Sexting.......and Snowy ( or is that Soay) Sheep

A year or so ago a girl I know only vaguely mentioned to me in passing that her part time boyfriend had "sext" her.
I had no idea what she was talking about and said so. So you could imagine my surprise when she showed me the said "sext" which turned out to be a most unattractive piece of his anatomy.
Yesterday, as I was baking, I listened to a sobering talk show on LBC  radio. The presenter, James O'Brien, was discussing the subject of sexting and concentrated his discussion with parents who have had first hand experience of their children's " sexting" behaviour.
I found the whole programme, riveting, shocking and terribly depressing as caller after caller shared their stories where children, some as young as eleven and twelve , had been caught sharing intimate photographs of themselves.
According to one 18 year old girl who rang the station, the practice was commonplace, with photos being bandied around the Internet when teenage love affairs broke up, as they invariably do.
Sexting, I thought, was perhaps a silly joke between adults.
I had no idea, it was a phenomen well known to school children.

The young girl who rang LBC had a good head on her shoulders for she complained that with Blackberry technology, the multitude of apps that are freely available and access to 24 hour Internet, children of all ages are bombarded constantly with sexual imagery.
Its become a norm in their fast, gadget filled young lives.

I was reminded of those child soldiers in Rwanda. Children not yet into double figures, that were " conscripted" into killing gangs as deadly and as cold blooded as any mercenary task force. These  children saw death and cruely everyday as a norm, and subsequently grew up to be twisted, cold and empty individuals.
Our children are growing up desensitised too, desensitised to porn
The imagery of sexual behaviour is everywhere.....and children now are sexualised as a result.....

Technology is a wonderful thing eh?


Anyhow I will leave you with a more positive change of subject, for Irene and Sylvia the Soay Ewes are back to their normal inquisitive and bouncy selves.
I have been worried about them when the snow really came down last Friday, for they took  themselves away to sit quietly in the shelter of the hawthorn. I took them pellets, water and hay, all of which seemed to be left untouched, as all they wanted to do was to " sit out" the snow in a rather passive and " fed up" way.
Gentleman farmer Ralph, who had been effectively snowed in up the lane for days,told me this behaviour was typical of mountain sheep......they don't like things too easy......
It's heartbreaking to hear that thousands of animals in the Welsh hills, Scottish highlands and in Ireland and the Isle of Man have been killed sheltering in a similar way from the elements.....
At least in my small corner of the world....my two girls are safe and sound

57 comments:

  1. How horrible that young people are growing up this way nowadays John...makes me feel very old and sad...but I am cheered by knowing that your girls are safe and sound.......and I wonder what you were baking?

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  2. I wonder if it'll prove to be just a short-lived trend? Thank goodness mobile phones and the internet were not around when I was that age.

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  3. Would the mountain sheep use a shelter?

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    1. I have a shed on the field where the pigs lived... The sheep won't go near it

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  4. As a mother of three teens and a 12 year old it is depressing, worrying and scary. I feel as if I am fighting a losing battle in a world of technology that is changing faster than I can learn how to use it. As bad as all the big worries is that fact that there is no "down time", no quiet moments of reflection, no cooling off periods in their lives. I think it's really that time that produces well rounded people and we are bringing up a "knee jerk" generation. I better shut up now, I could write a book on my opinions (good and bad) on technology. You may have inspired a post haha.

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    1. The worries of modern parenting........ I thank goodness I don't suffer it

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  5. Such extremes in this post. I am very glad that your girls are safe, very sad for all the animals that aren't and angry at the sexting phenomena. Children do seem to be forced to grow up far too quickly these days.

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    1. Sorry , it was a bit of a mish mash was it not?

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  6. I rescued a lamb the other day. It was bleeding from several places and stuck in a hedge. The field was empty of sheep apart from a load of dead lambs half buried by snow :-( I carried it about half a mile until I found a farmer who gave it antibiotics. Got covered in blood and stank of shit but it was worth it!

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  7. Living beyond the reach of the mobile phone network can have its benefits.

    The stories on the news of sheep having to be dug out of snowdrifts have been awful. I'm glad Sylvia and Irene are OK.

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  8. Years ago, the makers of video games which all involved violence (as 99% still do) lied to everyone by saying that there was no evidence that this constant, realistic computer killing had any negative effect on children. Of course there wasn't - it had only just started.

    Same with pornography, despite all the stupid and useless 'parental control' software which does not work on iPhones. All this relentless exposure to sex and violence - and violent sex - has already produced one generation of jaded teenagers who think it's perfectly ok to give all their intimate details away to international data-bases to do with exactly as they please. It's all too bloody late.

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  9. Its appaling. Visiting my grandchildren girls all under 13 were watching the Disney channel and the program featured teenagers mouthing sexual innuendos.... It was not the Disney I was familiar with.

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    1. We never had sexual innuendos on PLAYSCHOOL
      Heaven forbid

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  10. It does make you wonder why some parents feel their children need cell phones, facebook and email accounts at 11 or 12. Sometimes saying no is the answer.
    Glad your Soay girls are doing well! The loss of sheep due to the weather is depressing news.

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    1. I agree 100%.....why don't more parents just say "no", they are the ones paying for the iphones and email accounts!

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  11. Truly this behaviour is beyond *sad*. I think Families need to get back to the Dinner Table again as a whole to become what a family should be.

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  12. Anonymous11:22 am

    We've been seeing pictures of animals buried in snow on the news...you must feel like you've entered another ice age. So glad the girls are all right.
    I don't know what the answer is as far as protecting our young from too much information too soon....I'm very glad I'm not raising kids myself right now. It was hard enough before they all had so much access to technology.

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    1. Local sheep farmers have lost a lot of lambs last week ...

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  13. i often wonder what i would do if i had to raise my kids with this new technology! i saw on tv where irish farmer's were digging their sheep out from under huge piles of snow.

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    1. I am just grateful I never had the responsibility of kids xx

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  14. There was a program on the CBC here about 'sext up kids"..I ended up in tears for a lost generation.
    Jane x

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    1. Jane.... Don't depress yourself.... Lets all have a bit of hope xxxxxx

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  15. It's been a bad year for wildlife and outdoor animals!

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  16. Glad your girls are doing alright. Sad about the others though.

    "Teach your children well" (C, S, & N)... somebody wasn't paying attention. I worry that these children are the promise for the future of our nations... Some promise :/

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  17. The irony of all the laws to protect our children-yet we have this invasive technology. :/

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  18. Anonymous3:00 pm

    children spreading porn via technology, brutal child soldiers, sheep dead from a deadly winter...so happy to hear your sheep are OK...if you'd said something had happened to them it would have been more reality than I could bear

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    1. Oh dear?..have I over done it a it .?

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  19. Goodness, John, you need a hug today - hugs to ((((john))))!

    if someone hasnt told you yet today, It WILL be okay.

    I know sometimes I need to hear that.

    xxx

    (and as a side note, my daughter called me and told me she is going back to college (she has a degree in Political Science - Government) because her wonderful job that she has with a certain large corporation makes her realize she wants to HELP people - she wants to be a physical therapist - shes also married and plans on a family one day. All is not lost.)

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    1. Thank you
      Perhaps I have been all a bit dark today... That's why I left things with a bit of good news xxxx

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  20. There was a disgusting rape case on the news here in the U.S. recently. A young girl got drunk and sick at a party, and after she passed out some of the boys raped her repeatedly throughout the night, in the presence of around 40 other teenagers. And not a single person helped her. The rapists convicted themselves, because so many of them had FILMED WHAT THEY WERE DOING and then sent it all over the internet. Kids were sharing the videos with accompanying comments such as "look at the dead b*tch getting raped!" And these were college bound regular teenagers.

    Horrifying.

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    1. Jennifer... These stories happen all over.......
      I think my point mainly centres upon the desensitisation of kids regarding sex.....they grow up very young nowadays
      Thanks for your comment....

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  21. Hello Feral sent me to check you out I mean your blog out:)
    This post has me sad it is a tangled web we weave for our children that needs understanding to hopefully figure out how we can help them realize the long term affects that they cannot see. Parents should help their kids understand but not preach we have no idea what it is like to grow up in such a technological world. I think our future is bright. We first have to spend time more with our kids and know what their lives are really like growing up today. Hope that does not sound preachy:) Nice to meet you. B

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    1. Welcome buttons,,,,,,always nice to have a proper farmer aboard........I will be picking your brain somewhat x

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  22. I wonder if adults are maybe getting a bit too worked-up about the supposed "sexualisation" of children. I haven't seen much hard evidence that kids are being corrupted or spoilt, but as I don't have kids of my own, possibly I'm missing something? But I remember all the fuss adults made when we kids were growing up in the sixties, being equally adventurous with drugs and sex and who-knows-what. We survived to tell the tale....

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    1. I am afraid I disagree with you nick... Kids today are much more savvy than I was in the 1970s.....I was so naive it hurt......
      They know more about sex and porn....a worry fact in my book

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  23. John, I read this in the Guardian today.....

    " The prevailing easterly winds are forecast to keep temperatures exceedingly cold until late April, except in the south-west where their clash with milder Atlantic fronts promises weeks of rain."

    Hope it isn't so.

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  24. I do worry as well what the mini ice age is going to bring upon everyone...I was just saying a quick prayer and condolence to all those people who suffered the sudden ice age in the middle ages...I do feel like this is exactly what they must have gone through...

    Technology and overexposure. I dare not what will be the psyche of the homo sapien in a hundred years time...

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  25. It's terrifying. The stuff of 'Law and Order SVU', not that I'm obsessed with foreign crime drama or anything. So glad your girls are okay. x

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  26. I agree with you, with Tom, with so many here. TOO much violence, too much sex, too much tech, too much time 'connected to something' besides ones own thoughts.

    Too little childhood (as we knew it) to little nature (the non-sex variety, lol). Just last summer it struck me how odd it was to drive along any road and see NO children outside on bikes, swings, talking, living life in 3D (as opposed to cyberly).

    Tele, games, movies (don't even get me started on things like 'SAW' and other such horrors - give me zombies and vampires any day).

    It's a clever yet worrisome world now - and I applaud parents who strive to give their kids an un-warped childhood - even as the kids natter and complain no doubt about being reigned in.

    Like you John, so glad it's not mine to fret over directly - but we're all in the ship (afloat or sinking, lol) together, as a society. So it's a good conversation you've launched here! (and whats with all the nautical references today with me? no idea, lol)

    Ahoy! lol
    Issy

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  27. Do you know how much a ball of wool from a Soay Sheep is???Get thyself a spinning wheel, my man, you'll be rolling in it (well you usually are anyway so not much difference!lol).
    400 birds, mostly puffins, washed ashore all along the East Coast of Scotland from Aberdeen down to where I live because of the prevailing Arctic winds which denied them their usual access to food sources, resulting in their deaths. On the news today,wildfires in the Highlands? Never heard anything like it.

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    1. How much is it nana......I wondered this as Soay don't need shearing

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    2. No, they shed their fleeces - very collectable for serious spinners - £15 per 100 gram ball, usually mixed with Boreray because it's so fine and generally used for making shawls as it's a laceweight yarn. The breed used to be unique to St. Kilda but has subsequently spread to other parts of the country, including Wales! Here's a link for more info
      http://www.soaysheep.org

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  28. I trust your 2 girls weren't sexting in the bushes!!

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    1. LOL - maybe exchanging pics of their wool?!!

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  29. I'm reading about your cold weather on lots of blogs as I sit here in sunny, unseasonably warm weather. Forecast for today is 30 degrees - very warm for Autumn but the folks going to the beach for Easter are happy.
    Awful to hear of the deaths of all those lambs and birds.

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  30. The texting/sexting issue makes me so angry. Can't come up with enough words to express it.

    Thanks for ending your post with your two feisty girls.

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  31. I am still traumatised by the thought that I sent a letter to Jim'll Fix It... and because of the Benny Hill show I believed that when I grew up I'd have to wear a bikini all the time and be chased across fields by milkmen.
    I feel that each generation has its cross to bear!
    Sx

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  32. I'm so glad you brought up the topic of sexting, John. It's very troubling, indeed, and so much harder these days for parents to keep their young adolescents safe -- safe from others and safe from their own foolishness. While technology can feel like a marvel to someone my age, I fear that it is hobbling the social skills of young people today. Sexting is the worst example, but this constant texting -- even when young people are together, sitting at a table in a restaurant -- is puzzling. What happened to being with each other, looking in each other's eyes, talking from the heart?

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  33. I have a teenage daughter - who is reasonable well balanced so not falling pray to this, other than some tosser claiming to have photos of her - he didn't. Also we have a very open relationship with her and sadly what you hear is the norm, many of her friends have been badly treated this way.

    With the technology in kids hands they could do so much but achieve so little - sad really

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