bah

bored. They are running the L&O: CI marathon again but with the same episodes. I love me the D'Onofrio but since I have already seen the episodes at least twice, I don't feel like watching them again.

I started watching some horrid show about teens and drinking. It was like one of those fear things. Parents are supposed to watch it with their kids to scare them away from drinking. What-EVAH. It's ridiculous. I understand the issues of drinking and driving but not so sure about the whole underage drinking thing. I don't think a drank really until college so I can't put my personal experiences into my opinion though. I understand that alcohol lowers inhibitions (oh boy do I understand that one) and that underage drinkers are likely to be less "wise" in their decision making while sober, but I don't thing we need to scare them. Having someone behave a certain way because of fear of consequences is just stupid. Discussng with your child that you would rather they didn't partake but if they do that they can always call you and stay where they are for the night or that they can get a ride from you and that you will wait to discuss whatever else later, that makes more sense.

I guess I just beleive in making educated decisions and giving people the tools they need to make them, not scaring them into a certain decision. I didn't drink a lot before college because I decided it was not something I could take responsibility for. I did not want to be out of control.

In college, I was more sure of myself and was more confident in my ability to make better decisions. I was wrong sometimes. I drank too much and made some wrong choices but I was older and smarter than I was in high school and I learned from those wrong choices. I was also "wise" enough to not make any really dumb decisions. There was no driving and no dangerous activities (including reclkless sexual encounters).

I think any children/teens can be taught to make their own decisions as I did. A few mistakes but trusted enough to learn from them. Well, I wasn't trusted so much as my mother really didn't give a crap what I did but you get the gist.

Besides, the ends don't always justify the means. If a person behaves a certain way because they fear what would happen to them if they don't, isn't that action/decision a little less valuable than if they decided to make the right decision because it was the RIGHT decision?

Of course this train of thought is going to segway into religion and the presumption that a lot of (not all mind you) religious types have that since I am an atheist, I must be immotal because what is keeping me from behaving that way? If I don't believe that i will go to hell if I do wrong, what is keeping me from doing wrong? It's called a sense of right and wrong. Respect for my life and the lives of others. The will to be part of a society. I am moral and ethical because it is the right thing to be. Not because I fear what will happen if I am not.

Wow that was long and rambling and tangenty. I think I will go make myself a meatless bologna and cheese sammich.