OFF-TOPIC Re: [*BCM*] Motorist gets slap on the wrist for killing a

[turtle]

My comments may have seemed a little harsh but they were not meant to
be.  I'm absolutely not "blaming" teenagers.  I'm explaining them.  As
I said: teenagers aren't bad.  It's the adults who expect teenagers to
act like adults who are bad, in my opinion.  Sure, some teens and even
young kids do caring and compassionate things all the time, but it's
fairly rare in the grand scheme of teens, and it's mostly done out of
either rebellion against (uncaring) authority or out of the need to
feel good about themselves.  It's not in the least bit wrong.  It's
completely healthy to rebel and to develop a healthy self esteem. 
Which is why we adults need to provide a safe environment for these
young folks to do what they need to do, so that they can develop into
healthy, mature adults.

It's possible that a driver's test could include some sort of
psychological development analysis, which would help keep egocentric
folks (again, egocentric behavior is healthy and normal for the teenage
brain) out of cars.  Though I'm guessing many folks would see that as
invasive or creepy.  But is it really any worse than the arbitrary age
cutoff and memorization test that we have now?

And I just want to reiterate that I'm not ageist, I'm simply trying to
be realistic about human development.  You wouldn't let a 3 year old
drive a car would you?  So clearly there is some development level
where we believe it's ok to prohibit access to dangerous things.  It's
not about discrimination, it's about ability and safety.  And while
teens and kids are absolutely capable of doing some things, they are
not yet capable of others.  And that's ok.

Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
Turtle


Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org> wrote:
> 
> hey turtle,
> 
> i find your characterizations of teenagers unfair and very ageist.  i
> feel that claiming that teenagers "just don't have the brain development
> to be capable of seeing the world through anything but their own eyes,
> and haven't yet learned to see beyond their limited life of raging
> hormones" belittles and pigeonholes a lot of teenagers who i've seen put
> a lot of of time into social justice work.  they simply don't fit your
> bill.  this accident is a horrible tragedy, and i think that jennifer
> should have to take full responsibility for it.  but don't blame all
> teenagers because of one's ill-chosen actions.
> 
> love,
> roger
> 
> On Fri,  1 Dec 2006 11:11:12 -0800, "turtle" <turtle at zworg.com> said:
> > She's a teenager, she has little to no sense of her place in the world. 
> > Teenagers, for the most part, just don't have the brain development to
> > be capable of seeing the world through anything but their own eyes, and
> > haven't yet learned to see beyond their limited life of raging hormones
> > and the need to figure out what the heck they are supposed to do to be
> > popular in their friend's eyes.  That's why they send teenagers off to
> > war, because they will do pretty much anything to feel important, and
> > can't think very much.
> > 
> > I don't mean to say that teenagers are bad or anything, because it's
> > just a part of growing up, just like the terrible twos.  We all have to
> > go through it sometime before we can make it into a mature mindset,
> > where we honestly care about other people.  To expect teens to behave
> > maturely is just delusional.  But we give them drivers' licenses and
> > cars and guns nonetheless.  What does that say about us?
> > 
> > Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
> > -Turtle
> > 
> > 
> > ----------------------------------
> > A human being is a part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' a part
> > limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and
> > feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical
> > delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for
> > us, restricting us to our personal decisions and to affection fo a few
> > persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this
> > prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
> > creatures and the whole nature in its beauty."
> > 
> > ~Albert Einstein
> > _______________________________________________
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> > list at bostoncriticalmass.org
> > http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
> > To unsubscribe email list-unsubscribe at bostoncriticalmass.org
> -- 
>   
>   rogerbwinn at letterboxes.org
> 
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----------------------------------
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' a part
limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and
feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical
delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for
us, restricting us to our personal decisions and to affection fo a few
persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this
prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole nature in its beauty."

~Albert Einstein