[Mr. Silverback]

My, my, I would hate to be in von Ziegesar's shoes, now or on Judgement Day.

There are links to further information at the source document.

If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[television is just wrong]

I am glad my daughter reads, and it is NOT gossip girls. She is into classics and other useful books. She loves reading the books before the movies come out and compares the two versions. My daughter is an independent thinker, not following the latest fads, she has flown ahead of many classmates and is proud of it.

[Mr. Silverback]

BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[bondjamesbond]

Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar admits that she wrote the books that way for a reason. She told Colby magazine, “It’s completely unrealistic to have a group of kids who are constantly reforming or who are being punished because they’re ‘naughty.’ And I always resented that quality in books I’d read.” She goes on, “I don’t know what it is that redeems the characters, exactly, but deep down, they’re still good kids.”

"I don't know what redeems the characters" translates "I don't care what redeems the characters". If even the author doesn't know, suffice it to say there is not a lot of redemption going on.

Cecily von Ziegesar is laughing all the way to the bank, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.

[Irishguy]

that is the saddest thing i read today...the damage the writers are causing on dozens of fronts is huge...and all for some sleazy cash...they are worse then hustler magazine in my view..

[lawgirl]

Reminds me of the stir "Valley High Girls" caused when I was about that age (late 80s) but they were NOTHING compared to this stuff. wow.

[Carry_Okie]

One of my pre-teen daughters just read Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.

She couldn't put it down.

[GrandEagle]

My, my, I would hate to be in von Ziegesar's shoes, now or on Judgement Day.

Luke 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Absolutely the worse thing one could ever hear.

Cordially,
GE

[GrandEagle]

As the father of three girls - one of which is 10 (she likes to call herself a pre-teen), I appreciate very much my fellow FReepers helping me keep up with what is going on in the culture.
She is a very good girl with a sound Biblical foundation, but there have been a time or two where information I got from you folks has saved me lots of research time. When she asked, I knew the answer right away!

From the bottom of my heart I thank you!

Cordially,
GE

[AD from SpringBay]

“I don’t know what it is that redeems the characters, exactly, but deep down, they’re still good kids.”

Now where have I heard that reasoning before? Oh I remember - every time someone under 25 is arrested for something some reporter hauls out the the mother who says, "Deep down, she's still a good kid."

Now the Bible on the other hand...there's a book! Lays it out right from the start - we're sinners, every last one of us, with a rot that starts in our hearts. And then it details some of the sins and, best of all, tells what to do about it - how to get those sins taken care of. But I guess that's too moralistic and redemptive for the chosen ones who are on their way to hell. I'm just glad their kids are reading...excuse me while I puke up my pop tarts.

[jwalburg]

Any idea who the publisher is? This is a long way from Nancy Drew.

[JohnnyZ]

“Some parents are so happy that their kids are reading anything, they don’t care what it is.”

There are so many good books for children and young adults ..... although many of them are out of print.

You'd think some publisher could make a killing selling a series of classic children's books.

[Element187]

you are not suggesting we ban these books are you??? parents need to be the parent and keep their kids away from this stuff, government should not get involved.

[sandbar]

Thank you for this head's up. As the mother of three daughters, one being almost 11, I will keep a lookout for these "Gossip Girls" series. Luckily I live in a prudish, conservative country bumpkin county and the schools don't even allow Goosebumps in the public school library, so doubtful this will make it. However times are a changin...

[manic4organic]

Bump.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Ping - you might have some insight/thoughts/comments?

[little jeremiah]

Another one. Parents need to be really careful what their kids read, see, listen to.

[weegee]

Perhaps the worst part is that no moral judgments are made at all.

Exactly what the Sex Positive Agenda pushes for:

1) Everyone sexually active at every age.

2) No moral judgement regarding sexual pairings regardless of age, sex, number, relation, marital status, or specicies of partner.

[CharlieOK1]

this is the current fad for the younger kids.

My 5 year old daughter has been told that even if her friends have them, which they already do, that she will not be getting them.

Bratz Babyz were in the media spotlight during Christmas 2005. It so happened that the undergarments these dolls wear are "outrageous". A mother and her Bratz fanatic daughter have told ABC. The underwear is a thong, which is very disappointing as the dolls are supposed to be idols for young girls. The manufacturer though doesn't agree, and has said it is simply a small underwear! The strip of fabric is merely to hold the skirt down.

Link

[Antoninus]

“Some parents are so happy that their kids are reading anything, they don’t care what it is.”

Reading nothing is far preferable to reading filth.

[tutstar]

read later

[wagglebee]

MORAL ABSOLUTES PING.

DISCUSSION ABOUT:

"Sex and the Single (Preteen) Girl: Gossip Girl"

An excellent commentary by Chuck Colson!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be included in or removed from the MORAL ABSOLUTES PINGLIST, please FreepMail wagglebee.

[TAdams8591]

"Their parents believed . . . that the more access kids have to alcohol, the less likely they are to abuse it. . ."

Occasionally as a child I came upon a parent of a friend who made the above argument. It struck me as wrong and thus I never did agree with that line of reasoning.

I read incessantly as a child, and never encountered anything like the books above. They wouldn't have been appealing. My world was completely different from today's and the one created in those books. The author is stealing the innocence of her young readers, and obviously could care less.

How horrible it is for the young and their parents.