More Odds 'n Sods

Here's something for Ontarians to read with pride. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has just released results of a study which included 23 rural and urban high schools in southwestern Ontario. The study by Doctor David Wolfe found that almost half of the female high school students are subjected to sexual gestures or comments, such as having body parts "rated", and one-third are touched, grabbed or pinched in a sexually aggressive way.
Between 2004 and 22007, 1,819 students were involved in the study when they were in grade nine, and then followed-up two years later. 46% of the girls were targeted sexually both in grade 9 and in grade 11. By the time the girls were in grade 11, they were reporting feeling pressure to take part in sexual activity they did not want and participating in oral sex in order to "avoid having intercourse". Do they not understand STD's, or are they just too intimidated to be able to take care of their own futures?
Doesn't this study prove that the experience can not be dismissed as merely a "big city" problem? Too many people who already live in, or move to smaller towns to raise their children, think that the smaller town size is some kind of magic protection against the evils they are sure dwell only in the big city. It is nothing so simple as that, unfortunately. Twenty-nine percent of the grade nine girls reported feeling unsafe at school. These study results are indicative of a malaise our whole society suffers from, and until it is acknowledged as such, the situation will not be ameliorated. We need to stop worshipping at the altar of consumerism and begin instead to value life. The challenge of living a more simple life; of finding fulfillment in places other than at the mall seems beyond the grasp of so many. It is not a magic bullet, either, but it is a huge part of the solution to many of our societal problems. When will we wake up to this fact?

I found this little nugget just yesterday, the same day when I saw the results of the study mentioned above, and they fit together, in my opinion. The Vanier Institute of the Family has just released a new report detailing stats on the IOU's being juggled by Canadians. The report's author, Roger Sauve, found the average debt of $80,000. per household to be an incredible 131% of household income after income tax and benefits, a figure which is up from 1990's ninety-one percent.
You know very well that all that money spent was not for necessities alone. Far too much is spent on maintaining status and providing instant gratification. It is sad that there are so many who think they need longer shopping hours in order to have any hope of finding happiness. It is overwhelmingly sad to know that their debts will continue to accrue while they search in vain.