A billion dollars later...

And your teens are still having sex. If you hide the facts from them regarding pregnancy and HIV/AIDS prevention they'll develop their own. (Emphasis mine)

Florida teens who believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy have prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state. Another myth is that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant. State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education. They are proposing a bill that would require a more comprehensive approach, the report said.It would still require teaching abstinence but students would also learn about condoms and other methods of birth control and disease prevention. The bill just passed its first vote in a committee.

Guess what? Your teens are having sex. Get used to it.

Yes, the good old Bush administration. Seldom right and wrong again. No child left behind, except for the ones maimed from drinking bleach and the ones with the Mountain Dew babies. Courtesy of a bunch of religious, moralizing freaks who can't deal with reality.

LuLu nicely shoves it in the face of one of them.

Then again, Bush's abstinence only program wasn't really about teens, was it? It was about something much more common: money.

Sexually curious teens are nothing more than an expanding heap of collateral damage in Bush's dogmatic, religious, authoritarian lark.

I must have that.

While reading The Mess That Greenspan Made (that's the name of the blog), I came across this interesting little bit:

Before Claire Stern goes back to school as a high school senior this fall, she needs a new tote. But not just any bag will do. "I want a tote bag by Jaye Hersh that the celebrities are wearing, they're called Market Bags," said Stern, 17, who lives in Bronxville, New York. "It's more stylish than a backpack." The bags retail for more than $100 if they're monogrammed and Stern has noticed actresses Reese Witherspoon and Jessica Alba wearing them. Shopping for back-to-school apparel is a late summer ritual. But as tweens and teens become increasingly savvy about fashion, they're asking for luxury products, such as $200 designer handbags and $100-plus jeans.

Is there anything of a familiar ring with some of the parents of teens out there?

Meanwhile, the luxury market is booming. Sales worldwide topped $150 billion last year. Teens are playing an increasing part in that, according to experts, as Web sites, tabloids and TV shows detailing celebrities and fashion make kids more aware of and demanding for luxury goods than ever before. "They're prime candidates for luxury," said Gerald Celente, publisher of Trends Journal, a newsletter that tracks a wide range of trends. "Their world is the entertainment world and that's what they're focused into."

[...] Amy Klaris, a branding specialist at consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates, said over the past year or two years, having a luxury item has become more important to teens. "There are so many icons out there right now for them," Klaris said. "There's more people they're looking up to and wanting to emulate, and they can do that through accessories." Where parents put their foot down depends on their income, said Klaris. And while a wardrobe of Prada might be too much for a parent to handle, they might be more willing to spend on accessories, she said. "They want their kids to fit in," she said. "They're still buying T-shirts at Target, but still having that (luxury) handbag."

Sick yet?

Jeans - the premium denim that has been popular for several years and costs between $100 and $300- are another popular choice. "Having the coolest label of denim is something that every girl desires," Nasser said. "J Brand, Acne, Earnest Sewn, True Religion, Ksubi are all brands that will be big this year."

I just thought I'd help you out with the brand names there. You know, so when you hear, "Like, they're just awesome! It's only one pair! I have to have a pair of Acne!" (I'm making myself sick.)

Celente, publisher of Trends Journal, said that while teens might not have full time jobs, they don't have many expenses either, so they spend all their money on themselves. Youth research company Teenage Research Unlimited, said teenagers between 12 and 19 years old spent $179 billion in 2006, or $102 per teen per week. "(Teens) don't have mortgages to pay and they don't have rent," Celente said. "They have disposable income." Stern, who has saved up her own money to buy $200 Tory Burch shoes and thinks $125 Ray Ban sunglasses will be popular this year, agreed. "Since I'm in high school and not really concerned about rent money, if I want to buy stuff for me, with money I earn, its going to be something to do with fashion," she said.

Who did she learn this from? Look around the house. The gremlin that creates these kids is close by. Some parents put their foot down.

Stern added there is a limit to her back to school spending. Her parents would draw the line, for example, at an iPhone, which retails for about $600 - the total amount Stern predicts she'll spend on back-to-school shopping. "Although it is cool and new, it is too much money and there are a few flaws in it," she said. "I understand why my parents wouldn't pay for it."

Why... that's so adult of her. She'll accept doing without an iPhone because her parents won't pay for it.

I can only repeat the point that Tim made:

Methinks the younger generation has a somewhat distorted perception of money after watching their parents gorge on home improvements, vacations, recreational gear, and second homes over the last five years.

Remember that these are the same teenagers who are going to be in the labor force paying ... taxes to fund the baby boomers' retirement over the next forty years.

I wonder how that's going to work out.

The Mess That Greenspan Made is great reading. And if you've just recently heard the US housing bubble and "easy" mortgage market recently described as a Ponzi scheme, you'd be interested to know that Tim called it that exactly two years ago.