Pregnant at 14?  It's fashionable.  Not simply in the U.K.; there's an increasingly obvious trend among manufacturers and advertisers toward early sexualization of children.  And even the American Psychological Association (APA) has figured out that it's damaging.  Who'd have guessed?

Shopping for girls' clothes is simply nightmarish these days: most of the jeans are low cut, most of the tops are high cut (with scoop necks), and it's all about slut.  It's all about dressing up like little Anna Nichole Smiths.  Don't bother going to Penney's or Target; it's a waste of time.  You can find more appropriate clothing for your preteen daughter at Value Village - and at less expense.

Of course, the APA, being the "progressive" group that they are, views the situation as a clear indication that there is a real need for increased feminism and liberalism.  Say what?  Hey, folks - that's what has brought so many of our children to this sorry state of degeneracy.  Parenting is often difficult enough in and of itself; the influences surrounding our kids in the marketplace and at school are difficult to overcome - and becoming harder all the time. 

I remember a time when life was so much easier - back before we had things like "land-use planners" and "urban growth boundaries".  It was a time when owning a home was not a dream, but a real and affordable possibility - on a single income.  A time when both parents didn't have to trudge off to day jobs while shunting their young children to daycare or giving their school-aged kids a key to the house because neither Mom nor Dad would be home from work when school let out.

When children are increasingly exposed to media, malls, and marketing (and decreasingly exposed to parental influence), the results are all too predictable.  So why do so many folks seem so surprised?  Today, your government will hire a few more "planners".  Your tax dollars will supply their pay and benefits.  And they will continue to "plan" ways to ensure the requirement for dual income streams or abandonment of the dream of home ownership.  And paving not roads for commerce, but roads to hell for your children.