Melinda

>You know, this world would be one hell of a better place if we actually took time to listen to what children and young adults are actually saying, even when it makes us uncomfortable, and developing a dialogue, instead of using so much energy trying to shut them up.

Posted : Sep 13, 2006 02:26

rindawriter

>I never trust statistics anymore...not after I learned how easily those things can be manipulated from my colleg sociology classes...you can find a reputable statistic to support ANYTHING.....but I have always found that if you want to know anything about teenagers...try talking with them...better yet, try listenign to them....

Posted : Sep 11, 2006 06:18

Anonymous

>Dr. Ruth has lost her mind. Or at least her memory. Good taste? The first time I ever heard her on the radio, I was 13 or 14, flipping stations, and there she was talking to some guy about "golden showers." That was more than twenty years ago, and she was about 80 then, I think, so I guess we shouldn't be too hard on her . . .

Posted : Sep 10, 2006 09:08

Melinda

>I was kind of surprised that Dr. Ruth was so freaked out by the sex that the book's supposed to be about. And they say kids don't talk about sex? Maybe kids don't talk about sex around these guys ... when I was a substitute teacher, I heard plenty of talk.

But I was also floored by how both women were so quick to jump all over this book they'd never read. And how quickly they assumed that this book, and all books, were written only to tittilate and to rev kids up.

I had to laugh when you told the lady that there've been plenty of books written for kids about molestation, and she's like, "What!" and two seconds later she's assuming those books are all porn, written for the express purpose of showing kids how nice it is to be molested. I was kind of floored ... so is that part of the mindset behind the folks who ban books?

I got a little steamed that they assumed the HB was a publishing house. Hello!

Posted : Sep 10, 2006 04:40

Roger Sutton

>Most of the (CROSSTALK) consisted of Dr. Ruth babbling. I don't know when she became such an ass. The Concerned Woman of America, though, was quite a formidable debater--a mano a mano with her would have been fun and even enlightening for both of us, I think.

Posted : Sep 09, 2006 05:22

Robin

>My favorite line of all
"It just—you know, I guess that is where we come down."

I think the speaker meant "go down."

Posted : Sep 09, 2006 05:06

Monica Edinger

>Thank you, Roger, my hero. I hope you relished the, um, lively conversation.


And now, tell us about some of that (CROSSTALK).

Posted : Sep 09, 2006 11:18

Anonymous

>That was really hilarious. They didn't really make very good use of you, did they? Or maybe they figured they did. My favorite part was when Dr. Ruth said it had ruined rainbows for her. And she loves rainbows.

Posted : Sep 08, 2006 10:25

Roger Sutton

>Andy, it's my theory that people who get hysterical about books aren't readers, and don't understand how reading works (and how it doesn't), but nevertheless hold it to a higher standard than they do TV or music. Maybe not nevertheless: maybe it's because they don't read that they invest it with so much power, like people being afraid of witches.

Posted : Sep 08, 2006 07:15

Jill

>Goodness me. That panel discussion was hysterical in every sense of the word.

Posted : Sep 08, 2006 07:00

Andy Laties

>Odd that the subject of ubiquitous plotless boring but hyperexplicit oral-sex pornography available on cable didn't come up in a conversation like this one. How come books that explore motive and character and social consequences (however mediocre these books may be as "literature") are being talked about without reference to this broader and MUCH more widely influential media culture? At least such books can help teens contextualize the simplistic behavioral oral sex action they stumble across on cable.

Good work Roger.

Posted : Sep 08, 2006 05:38