Thursday,
November 22, 2007
Another Counter-Culture Import from US to
The ANNOTICO Report
This is not fiction. It’s a phenomenon that arrived
here very recently, as another
import from the
And yet it was just a movie, but look at the enormous
negative effect that it has had on an entire generation. Just like the Sopranos
is just TV,
while it didn't cause an entire
generation to become mobsters, it influenced several generations as to how to
view Italian Americans.
Twelve-year-old Girls and No Holds Barred
Sex
Shock
report from Society of Paediatrics on teenage sex,
drinking and smoking
From
The Corriere della Sera
Alessandra
Arachi
November
22, 2007
Once
upon a time, there were little boys and little girls, who played with dolls.
They were twelve or thirteen years old. The Italian Society of Paediatrics (SIP) used to ask them questions like:
"What newspapers are there in your home?" "Do you use a
computer?" "What made the biggest impression on you this year?"
The most recent such survey dates from 2003 but it was no longer of much use,
and certainly did not reflect reality. Now, the latest report for 2006, from
the Society of Paediatrics chaired by Pasquale Di
Pietro, is enough to send shivers down your spine. Especially today, when
in
Heres
one of the surveys many questions: HHave you
ever seen one of your friends drunk?" "Yes" said 37.4% of the
sample. And 8.4% added, "Often". One of the other questions was "Has
one of your friends ever smoked a joint?" And this time, almost one
respondent in two - 44.3% - answered a resounding "yes".
One more example: three adolescents in four openly confess to actions they
themselves see as high-risk, including getting drunk, drinking spirits, taking
drugs, going out at night on their own or having unprotected sex. Thats another thing.
Educational models
Gustavo Pietropolli Charmet,
a developmental psychiatrist, is adamant: "Development stages are
appearing early because of educational models. How can we put it? It was mums
and dads that wanted it to happen. Theyve been
busy changing the development model they themselves received. They have
accelerated their childrens abilities to socialise.
Theyve eliminated their sense of guilt, their
sense of fear. You can see for yourself. Go into any second-year middle school
class in
Is
that the case at the middle school in
Im going to be a showgirl
Or a cube dancer, or a TV presenter or a professional
dancer. Replying to the most traditional of all questions: "What do you
want to be when you grow up?" the Society of Paediatrics
interviewees said: "I want to be a celeb".
Of course, theres nothing remarkable about that but behind this apparent
normality is a vacuum. In second place on the list of preferences is a
disarming: "I dont know".
Ho
dodici anni faccio la cubista mi chiamano principessa" [Im Twelve, Im a Cube Dancer, They
Call Me Princess] is the title of a book by Marida
Lombardo Pijola, a journalist and mum, which has
alarmed other mums and dads. The book takes the lid off the world of afternoon
clubs, leaving hordes of parents open-mouthed at some of the comments from
young girls: "If youre a cube dancer, youre a woman. Youre not a little girl any more. You only go with the
customers if you want to. And you can get paid for it".
This
is not fiction. Its a phenomenon that arrived here very recently,
...as another import from the
"Ive been teaching at Centocelle
middle school in
English translation by Giles Watson
The
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