Archive for March, 2006
March 29th, 2006
Dear Straight Talk: I’m from London, England and I just read your column online about cutting. How would I approach my parents concerning such matters? I need some help but I’m scared to tell them that I cut.—A.
Dear A.: Most cutters feel the same way—they’re at a loss as to how to tell their parents. Many hide it from friends, too. Since writing is excellent therapy for cutters, write your parents a letter. Tell them you cut and want help from a counselor. Include a copy of today’s column and the one on the website from March 19. Good luck and let us know how you’re doing.
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March 29th, 2006
Dear Straight Talk: I’m 45 years old and I read the recent column on cutting. I’m familiar with the fact that it’s happening, but it’s completely alien to me. Why would anyone cut themselves?—El Dorado Hills Uncle
Dear Uncle: To bring themselves “home”. That’s my working theory. The high-speed virtual reality that our youth are wired into is eerily body-snatching. Living through the machine is different than having a life. Our youth are lost in MySpace, cell phones, iPods, games, movies, TV. You’d be hard-pressed to count the minutes a day most teens are e-free.
Humans need touch and physical interaction—real friends, not virtual ones. I believe cutting is a misguided attempt to make life physical again, to bring life back into the slower pace of the body, into the realm of flesh and blood. It’s a rage against the machine. Ironically, the addictive, numbing effects of cutting take our youth even farther from the life they are trying to find.
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March 29th, 2006
Dear Straight Talk: You’ve been talking about drugs and alcohol at teen parties, but what about caffeine? I teach high school and I can’t believe how many kids start first period with Starbucks. When I was growing up coffee was something only bad-breathed adults drank. It worries me.—Math teacher
Dear Math: It should. Caffeine is a huge stressor. When you grow up with a daily fix of caffeinated soft drinks it’s only natural to graduate to a bigger bang.
Lest you wonder why every small town breeds Starbucks like rabbits, consider a Wall Street Journal study that found a cup of joe at Starbucks has 56% more caffeine than coffee sold in gas marts and pastry shops. The study showed it was the need to stave off withdrawals that brought people back—not taste. Caffeine withdrawals begin 12 to 24 hours after the last sip. If not re-tanked, you pay with headaches, irritability, drowsiness and difficulty concentrating.
America is built on the concept of freedom. Obviously, kids aren’t forced to drink Pepsi or go to Starbucks. However, as one teen lamented, “These companies that seduce us with addictive products are run by parents. Don’t they care how we turn out?”
I have this to say: Any society that values profits more than its youth is heading for disaster. You do the math.
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