She's only 12!

[DeadlyAccurate]

April (http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archive/03_02/0203.htm), I mean. What in the world is up with that? I was still playing with Barbie dolls at 12. And she's talking about groping and "something serious" in the future, and when I was 12, those of my friends with boyfriends were titillated over holding hands and pecks on the cheek. I'm only 29, for god's sake! Have times changed that much?

[Flutterby]

It really depends on the kid. Of course I was playing 'Barbie Bondage' at age 12...

[Snooooopy]

I believe that 12 is the age of consent in Uganda, or somewhere around there in Africa.

When did the strip mention she's 12? I have read the strip on and off for many years, so I guess I missed something.

[DeadlyAccurate]

She was born April 1, 1991. I looked it up on the site to check. That makes her not quite 12 actually. I was interested in boys at 12, but even semi-serious thoughts of sex never even entered my mind.

[I can't believe that's butter!]

Well, in keeping with the nature of the strip, it was bound to happen around now.

[Epimetheus]

You sound quite sheltered. I was playing with barbie at age 12 as well... Just not the doll. :D

Please, most kids realize what sex is before the age of 12. I learned about sex from my friends, television, and my reading so many books before I was even 10.
When I was 7 I used to play "doctor" with a girl down the street(she was 9). Natural human curiosity. Most of my friends have similar stories to tell.

[Snooooopy]

Originally posted by DeadlyAccurate
She was born April 1, 1991. I looked it up on the site to check. That makes her not quite 12 actually. I was interested in boys at 12, but even semi-serious thoughts of sex never even entered my mind.

I feel old.

[Ethilrist]

Originally posted by Snooooopy
I feel old.
Pssst. Over here. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=160194)

[Barbarian]

12 years old? Let's see, that would have been grade 6? [counts on fingers] No! Grade 7!

I had definitely discovered the joys of self abuse at that age-- as had most of my peers.

[Zebra]

The cartoon (which I stopped reading when she murdered the dog) does NOT say what 'something serious' is. Obviously the mother and DeadlyAccurate think that it means sex but for comedy it will probably mean something like saying 'I love you' or something like that.

[RickJay]

We have here a 12-year-old who is upset that she's being punished for getting a little kiss, and in fact complains that she WASN'T doing anything "serious." What's the big deal?

This strikes me as being behaviour typical of kids of that age.

[DeadlyAccurate]

It was the "YET!" that I found shocking. Yes, I did lead a rather sheltered life, I admit.

[Jonathan Chance]

I was certainly playing naked with the girls at that time. It never led to sex but we were showing off.

Maybe that's just being a kid in LA.

[Eats_Crayons]

Originally posted by Barbarian
12 years old? Let's see, that would have been grade 6? [counts on fingers] No! Grade 7!

I had definitely discovered the joys of self abuse at that age-- as had most of my peers. Yeah, I remember knowing about the very basics of sex by the sixth grade. But in that scandalized, giggly, omigosh-do-people-really-DO-that-ewwww kind of way.

I recall my female friends having Ken humping Barbie well before that.

(I was one of those girls who preferred climbing trees and never owned a single Barbie doll.)

So yeah, I remember that "dating" started in the sixth grade with someone saying "will you go out with me" and the sum total of the relationship was pretty much just holding hands in the schoolyard.

And I do recall 12-year-olds very awkwardly kissing each other, but at the time it was a Very Big Deal and was the center of the schoolyard gossip.

[Manda JO]

And I do recall 12-year-olds very awkwardly kissing each other, but at the time it was a Very Big Deal and was the center of the schoolyard gossip.

Which is exactly what is happening in the strip. I think that April's protests that "it wasn't a abig deal" are just her attempt to minimize what is a very big deal to her and which is something that she feels ambigous about. HTat is to say, she wants to convince her mom it wasn't a big deal so that she dosen't get into trouble (this is 12 year old logic) and she wants to convince herself it wasn't a very big deal so that she dosne't have to think too much about it.

[FairyChatMom]

From another real world perspective, my youngest sister (youngest of 5 kids) was savvy much younger than the oldest (me) - just because she was exposed to teen relationships in a way that I wasn't. Considering April has a married brother and a sister in college, I don't see this as particularly unrealistic.

Of course, if I was her mother, I'd have words with her about that "Yet" remark... But I'm an old grouch that way. :D

[Jonathan Chance]

Remember, too. The boy (name forgotten) kissed April, not the other way around. She was pretty surprised there.

[cowgirl]

I went to my first boy-girl party when I was ten (I was younger than the other kids in my Grade 6 class, but they had started having these parties in Grade 5). There was kissing, very nervous kissing but definitely 'something.' (Remember Spin the Bottle? 2 Minutes in the Closet?) I myself was an unpopular tomboy so I never saw any of that action personally, but we were all definitely thinking it. And when I danced with the boy I had a crush on ... well, that was something 'serious'! I can still remember the Whitney Houston song we danced to. Maybe that's all April is referring to.

[Rilchiam]

Originally posted by Eats_Crayons
And I do recall 12-year-olds very awkwardly kissing each other, but at the time it was a Very Big Deal and was the center of the schoolyard gossip.

Yeah; I mean what was up with that encounter? "That was a good move"---"Yeah, and here's another one" :::smooch::: :confused:

I kissed a boy in sixth grade. But that's singular for both: one kiss, one boy. And no way did he, or, I daresay, any of the other boys in my class, have that kind of mack-daddy assurance.

And then after they confess their "like" for each other, they do it again? When it happened with me, we were both too embarrassed to look at each other afterwards. It was much more of an Annie Hall "now-we-can-digest-our-food" kiss than a Sleepless in Seattle "what-kept-us-apart-so long?". That's the kind of nervousness and self-consciousness you get at that age. This was like 90210. (Oops, dating myself...This was like Dawson's Creek.)

I think Lynn Johnston must have forgotten what age April is supposed to be. April's not based on one of her real kids, as Michael and Elizabeth are; maybe she's gotten careless and skipped a stage of April's development. I can see this happening if they were in grade 8 or 9, but not 6.

BTW, the guy's name is Gerald.

[FSimons]

April's "yet" is pretty vague. You really have no idea exactly what - or when - she means by it. You can read into it whatever your perverted little imagination can dream up.
I think, in the last frame, that Elly (Mom) is having pretty much the same reaction that DeadlyAccurate had to that remark. That "yet" drives forcibly home the point that April's only 12, she's only going to get older, and Mom's problems are only just beginning!
I'm a parent. I'm all too familiar with the feeling.

[Lizard]

God, I wish I'd had the nerve to do ANYTHING at age 12! Ironically, when I was a kid my mother had all these 70s-era sex books (think Joy of Sex, et al) from her "hippie phase" and obstetrics texts from her nursing school days laying in the basement. I read them all like crazy from about age 4 to age 9, when she threw them out. I'm positive I was the only kid in 5th grade who knew what the clitoris and analingus were. But this didn't translate to opprtunities for practical application. :(

I don't think 12 is too old to kiss. I know guys who lost their viginity at about that age, usually to an older girl.

[DeadlyAccurate]

There's also today's strip, where April is IM'ing Elizabeth and hinting about sneaking out to go on dates. If April were 15, it would make a lot of sense, but there's a lot of change that happens between your 11, just shy of 12th birthday and your 15th. She and Gerald both have more confidence than you'd expect from kids their age.

As Rilchiam said, the artist seems to have skipped an entire development phase. Maybe she's going to have April get pregnant by 14 or something.

[RTFirefly]

Thanks in part to Ken Starr's nationwide mandatory sex-ed program, kids know a great deal about a lot of stuff when they're very young. You'd be hard-pressed to find a junior-high kid in North America today who didn't know what oral sex was, I suspect, which means that a good portion of elementary-school kids do too.

April's in that world. Even if she doesn't intend to take things beyond a kiss, she knows there's more out there, and knows more about it than old fogeys like me knew when we were her age.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally posted by RTFirefly
April's in that world. Even if she doesn't intend to take things beyond a kiss, she knows there's more out there, and knows more about it than old fogeys like me knew when we were her age. And it's very useful when one wants to mess a parent's head.

[Fretful Porpentine]

I think Johnston is starting to cast April as the wild one in the family -- it would make a lot of sense, both in terms of real-life family dynamics and good storytelling. As the youngest, she's bound to be a little spoiled, and IIRC, Michael and Elizabeth were basically "good" teenagers. The strip needs to stake out some new ground with April's character in order not to go over the same territory again, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's setting this up with this particular story arc.

[Trinopus]

Originally posted by Zebra
The cartoon (which I stopped reading when she murdered the dog) . . .


Unclear on the concept?

Homer murdered Achilles... Shakespeare murdered Mercutio... Melville murdered Ahab...

It's called "drama." But I have a sense you wouldn't enjoy it...

Trinopus

(P.S. this is my first "Pit Nasty." If you must chew me up and spit me out, be gentle, okay?)

[Lizard]

Originally posted by RTFirefly
April's in that world. Even if she doesn't intend to take things beyond a kiss, she knows there's more out there, and knows more about it than old fogeys like me knew when we were her age.

Assuming her parents (or someone) teach her about birth control and VD, is that necessarily a bad thing?

[nogginhead]

Am I sick for knowing what you were talking about without clicking the link?

Just because we (the boys) were titillated at 12 by holding hands doesn't mean we weren't thinking about 'serious' stuff.

I want to hear more about the barbie bondage-- I had a girlfriend named Barbie (and my name is Ken, no kidding) but she would never go for that sort of thing, dammit.

[Mac Guffin]

What? April Killed the dog!?!? Oh my GOD!




What?

[DeadlyAccurate]

Originally posted by Lizard
Assuming her parents (or someone) teach her about birth control and VD, is that necessarily a bad thing?

At 12!? :eek: I really am old-fashioned at heart and that would just be a bit much. 15-16, a bit young but not surprising. 17-18? A lot of girls lose their virginity by then. But 12?

FTR, I was either almost 17 or just past my 17th when I lost my virginity, so it's not like I'm not familiar with sex and teenagers. I held a baby shower for three friends at once who were pregnant early in my senior year. All three of those women are divorced to the man who helped them get pregnant. (yeah, I know you were talking about birth control and all, but the possibility exists for a mistake, not that those three made mistakes with their BC: they didn't use any).

[Lute Skywatcher]

Anyone else hear of the five-year-old showing signs of puberty (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_739278.html)? Some kids just start earlier than others.

[trishdish]

Originally posted by DeadlyAccurate
At 12!? :eek: I really am old-fashioned at heart and that would just be a bit much. 15-16, a bit young but not surprising. 17-18? A lot of girls lose their virginity by then. But 12?


Girls are getting their periods now at age 10. I was just talking to my husband's aunt, who's daughter is 10, and the girl is getting breasts and probably going to get her period this year.

If you wait until 12 to talk to them about sex, birth control and STDs, you might just be too late.

And 15 - 16 to wait to talk to your kids about sex?!? I was having sex at 16 and that was waaaaay back in the 80s!

[Heloise]

Originally posted by Trinopus
Unclear on the concept?
...
... *It's called "drama." But I have a sense you wouldn't enjoy it...

Trinopus

(P.S. this is my first "Pit Nasty." If you must chew me up and spit me out, be gentle, okay?)


That was nasty and uncalled for. And, based solely on what was printed here, where do you get off saying, "I have a sense...?" There's no chewing up or spitting out here, but considering what you just said without provocation, you shouldn't ask to be treated gently.




*My editing and ...

[CrazyCatLady]

My mom's taught sixth-graders for over 20 years, and that's exactly how a lot of them act. A lot of them aren't quite to that stage yet, but quite a few are. Others are a lot further. I had a classmate drop out of school because she was pregnant...in the seventh grade. Others dropped out in 9th or 10th grade because of their kids.

Waiting till 15 or so is just too late.

Personally, I think Johnston is just commenting on how our society is changing, and how much faster kids grow up now. She had something similar a few years ago, tracing April's transition from Barney to the Spice Girls. I think the kid was 8 or so.

[Jester]

Count me in with particlewill in wondering what you guys mean when you say that she murdered the dog. I haven't read the strip in awhile, but that definitely peaks the curiosity...:eek:

[Flutterby]

Originally posted by nogginhead
I want to hear more about the barbie bondage-- I had a girlfriend named Barbie (and my name is Ken, no kidding) but she would never go for that sort of thing, dammit. [/B]

lol.. well Barbie and Ken (actually it wasn't Ken. I didn't have a Ken doll so it was usually another Barbie and/or Joe from the NKotB as I had that doll) would be.. going at it.. and Barbie would generally be tied up with ribbons, or yarn or whatever I could find that would tie.. and sometimes I just played out torture scenes.

What can I say? I was a disturbed child..

I only wish I had these (http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=7760) as a child..

[Moirai]

Originally posted by RTFirefly
Thanks in part to Ken Starr's nationwide mandatory sex-ed program, kids know a great deal about a lot of stuff when they're very young. You'd be hard-pressed to find a junior-high kid in North America today who didn't know what oral sex was, I suspect, which means that a good portion of elementary-school kids do too.

Aside from the Ken Starr smack, what is the big deal? I had a sex ed class in the 5th grade, when I was 10. That would have been 25 years ago! We talked about all that stuff (with lots of "eeeeew, grossss", of course).

I needed it at that age, and I suspect most of the other girls did too. Although I didn't lose my virginity until I was 16, I started smoking pot at 12 and thus put myself in some dangerous places.

High school is much too late for sex ed or drug/drinking ed, and junior high may be as well.

And just a damn minute! April did NOT kill the dog! Farley drowned saving her life! You insensitive bastards!

;)

[Jester]

Ah, I see. Just went to the site, and sure enough, Farley drowned pulling her out of a river. And here I was getting flashbacks of McCauley Caulkin in The Good Son.

[nogginhead]

Originally posted by Obsidian Flutterby
lol.. well Barbie and Ken (actually it wasn't Ken. I didn't have a Ken doll so it was usually another Barbie and/or Joe from the NKotB as I had that doll) would be.. going at it.. and Barbie would generally be tied up with ribbons, or yarn or whatever I could find that would tie.. and sometimes I just played out torture scenes.

What can I say? I was a disturbed child..

I only wish I had these (http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/standard/article.html?in_article_id=7760) as a child..

Mmm, those are pretty good. Though the costume's not so important to me... it's what goes on after the blindfold's on that I enjoy most.

What did Joe do to Barbie after he tied her up?

[Flutterby]

lol.. That I will not answer. I didn't know as much then as I do now so my recollections are fuzzy and pretty mundane.

That and I don't think we should hijack the thread more from it's original purpose. Which is April growing up, not my imagination as a child and how bondage fit into it.

At 12 I had kissed my first guy (the only for many years after that) and I will say I didn't find it oogy at all. I still talk to him sometimes and half wish he were single now too.

[nogginhead]

You had very good taste for a 12-year old. I kissed at 13 and also did some 'serious' stuff, but no sex 'til 17. I'd have very little to say to those now-grown girls, I think, if I were to meet them somehow today.

Any time you want to talk about the stuff that makes your Barbie bondage mundane, I'm slavering to hear it! And I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

FTR, there are many times I think fbofw is too mundane to be interesting... I mean, even on a soap, something's got to be happening that's exciting. But when she focusses on humor, Johnston does pretty well, and the characters are mostly pretty real seeming.

[Trinopus]

Originally posted by Heloise
That was nasty and uncalled for. And, based solely on what was printed here, where do you get off saying, "I have a sense...?" There's no chewing up or spitting out here, but considering what you just said without provocation, you shouldn't ask to be treated gently.
*My editing and ...

I'm still new at this... I tho't the pit was where nastiness was kinda expected...

The idea that Lynn Johnson "murdered" the dog shows a strange misconception of the role of the author in drama... Again, did Homer "murder" Achilles? No, he merely wrote a story in which Achilles died. Lynn Johnson is writing a "soap opera," comparable to Gasoline Alley, in which time passes. That's nifty. But, as time passes, people (and, alas, pets) die.

Anyway, my snarkiness was certainly uncalled for... But in the pit, is that a reason not to say something?

Trinopus

[Geek Mecha]

Er, no. Just as you're not supposed to be nasty when dealing with people face-to-face unless it's called for, you shouldn't be nasty here simply because it is the Pit unless it's called for.

Speaking for myself, if I see a poster being nasty or swearing just because they're in the Pit, my first thought is that they lack decorum and should lurk for a while.

[RickJay]

Originally posted by Jester
Ah, I see. Just went to the site, and sure enough, Farley drowned pulling her out of a river
Farley didn't drown, he died of a heart attack after pulling her out. He was a really old dog.

Guys, I think we have to remember here that Lynn Johnston bases "For Better or For Worse" on her own experiences as a mother. The character of Elly Patterson is basically Lynn Johnston drawing herself - they even look alike. Johnston's husband is a dentist, as is Elly's husband, and loves model trains, as Elly's husband does. They live in a small town in Ontario, just like the Pattersons. Elly's father is a lot like Johnston's father. This is totally on purpose, by the way. What you're seeing in the script is a dramatized account of the life of Lynn Johnston.

Johnston herself is, like Elly, getting really old; she's 55. Like all old people, she perceives that kids are getting worse, despite the fact that they really aren't. If Johnston perceives that kids are getting more precocious and world, this will naturally be reflected in the strip.

This perceptive effect may be enhanced by the fact that unlike Elly, Lynn Johnston DIDN'T have a third child. All the 12-year-olds she sees are other people's 12-year-olds. So her perception of how 12-year-old girls act probably leans more towards "they're getting wilder" than they would if she actually had an April.

If this sounds like I'm being negative, I honestly think "For Better Or For Worse" is one of the ten greatest comic strips ever created.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Ease up on the newbie, Audrey. For one thing, he's right, and for another, I've seen attacks on other dopers that were a 1000 times worse.

Rick: I agree with your opinions of FBOFW, but 55 ain't freaking "really old." Hell's bells, I'm only 12 years away from that age and I don't feel middle-aged unless I look at my bills.

[RTFirefly]

Originally posted by EJsGirl
[B]Aside from the Ken Starr smack, what is the big deal? I had a sex ed class in the 5th grade, when I was 10. That would have been 25 years ago! We talked about all that stuff (with lots of "eeeeew, grossss", of course).Your 5th grade sex-ed class covered blowjobs?! Damn.

Yeah, kids that young need to know where babies come from, but I think they can still wait a few years past that before we teach them about all the alternative variations. Unlike with genital sex, if we don't teach them that there's such a thing as oral sex until 8th grade, and they find out about it on their own a year or two earlier, I don't think our educational system has failed them.

The Starr report went a bit beyond the sex-ed style of approach, and that was my problem with its public release. It was more like teaching kids about sex by leaving the Penthouse letters out for them to read. That might not be so bad at an appropriate age, but I'm glad I didn't have an eight-year-old at the time to have to explain the phrase "semen-stained dress" to, or what the deal was with the cigar.

[Moirai]

Yeah Rick, easy on the "really old!"

My friend's stepdaughter came home from school last year & told her that she had kissed a boy at school (she was 10, I think). Instead of freaking out, her stepmom-to-be asked her about it. It turned out that the boy had kissed her, kind of a hit-and-run thing, and that she really didn't think much of him or the kiss. They laughed about it and it was forgotten.

THAT is how I would want to react. Freaking out would only make it bigger in the kid's mind, and maybe more exciting.

I wanted to kiss boys when I was 10, but none of them wanted to kiss me... :(

That changed! :D

[I can't believe that's butter!]

What did Joe do to Barbie after he tied her up?

Hehhehheh........

[BoBettie]

Peyote, I swear to God I thought that said "until I look at my balls". It must be the cold medicine. I gotta lay off the sauce.

[Moirai]

RT, in the interest of giving kids as much information as they need to make informed decisions, I will not just tell my kids about plain old Missionary-position sex. We learned about other forms of intimacy, probably to address questions like, "Can you catch something doing this?", "Can you get pregnant doing this?", etc.

Do you really think that 7th graders don't know what a blow job is? Guess again!

[RTFirefly]

Originally posted by RickJay
Guys, I think we have to remember here that Lynn Johnston bases "For Better or For Worse" on her own experiences as a mother. The character of Elly Patterson is basically Lynn Johnston drawing herself - they even look alike. There's a pic of Lynn with her husband and two children on the back of one of her earliest books of collected strips. And the fictional Patterson family of the time were pretty much dead ringers for the RL Johnston family. But the difference has widened somewhat over the years.
Johnston herself is, like Elly, getting really old; she's 55. Like EJsGirl said, easy on the 'old' stuff! 55 can't be old; for me, it isn't that far away! Like all old people, she [b]perceives that kids are getting worse, despite the fact that they really aren't. If that's what she perceives, I think it doesn't show in the strip. But kids these days really do know more about stuff related to sex than kids 10 or 20 or 30 years ago did. (I'm not sure that either 'precocious' or 'worldly' describes this well, btw.) Johnston knows that, and the strip reflects that.
All the 12-year-olds [Johnston] sees are other people's 12-year-olds. So her perception of how 12-year-old girls act probably leans more towards "they're getting wilder" than they would if she actually had an April. Again, I don't think that's what comes through. That kids are doing stuff a bit sooner comes through (although I don't think 12 was all that unusual an age for a first quick kiss a generation ago), but there's no 'wild' character among April's contemporaries that's remotely the equivalent to the way Candace was portrayed in the strip a few years back.
I honestly think "For Better Or For Worse" is one of the ten greatest comic strips ever created. Darn tootin'.

[RTFirefly]

EJsGirl - not only do I think 7th graders know what a blowjob is, but I just got finished saying that a few posts back.

There's a difference between what is within the reasonable discretion of each set of parents to decide what to teach their children, and what the school system should teach their children. For one thing, what the school system teaches, necessarily defines one boundary of a parent's discretion in that matter: if the school's already taught your kid X, then you no longer have the option to not let him be taught about it until next year.

So where it can be done without ill consequence, it would seem that the school system's choice of what age to teach what students what facts about sex, should be somewhat on the conservative side. That means a lot of parents may have explained a lot of stuff to their kids about sex before the schools do. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Moirai]

True. I see your point. I certainly plan on being the first one to tell my boys about "that stuff" (or at least making my husband do it!). :D

I work in education (specifically public K-12 school districts in CA mostly) and I'm not sure I want them having first crack at ANYTHING my kids learn!

[Rilchiam]

Originally posted by CrazyCatLady
Personally, I think Johnston is just commenting on how our society is changing, and how much faster kids grow up now.

I have a nit to pick, not with you personally, CCL, but just with the underlined phrase. Exhibiting certain behaviors (kissing, freak-dancing, smoking), is not "growing up". Learning how to control your urges and act responsibly is. Think of someone you know, or know of, who is a perennial screw-up. Can you trace their pattern of behavior back to drinking/drugs/sex/delinquency at an early age? Probably. And that behavior is what prevented them from "growing up".


I just think that this is a very unrealistic portrayal. Not because they kissed, but because of their attitudes. There's simply no way they would be so blase about this (sorry, can't do an accent aigu! They act like they've done it before (kissing, I mean, not "IT") and there's no way you act like you've done it before unless you've done it before!

[RTFirefly]

Originally posted by EJsGirl
True. I see your point. I certainly plan on being the first one to tell my boys about "that stuff" (or at least making my husband do it!). :DI think you should definitely make your husband do "that stuff" with you every once in a while! ;)

[Rilchiam]

uComics (http://www.ucomics.com/forbetterorforworse/) should be showing tomorrow's strip by the time anyone sees this. 2am Eastern at the latest.

So, par avance, I'll mention what I just now noticed: April is overreacting here, too. One kiss and she's willing to be Rose to Gerald's Jack? Either this is another continuity gap, or (as is more likely) this is April doing what she always does: fly off the handle as soon as Elly makes the tiniest objection to something she's done.

Just wanted to get that in now, in case Elizabeth says something similar in IM.

[Rilchiam]

It's not up yet. Well, anyway, I also wonder what Elly meant by "alone together". Of course April and Gerald shouldn't be, like, down in the basement together, but that would apply to any boy her age or older. I don't see why they couldn't have a tame little date like a movie and ice cream, or a school dance, if there are any at that grade level.

And that's another thing...boy/girl pairings get stepped up when school activities acknowledge that there might be couples. And when kids get to the confirmation/mitzvah phase. I remember that at my school, that was the acid test. If a guy agreed to be your date for your confirmation or mitzvah, it was official. If he didn't, then he didn't think enough of you, and phooey on him. Anyway, I think that without these constructs, kids would be getting off the dime at a later age.

[Consuela Bobuela]

When I was 12 I still thought you couyld get pregnant by kissing. That was 1972. I guess things have changed.
Feel free not to do the math , as I wish to be 29 as many decades as I possibly can.

[CrazyCatLady]

Still more evidence for the theory that somebody is doing a lot more than kissing at the age of twelve or so: My cousin's sister-in-law is about to become a grandmother at the ripe old age of 27.

The woman in question (who was, incidentally, born when her own mother was 14) got pregnant when we were in seventh grade, and now her 13-year-old is pregnant. To recap the new family statistics, we'll have a mom, aged 13; a grandmother, aged 27; and a great-grandmother, aged 40.

Does anybody still think we should wait till middle school to start teaching kids about sex and contraception?

[Moirai]

Ick. When I think of myself at 13, or 15 (or hell, even at 20), I wasn't capable of raising a goldfish, let alone a child.

Yuck.

[Tamex]

Man, how did I know what this thread was about before I clicked on it? Must mean I'm a big FBOFW fan!

I think that the teachers overreacted, myself. They sent a note home on first "offense" for a simple smooch? Who knows what Elly and John think that they were doing to warrant a note home! So, they overreact. So, April overreacts.

Do any of you read the "Letters from the Pattersons" on the FBOFW website (http://www.fbofw.com)? Each month, a letter to the audience is written from each main character's point of view and posted on the website. These letters are interesting because they go into a lot of background areas that don't come up in the strip. This is not, for example, April's first kiss. One of her letters this summer revealed that she kissed a boy at camp. Also, a letter from Elizabeth a few months ago had the slightly disturbing revelation that Liz planned on buying her little sister "sexy underwear" for Christmas :eek:! February's letters, once they are up, may shed some light on this situation.

[zoogirl]

I guess I lived in a bad part of town or something. Several of my friends lost their virginity at thirteen and at sixteen, I was the last holdout. That was back in the early/mid Seventies. Actually, I was the only one who hadn't been pregnant by sixteen. This was in Burnaby BC, more or less a suburb of Vancouver.

We were definatly kissing by twelve. I doesn't surprise me at all that April is beginning to notice boys. I've sort of lost track of FBOFW lately. I used to keep up with it on a comics website, the one on linked to the Teeming Millions webpage. Guess it's time to check in again.

[Geek Mecha]

For some odd reason I couldn't post to this thread last night.

Anyway, I just wanted to apologize to Trinopus if I offended him. His question reminded me of the wankers who post in here and say, "Oh, and because this is the Pit, shit fuck cunt whore prick felch asshole muthafucka!"

[flodnak]

Originally posted by RickJay
Farley didn't drown, he died of a heart attack after pulling her out. He was a really old dog. To elaborate on this - FBOFW is one of those unusual comic strips in which everyone ages at close to the expected rate. Farley had already lived longer than you'd expect from that breed of dog, and it would have been very odd for him to continue forever in a realistic comic strip. Johnston was going to have to write him out of the story. Because Farley had been such a big part of the strip for so long, she chose to have him die as a hero rather than writing about multiple trips to the vet that end with The Shot. If Johnston had never added April to the strip, she still would have had to come up with a story arc that ended with Farley dead in order to preserve the integrity of the strip.

[Trinopus]

Originally posted by AudreyK
For some odd reason I couldn't post to this thread last night.

Anyway, I just wanted to apologize to Trinopus if I offended him. His question reminded me of the wankers who post in here and say, "Oh, and because this is the Pit, shit fuck cunt whore prick felch asshole muthafucka!"

Grin! I hope I'm not quite in that league! And, in truth, I have "lurked" the SDMB, reading it daily for about a year now. It took me that long to work up my nerve to join in.

I apologize to Zebra for using sarcasm instead of a milder form of inquiry and/or reproof. In a way, it is a tribute to Lynn Johnson's storytelling skills that Zebra came to feel that Farley was "real" enough to be worthy of "life," rather than merely a cartoon character to be written out of the plot.

There was an old B.C. cartoon, where one character asks, "What is it that makes us walk, and talk, and live, and breathe?" And the other character says, "Contented readers."

Trinopus

[Geek Mecha]

Welcome to the board. :)