Is 'liking children' wrong, if you don't harm kids?

ok, since this topic is all over the place anyway....

back to the young children getting married...

I agree with both dlowan and craven that this is not necessarily a good thing, particially (and note I say partically) for the fact it is too hard on a girls body to be having babies so early.

In this case, I'm wondering about the informed consent part.

Many little girls the world over, by the time they are of the age in question are having dreams and play acting getting married. Of course I know that it is all about the idea of wearing a fancy dress and being the center of attention, walking down the aisle and stuff.

They also may dream of after the wedding, in that they will be living in a house with a man and be having babies, etc. Even if these girls do have knowledge of what sex is, they are most likely not thinking of everything involved with making babies.

When I had throughts/dreams of this kind at that age, as for "when" this was going to happen, I was hazy. I knew it would be at sometime in the future, but since in play acting I couldn't really imagine the woman I'd become, I was always the person I was at that moment in my play.

Now, I guess this all points to the uniformed consent part, the not knowing the whole story of what marriage means.

But for a girl who from a much younger age knows that her time to be a wife will be much earlier, and IF she lived in a society that informed her of all that physically entailed, and she'd had time to think about this, talk to girls that were wives, could she not give informed consent?

Now the society I'm speaking of does not exist, as far as I know. One in which the girl has been informed long before, if able to ask questions, talk to her sisters who have gone through this, etc.....would she then be able to give informed consent?

dlowan, don't leave, you're providing us with good education.

Let the wind on the maelstrom just blow around you, best to just let them blow and not try to change their course. Eventually the wind will die down.

By that token any number of censorship endeavors can be rationalized from the violent acts in TV cartoons on up.

University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. [email protected]

This study aimed to determine whether media items about suicide were associated with differential increases in actual suicides. Data were available on 4,635 suicide-related items appearing in Australian newspapers and on radio and television news and current affairs shows between March 2000 and February 2001. These data were combined with national data on completed suicides occurring during the same period, by a process that involved identifying the date and geographical reach of the media items and determining the number of suicides occurring in the same location in selected weeks pre- and post-item. Regression analyses were conducted to determine whether the likelihood of an increase in post-item suicides could be explained by particular item characteristics. We found that 39% of media items were followed by an increase in male suicides, and 31% by an increase in female suicides. Media items were more likely to be associated with increases in both male and female suicides if they occurred in the context of multiple other reports on suicide (versus occurring in isolation), if they were broadcast on television (versus other media), and if they were about completed suicide (versus attempted suicide or suicidal ideation). Different item content appeared to be influential for males and females, with an increase in male suicides being associated with items about an individual's experience of suicide and opinion pieces, and an increase in female suicides being associated with items about mass- or murder-suicide. Item prominence and quality were not differentially associated with increases in male or female suicides. Further research on this topic is required, but in the meantime there is a need to remain vigilant about how suicide news is reported. Mental health professionals and suicide experts should collaborate with media professionals to try to balance 'public interest' against the risk of harm.

With that in mind, actively promoting suicide as a solution to problems on a site where people may turn for all kinds of help, seems incredibly irresponsible to me.

(Occom Bill, you've inspired my new sig line)

No Eorl, your 16 year old doesn't fit the bill, nor do I believe he would misconstrue my intent

Chumly wrote:

By that token any number of censorship endeavors can be rationalized from the violent acts in TV cartoons on up.

Quote:

University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. [email protected]

This study aimed to determine whether media items about suicide were associated with differential increases in actual suicides. Data were available on 4,635 suicide-related items appearing in Australian newspapers and on radio and television news and current affairs shows between March 2000 and February 2001. These data were combined with national data on completed suicides occurring during the same period, by a process that involved identifying the date and geographical reach of the media items and determining the number of suicides occurring in the same location in selected weeks pre- and post-item. Regression analyses were conducted to determine whether the likelihood of an increase in post-item suicides could be explained by particular item characteristics. We found that 39% of media items were followed by an increase in male suicides, and 31% by an increase in female suicides. Media items were more likely to be associated with increases in both male and female suicides if they occurred in the context of multiple other reports on suicide (versus occurring in isolation), if they were broadcast on television (versus other media), and if they were about completed suicide (versus attempted suicide or suicidal ideation). Different item content appeared to be influential for males and females, with an increase in male suicides being associated with items about an individual's experience of suicide and opinion pieces, and an increase in female suicides being associated with items about mass- or murder-suicide. Item prominence and quality were not differentially associated with increases in male or female suicides. Further research on this topic is required, but in the meantime there is a need to remain vigilant about how suicide news is reported. Mental health professionals and suicide experts should collaborate with media professionals to try to balance 'public interest' against the risk of harm.

Source:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=16387400&dopt=Books

The media has an important role to play in influencing social attitudes towards and perceptions of suicide and mental illness. Most members of the media report suicide and mental illness responsibly, and the media industry has been actively involved in helping to reduce suicide rates and addressing stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.

Generally suicides are not reported in the Australian media. Reports, when made, are usually presented with care to minimise the pain for relatives and friends. Most media try to ensure that suicide is not portrayed as a way to solve personal problems or glamorised in any way.
In general, the media takes a sensitive attitude to reporting mental illness, and to interviewing people who have, or have had, a mental disorder

The media has an important role to play in influencing social attitudes towards and perceptions of suicide and mental illness.

.....the media industry has been actively involved in helping to reduce suicide rates and addressing stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.

I go along with W. C. Fields on this one:

I like children. If they're properly cooked.

I go along with W. C. Fields on this one:

I like children. If they're properly cooked.