Bad TV and bad choices

Sunday I was watching some old episodes of America’s Next Top Model. (You know I have a weakness for it. See first blog “What are my angles?”) It was on the Oxygen Channel.

I think there has been a mix up in the naming of this channel. It should be called the Prozac Channel because a lot of the people on there could use the drug and if you watch in for very long you will probably need it yourself. I mean who does the programming? Bad Girls Club, Snapped, and all those depressing movies.

First off, Bad Girls Club, I can’t even stand to watch the commercials for this show, you’d have to put a gun to my head to get me to watch it. Why would anyone behaving that badly want it spread across the TV? And, why would anyone want to watch a bunch of people with the self control of three year olds and the mouths of drunken sailors? I mean really, if I acted like that you couldn’t pay me enough to let you air it. Do these people actually have to sit down and watch it?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve done a few wild and crazy things while in an altered state. I’ve even done a few not so nice things when I wasn’t in an altered state. I at least had the good sense to be totally embarrassed afterwards. Lucky for me that was before cell phone and digital cameras, not to mention camcorders. It was also before websites and blogging.
Holy cow we thought slam books were the worst things in high school. Now you can be slammed all over the internet.

I learned a new term this past week, “sexting”. This is when you take naughty pictures of yourself and then text them to your significant other. Apparently this is alarmingly common among the high school set. As if that wasn’t alarming enough, the real problem (can you believe that isn’t the real problem) occurs when you break up with your boyfriend and he then sends the pictures to everyone in his address book and they send it to everyone in theirs. Of course messages get added and pretty soon you’re a target at school. A high school student recently committed suicide after being the victim of this.

I’m really disturbed by this incident for a number of reasons. First, the girl should have known better, but we all do REALLY stupid things when we’re teenagers. Second, that the other girls in the school didn’t support her and go after the boyfriend for treating her so badly. Third, that the school staff, who apparently knew what was going on, just let it go on. I think I’m most upset about the other girls not supporting her. I always told my daughter and her friends that in life boyfriends will come and go, but your girlfriends are the ones who will be there for you and will support you. That girls should stick together. In high school, my girlfriends and I would have stood solidly together. That boy would have been very sorry for messing with one of us.

I would like to go on the record right now that I will NOT be sexting anyone!! And, I would appreciate if everyone would reciprocate by not sexting me.

My sister is a high school teacher and she ends each class by telling her students to be careful and make good choices. Alway very good advice!