Free Republic

Emergency room visits for eating disorders among 12- to 17-year-old girls doubled during the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – a troubling existing trend that was likely worsened by the stress of living through the prolonged crisis. In 2020, kids actually made fewer visits to emergency departments than the year before – a decline of 21%, the CDC report found. In 2021, there was a decrease of 8% compared to 2019. But the reason for those visits changed dramatically during the early months of the pandemic, with the proportion of...

The 13 and 15-year-old girls who murdered an Uber Eats driver during a carjacking in DC are reportedly getting a plea deal. Instead of fleeing the scene after the car that they were trying to steal crashed and rolled on its side, one of the girls began looking for her cellphone that was in the vehicle — while walking nonchalantly past their victim’s body. Their victim, Mohammad Anwar, 66, of Springfield, Virginia, was driving for Uber Eats when the girls attempted to steal his car and tased him. The horrific scene was caught on camera by a witness. Warning, the...

In the last decade, diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” — severe discomfort in one’s biological sex — has exploded across the West. Between 2016 and 2017, the number of gender surgeries for natal females in the US quadrupled; in the UK, the rates of gender dysphoria for teenage girls are up 4,400 percent over the previous decade. An ailment that typically began in early childhood, and overwhelmingly afflicted males, suddenly has a new dominant demographic: teenage girls. In 2016, Brown University public health researcher Lisa Littman was scrolling through social media when she noticed that a group of teen girls from...

When it comes to teens, parents typically tell them that it’s never a good idea to do something just because it’s popular. But at Teen Vogue, the shuttered magazine-turned-website, that’s exactly the argument being used in support of abortion. The website, which is marketed towards girls aged 12-17, recently featured an op-ed from Caitlin Cruz, who claimed that the American attitude on abortion is overwhelmingly positive, so opposing it is nonsensical. Cruz’s claim, however, just isn’t true. Cruz discussed American attitudes towards abortion, writing that it is “almost always presented as a divisive and contentious issue,” adding that trespassing, harassment,...

Abortion advocates in Oklahoma lost a round in court this week when a judge rejected their argument against a state law requiring abortion clinics to provide information to help protect young rape victims. Oklahoma County District Judge Thomas Prince rejected a request from Larry A. Burns and the Center for Reproductive Rights to rule the new law unconstitutional Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. However, the judge did uphold an Oklahoma Supreme Court order that stops the law from taking effect until the case is fully resolved, the AP reports. Burns, an abortion doctor in Norman, Oklahoma, and his pro-abortion...

FULL TITLE: Girl, 16, found dead on train tracks next to her best friend, 18, was 'in a dark place' after break-up with her girlfriend Two teenagers have been found dead side-by-side on train tracks after one of the girls was 'in a dark place' following a recent break up with her long-time girlfriend. Arielle Troutman, 16, and Hannah Rigley, 18, were found dead beneath a train on the edge of the McAlpine Creek Greenway in Charlotte, North Carolina early on Sunday morning. The train driver had seen them apparently sleeping on the track, sounded his bell and pulled his...

Where can you find oral sex, drug use, a fondness for big government social programs and addictions to multiple sexual partners? If you immediately thought of the Clinton Presidential Library, you’re close, but it’s not the only library dedicated to debauchery. I have spent the last week reading books and magazines I randomly selected off the public library shelves. I literally closed my eyes and just started grabbing stuff, which makes what I found that much more disturbing. The results of this experiment are filled with leftist brainwashing, explicit sex, foul language, drug use, alcohol abuse, permissive parents, abusive parents...

A veteran Illinois lawmaker is commending an effort that compelled clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) to listen to thousands of teenage girls voicing their complaints against a line of shirts they found objectionable. Last week officials with A&F announced that the company would stop selling some of its T-shirts with controversial slogans. The action came after a protest, dubbed a "Girlcott," that was sponsored by the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania (WGF) and spearheaded by a group of 13- to 16-year-old girls in Allegheny County who jointly called upon young women across the U.S. to stop shopping...

The logic doesn't work. By definition, minors who get pregnant are less mature than those who do not -- in general, they belong to the subset of teens who have sex but don't use birth control at all or correctly, as opposed to teens who either use birth control consistently or abstain from having sex. So it doesn't make sense to have laws, like those in California, that give the least responsible teens more rights than are accorded a responsible teen who wants a tattoo. Still, I seriously considered voting against Proposition 73, a constitutional amendment that would require parental...

If you watch a lot of cable television, you've probably seen the ads, especially late at night or early in the morning. The "Girls Gone Wild" videos promise to show you coeds behaving badly on the beach during Spring Break or getting down and dirty at Mardi Gras. The formula is simple: find a group of nubile young things drunk out of their heads and induce them to pull up their T-shirts or pull down their shorts and expose themselves to anyone willing to fork over $19.95 for the privilege. The most recent incarnation features gangster rapper Snoop Dogg hawking...

The ACLU is now suing for the right to allow people to operate nude camps for teens. The group filed a motion in Richmand, Virginia to invalidate a state ban on such camps. The state had imposed the ban because White Tail Park had attempted to operate a camp last year for kids aged 11-18. The ACLU is attempting to make the argument that lawmakers over reached and over reacted to the camp by passing such a ban. The ACLU is also arguing that such a ban "interferes" with the "right" of a family to raise and nurture their children....

Remeber the rumor a few weeks ago that singer Charlotte Church was up for a role in the new film version of the 'Phantom of the Opera?' Well, now the truth is starting to come out why we never heard anything more about it. Seems Miss Church was too chunky -at least that's what the not so good looking director Joel Schumacher and his production team told her.The 17 her old 'Voice of an Angel' told In Style Magazine that she was constantly losing roles because of her size. 'I won't fit into their ideals because I think it's really...