Newspaper Page Text
Pickens County
Editorial
Quote of the Week
The physical voice we use in prayer need
not be great nor startling; even should we
not lift up any great cry or shout, God will
yet hear us. - Origen
Page
• Opinions • Community Views • Good Old Common Sense
January 12, 2017
From the staff
Too much too soon: Teens,
sex and cyber bullying
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogressonline.com
While I was home sick one day last
week I got around to watching a docu
mentary I’ve had in my queue since it
was released in Septem
ber - “Audrie & Daisy,” a
Netflix original about
teen sex abuse, social
media and cyber bullying.
As the opening credits
rolled I realized this was
n’t the best film to perk
up my spirits, but I kept
watching anyway.
The documentary fol
lows the two stories of
Audrie Pott and Daisy
Coleman, teen girls from different parts
of the country who were sexually as
saulted and harassed online and in person
by classmates. Explicit photos of the girls
taken while they were drunk to the point
of unconsciousness circulated in their re
spective schools. Nasty comments were
posted on social media, especially for
Daisy after charges were filed against her
assaulters. This public shaming - which
is done just as much by girls as boys -
led Audrie, 15, to take her life and sent
Daisy, 14 at the time, into a spiral of de
pressive, self-destructive behavior. She
tried to kill herself several times.
The sheriff of Daisy’s small town in
Missouri made the situation worse; he
defended the guys who abused her —
older teens, one of which was a star foot
ball player and the grandson of a former
state representative. Like a lot of victim-
shamers he talks about women as atten
tion seekers; how these boys, the
“alleged” rapists, were trying to move on
with their lives, implying Daisy wasn’t
by dragging out a court case. The charges
were dropped, but after public outcry that
included the group Anonymous, the case
was reopened and the main suspect sen
tenced to two years probation - a slap on
the wrist.
The film makes it all too clear that
this kind of sexual abuse and bullying
doesn’t only happen in college, but to
kids in high school and even middle
school, and can be tragically exacerbated
by social media. A friend of Audrie, the
girl who killed herself, talks about boys
asking the most “developed” girls to text
them naked pics in middle school.
I understand that sexuality starts to
blossom during teen years, which is nat
ural, but our girls are way too sexualized
way too soon. They’re almost groomed
for it. After I finished “Audrie & Daisy,”
a documentary about the legal teen ama
teur pom industry popped up as a sugges
tion and I watched it, too.
Apparently there’s an
overwhelming demand;
the word “teen” is the
most popular word search
on pom sites.
Nancy Jo Sales points
out in a Time article So
cial Media and the Secret
Life of Teens: “Accompa
nying the boom in selfie
culture is a rise in com
petitive spirit, as well as a
disturbing trend of sexualization. Likes,
hearts, swipes — validation is only a tap
away. And one of the easiest ways to get
that validation is by looking hot. Sex
sells, whether you’re 13 or 35.”
In a different article she says she
spoke to girls who said, “’Social media
is destroying our lives, but we can’t go
off it, because then we’d have no life.’”
We’ve all got friends who say things
on Lacebook, Twitter or Instagram that
they’d never say to anyone’s face, which
makes those forums frightening when it
comes to our hormone-driven teens. Bul
lies are emboldened because they can
hide behind their computer; they can be
anonymous; explicit images can go viral;
and there can be serious legal conse
quences if things go wrong.
By the end of the afternoon I was left
speechless, with a punched-in-the-gut
feeling thinking about my kids - an
eight-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy -
and the challenges ahead. I have a new
found resolve to talk to my daughter
about how to respect herself, and just as
important a resolve to talk to my son
about how to be a respectable man. Just
like Daisy’s brother had written above
his workout station, “Monsters aren’t
bom, they’re made.”
Social media isn’t going away, and as
“Audrie & Daisy” shows it can be a ve
hicle for positive change, connection and
healing - but in the words of musician
Tori Amos who wrote a song for the doc
umentary, we need to teach our kids emo
tional intelligence along with tech skills
so they can “protect themselves and not
hurt each other, and to realize how
they’re hurting each other.”
Monsters aren’t
born, they ’re made.
Talking to kids
about online
presence is essential
with prevalence of
cyber bullying.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
or mail to Pickens Progress, PO Box 67, Jasper, Ga. 30143. All letters must have a valid
e-mail address, full name and telephone number for verification. 400 word limit.
The Essential Bad Attitude
By Alan Gibson
The News from 1946
It was the last year we all
pulled together. And the
radio news might have
sounded something like this:
FLASH. The U.S. Health
Commissioner says horse
meat is “as nutritious and as
good as any other meat.” Let
him eat it! Even at 17 cents a
pound, this reporter isn’t
tempted America’s best
selling book” Baby and
Child Care by Dr. Benjamin
Spock. Some say Doc Spock
is a crock. We think he’s a vi
sionary At the movies,
Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonder
ful Life is cloying in its sen
timentality despite the thes-
pianatrics of Jimmy Stewart
and Donna Reed. Our sug
gestion: retitle it It's a
Maudlin Life and re-release
Just asking: If Mahatma
Gandhi is to be an “architect
of a new India,” shouldn’t he
put on some clothes? Maybe
the loin cloth look will catch
on but we doubt it On
Broadway Irvin Berlin’s No
Business Like Show Business
stops the show assuming the
show is Annie Get Your Gun.
A rouser-wowzer to Ethel
Merman, fresh from 1943 s
Something for the Boys
They’re calling it Judge
ment at Nuremberg as an in
ternational tribunal weighs in
with the verdict that nine
prominent Nazis are to be
hanged. One reporter’s take:
No punishment is ade
quate Does cigarette
smoking cause lung cancer?
We’ll know more as women
smoke in greater numbers. I
don’t intend to give up cigs
but then I’m not very
bright According to Win
ston Churchill “an iron cur
tain has descended across the
Continent (Europe).” Some
body ought to open an iron
curtain around Fulton, Mis
souri. Where is it anyway?
Our personal priority:
More bikini bathing suits,
fewer Bikini bomb tests. The
former will promote peace
faster than the latter.....
Who’d a thought that a
movie about railroad station
restaurants (The Harvey
Girls) would hit big? Credit
the picture’s hit song On the
Atchison Topeka and the
Santa Fe. It puts Atchison,
Kansas, on the map.
And that’s the news from
1946. Thanks for the memo
ries, ladies and gentlemen.
[Gibson is a regular colum
nist for the Pickens Progress.]
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main St. P.O. Box 67 Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogress.com
JOHN A. POOL DAN POOL
Publisher Editor
WILLIAM E. POOL
Managing Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper Georgia 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
COUNTY PROGRESS, PO. Box 67, Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year’s Subscription: $29.96 in Pickens County and in Gilmer,
Cherokee, Dawson and Gordon Counties. $39.59 in all other Georgia
Counties; $44.94 out of state.
FRAUD
Other Voices
To speak or not to speak?
By McKenzie Potts
Fainting Goat Vineyard
They are innately in us,
opinions that is. We all have
them, they are a dime a
dozen. They are given out
freely, mainly, unwanted and
unappreciated by your audi
ence. Greatly offensive in na
ture, most opinions are
unwarranted and inadequate.
Spoken from the position
of superiority, opinions tend
to point out to others areas in
need of improvement.
Phrases like, “its my opinion
that you shouldn’t do that”,
or “do you think those shoes
really go with that outfit”, or
even worse, “have you ever
thought about making this
change”.
Listen, your opinion isn’t
gold. Quite frankly, you are
pointing out some of the
most obvious scenarios that
have already been considered
and for good reason, ruled
out. You are
not the expert, and even if
you are (which, by defini
tion, there really can only be
one expert in each field), the
road to greatness isn’t often
paved by rule followers.
It is the pioneers heading
up new voyages that lead to
novel inventions. They are
For every opinion
you have of me, I
have one of you but
my upbringing has
prevented me from
putting those
thoughts into words.
the ones vested in the jour
ney, not you. Although your
opinion has been generously
given, with the kindest of
heart, I reject it.
Its always the least edu
cated person with the loudest
opinion. At first that state
ment seems like an oxy
moron, until you truly think
about it. It would take some
one with zero knowledge on
a subject to make such
brazen suggestions. If you
are reading this article and
think that your opinion really
matters, it rarely does. Be re
spectful of your audience and
refrain from insulting them
with negligent opinions.
And one final note for
thought, please consider that
for every opinion you have
of me, I have one of you...
but my upbringing has pre
vented me from putting those
thoughts into words. To you,
I smile, nod and carry on. My
opinion, as cliche as that
statement is, keep your opin
ions to yourself. If your ex
pertise is required, it will be
requested.
[McKenzie Potts is the
tasting room Manager at
Fainting Goat Vineyard on
Burnt Mountain Road. She
may be reached at
mckenzie@faintinggoatvine-
yards. com.]
Spot a
mistake?
Let us hear about it.
dpool@pickensprogress.com
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
Jan. 3 - Jan. 9
HI
LOW RAIN
Tuesday
58
47
■02_
Wednesday
47
26
.00
Thursday
46
28
.00
Friday
35
16
.31*
Saturday
26
11
.00
Sunday
27
11
.00
Monday
37
23
.00
* 3-inches of snow
Read something
that matters in 2017
Subscribe to the Progress
Real News from
Your Community
Fill out the form below and mail it with proper
payment to RO. Box 67, Jasper, GA 30143
i 1
I Name : I
Address :
Rates for One-Year Subscription
l live:
( ) $29.96 in Pickens, Gilmer, Dawson, Cherokee or Gordon county;
( ) $39.59 in Georgia, but not in a county surrounding Pickens;
( ) $44.94 in another state besides Georgia (Side* Ta.x included in prices)
Method of Payment
( ) Check or Credit Card; < j VISA ( ) Mastercard ( ) Discover
Name:
Card »
Exp. Date : (Month) (Day) (Year)
You can also subscribe by phone at 706-253-2457
or online at www.PickensProgress.com