The Latest
7/28/10: TV Worth Watching
The 80s were drenched with bad sit-coms, but occasionally a good one broke through. Ironically, the boldest, most ground-breaking, and funniest, one has yet to be released on DVD. "It's Your Move" was so edgy and ahead of its time, it was canceled in the first season.
Jason Bateman played a high school con-artist who outsmarts everyone around him, young and old alike, except for his mother's boyfriend — and while the boyfriend is cunning, the teenaged anti-hero is clearly his equal. No wonder the show was canceled so quickly.
"It's Your Move" was not perfectly pro-youth nor perfectly egalitarian. The cunning teenager is portrayed as a force of evil while the cunning adult is an innocent, using his con-artistry only in self-defense. And in most episodes, the adult clearly wins the battle. But he doesn't always win. And that made all the difference.
Though not yet available on DVD, "It's Your Move" is available on YouTube. Enjoy! (And watch the opening scene closely for River Phoenix as Brian.)
6/29/10: New Content
Speaking of GDL's, Allstate is supporting these ageist laws with dishonest ads stereotyping youth. It is time to take action against Allstate.
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6/22/10: New Content
With all the new information about teenagers driving more safely than adults, it's time to take on GDL's, and more urgently, the STAND UP Act.
We're also asking all Americans who believe in fairness to contact your Senators and your Congressional Representative and tell them to vote down the STAND UP Act (S. 3269 / H.R. 1895).
6/18/10: Texting while Driving — It's not Teenagers
Well, well, well.
For years we've been told we need more restrictions on teenaged drivers because they're the irresponsible ones. Teenagers will drive while talking on their cell phones or even while texting. They can't be trusted like adults.
The Pew Research Center finally did a study on the frequency of texting while driving. Guess what they found.
Of American adults who have experience texting, 47% admit they've texted while driving. For teenagers, the number is only 34%.
Furthermore, the Pew Research Center found that those older than 18 were "substantially more likely than teens to have talked on their cell phones while driving."
And we need more restrictions on which drivers??
Read the study for yourself.
Media coverage here.
6/15/10: Alarming Numbers on Overaged Drinking
Pop-quiz. Which of these numbers is the largest:
- American teenagers killed each year because they drove drunk.
- American teenagers killed each year by other teenagers driving drunk.
- American teenagers killed each year by people older than 21 driving drunk.
That's right. The answer is "C." Far more teenagers are killed each year by overaged drinking than by underaged.
We constantly hear politicians and reporters wail about the tragedies of teenagers driving drunk and about the need to get tough on teen drinking and to pass new restrictions on teen driving. But a new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs shows that drunk driving by adults is the 6th leading cause of teenaged deaths.
So why is the media so quiet about this? Now that we know the real threat to teenagers' lives, where are all the cries to "think of the children" and pass new legal restrictions to protect youth?
Once again we see that "protecting youth" is only a high priority when it involves stomping on young people's rights. When it might mean inconveniencing older people, however, restricting their access to alcohol or their access to cars, suddenly all that concern for young people's safety disappears like a mirage.
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