all too often I hear "well it's not my problem", "it's someone else's fault", "what can I do?" To sum it up on-one wants to accept responsibility for anything these days. We must start accepting responsibility for our share of the problem. Someone has to own the problem before we can solve it. We all have a part to play in this process, not one individual! Not one group! All of us!

I wish I had you as a principal at my high school. When I was in high school, I was constantly in arguements with the principal. She constantly treated the students like crap. Her mentality was "the teacher is always right no matter what" and she even told me this several times.

I remember one time I was pulling into the school lot. It was wet out, so my tires skid a little. No big deal. A teacher came up to me, and told me that I was driving like a maniac and that I was being revoked my parking permit and was getting detention. Well, I went to the office and the principal proceeded to tell me that the teacher said that I went 60 mph around the turn. Keep in mind that this turn is 90 degrees. I proceeded to explain to her how it's not possible to do this in a Chevy Celebrity, let alone any car. I even broke it down to physics. She wouldn't have it, and I ended up losing my parking priveledges, and they even gave me a violation for wreckless driving and I had to do community service hours. Even the judge was on a high hat and wouldn't listen.

There were many, many, many times that I would argue with my principal and her little goon teachers. Most of the teachers that weren't blind actually were on my side most of the times, but the others were too busy up her ass that they just listened to whatever she said.

I never regret it though. Most of the kids in my high school went on without saying anything and making any kind of change. Almost 5 years after I've graduated, my name is still remembered in that school for all the stuff I brought to the surface. 3 teachers were fired/left willingly after I brought up to the school board how they treated the students horribly.

My brothers have taken after me. They're good students, but they know when they're just being picked on by the administration there. My sister is an all-state soccer player, so my principal (who unfortunately was never fired) doesn't dare do anything to her. My sister is front page after most of the soccer games, so if she doesn't get to play because of some crap pulled by the principal, my sister gets to tell the paper what happened (she pulled that with me.. unfortunately I wasn't as good as my sister in sports, so I didnt have as much say the next day).

Originally posted by Thimp
I am often told that our young people are the problem and many statistics would indicate that. It has been my experience that our "youth are not the problem, but the solution".

Oftentimes, when a problem arises, one needs not to look at the problem but to look past it. Why are our kids acting like this? Why are they doing drugs? Why are they fighting all the time? We need to blame who's responsible for causing it, not just who's responsible for doing it.

Parents now a-days are playing the friend role instead of the parent role. It's like they're almost too scared to talk to their kids about drugs and sex and alcohol. You have those stupid commercials on tv telling parents to talk to their kids. We shouldn't need commercials telling our parents that! They should know that when they brought the kid into this world, that this issue would come up.

They need to be mature enough to have this talk. They shouldn't need some commercial pressuring them into it.

The whole family role in society is breaking down. No longer is your family your blood, but just another group of friends. That can't be so.

I tend to agree with elevatedone on this. There is a difference between an adult and a child. They don't do adult things simply because they're not priveleged enough to yet, that and the fact that their hormones are raging right now. And believe it or not, they do like being told 'no' from time to time regardless of popular belief. Without boundaries they become wreckless and hey we've all been there and we all grow up eventually thinking, damn im glad my parents said no that one time...

Welcome Thimp. That's an unusual name and it rhymes with Gimp. Participating is always more rewarding than spectating (lurking) even though you lose sometimes.

I've never heard of the R-cards till now either, but I don't they change anything except they add a convenience for the parents, so they don't have to wait in line for tickets. The only valid argument I can see against them is the abuse by kids obtaining fake cards who's parents don't want them to see R-films.

For whatever reason there's this desire in the US to keep information from kids so it will somehow make their childhood last longer. Personally I think that idea stunts many kids. Sort of reminds of the parents who try to hide sex from their kids thinking if they don't know about it they wont do it- yeah right. We teach sex ed by the time their 10 because we know they will soon start having desires and they need to know the consequences of having sex as in STD's & pregnancy.

The biggest religous anti-sex fanatic I worked for once, daugther had a kid before she was out of high school. The most strick parent I know daughter ran away from home with a convict twce her age not only that her father is a biggot & the con is of another race.



[Edited on 24-5-2004 by outsider]