If you didn't feel like reading through that... Here's the gist...
Rape, involving prepubescent kids.
No adults involved.
Yikes.
Two boys, aged 8 and 9, from the United States were charged with the kidnapping and rape of an 11 year old girl. If that doesn't make you shudder...
I mean, honestly. Do kids at that age even produce testosterone in sufficient quantities to give them a sex drive? And also, how the hell did they know what goes where? This sort of thing... just blows logic out of the window. I've been able to understand abstract mathematical concepts, appreciate the physics of the universe... but I cannot comprehend this case right here. When I was 9... people hardly even knew what sex was. I only saw it scientifically, having learned about mating between organisms for reproduction. Sure, there was the appeal of attractive people and all that, but really. How could anyone who doesn't even know what semen is want to force himself on someone else? The entire concept of...stuff... is missing here. I can hardly choose the words I want to use here, for some reason.
This actually reminds me of an incident some time ago... when four 5th graders had sex in a classroom. Can't find the article though. Probably a good thing. It's not the sort of thing you want to think about anyway.
But if you do want to read more, try Sleepywood forums. That's actually where I got the first one.
Edit: Oh wait, I just searched for it but it's not there. I guess the mods didn't want to remember it either.
Now, we must wonder why these incidents happen in the first place. From a biological point of view... it makes zero sense, unless of course there's a hormonal issue. Highly unlikely, so we're going to stay away from that. Instead, we'll look at at it from a psychological point of view.
I can just totally hear parents all over the world screaming "IT'S THE MEDIA! IT'S THE GAMES! IT'S THE MOVIES!" and for once, I'm going to agree. For years I have tried to deny the impact of the media on the rest of us. Recently I've come to accept it, but still with that "they're idiots..." thing. Not an issue here though, since now we have to look at it in context.
It's undeniable. Sex is being introduced to people at younger and younger ages. If this keeps up, there's going to be an article in a decade or so about a baby's first word being... Well never mind. Use your imagination. I don't have to fully describe the enourmity of the situation. As Leonard once said, "The Internet only makes it easier to access porn."Which, is very true. Hell, you can even get explicit material by Googling something as benign as "firecrackers" for a Chinese New Year project. At your local convenience store, you would no doubt notice(especially for guys. heh.) a large rack of magazines. Yeah, Shaun would have a lot of stories about this. And those lingerie shops that have massive, huge posters of beautiful women in underwear just begging to be stared at. And stuff that has nothing to do with sex just fills their adverts with it. Simply put, sex sells, and they're using it in more and more places. Guys, prepare yourselves. Soon you might not be able to walk into Toys 'R Us without seeing some sort of sexual imagery.
You know, I was playing iSketch the other day(it's like Pictionary, but with less people trying to get you to cyber with them) and some guy got the word "chest". And big surprise, he drew what was supposed to be a woman without a shit on. Nipples included. Okay, confession. I thought it was hilarious. I've been corrupted that much. But my point is, was that really necessary? No, wait. My point is actually that this stuff is thrown around a lot these days. And without doubt it reaches our younger species-mates and corrupts them into idiots. Gasp, I'm ranting again.
I've been trying to rack my brains for a counter argument for this, but it just wouldn't come. What other explanation is there for today's preteens and children being like this? Hitting puberty earlier doesn't do much.
Oh wait, I got one. Discipline. If everyone uses the stereotyped Asian parenting method, and is successful, our decline in this particular sector would be sharply reduced.
It's actually a sort of running joke you find on Internet forums. You find stories of abuse and way-too-high expectations... and kids getting a B and getting dumped on the streets.
I thought I just heard my phone ring. Which, is strange, since it's about 2am right now. Uggh hearing things. Not good. Should probably go to sleep already.
-Joe