I strongly believe that teens need an adult, in addition to their parents, that they can go to when needed, if nothing else to act as a mediary between them and their parents.

The adjustments of going from a child to an adult require a constant flux in the parental-child relationship, and even the best parents sometimes have trouble keeping up with it.

One of the difficulties though, is that you can’t just put an adult there for these kids to go to, it has to be someone they trust, not someone just assigned to them. However, having a system of councilers and advocates who are at least availible to kids seems very worthwhile.

As to the particulars of programs like this, I am skeptical that they work even for those that want to ‘change’. I am sure that they are a waste of time, money and come close to being torture (at least as bad a Guantanamo anyway) to those who have no desire to be there in the first place.

There are valid, honest reasons to use to convince a 16 gay kid (or a straight kid for that matter) to avoid sexual activity.

I would support a ‘spectrum of freedom’ for the children – based on age. As a child ages, they would (and should) have more freedoms from their parents. I do not agree with no freedom until age 18, and then all.

Parents that fail to impart their moral values at a young age should have less and less control, and responsibility.

I’m not as torn on the issue of whether or not parents should be allowed to inflict things like this on their children. I think programs like that are complete crap. The only thing that surprises me is that you weren’t aware they actually existed.

It’s really kind of the same thing. The parents involved probally really <strong>believe</strong> that their child is in the grip of the <em>devil</em>. Even though we disagree with them, if we are to take their rights away, then what if some one disagrees with our beliefs? Do we get stripped of our rights?

That is the fine line that I am concerned with. At what age do we say that a child is mature enough to make up their minds about issues like this? At what age does a parent loose complete control over their child? At what age does a child’s right to choose their life’s path eclipse the rights of a parent?

I agree that sending their child to a place like this is abhorrent, not to mention the guilt and pain they caused when they told him the things that they did. However I do not know if it my right, or the state’s right to interfear with their parenting choices of their child.

When they are born. :)

It’s always an unfortunate situation when children get caught up in parental lunacy. However I do not feel the 18 year old limit is a terrible one.

Sure there are kids who mature quicker, either biologically or because their situation forces them to. The fact remains that most kids, seemingly mature or not, cannot handle important decisions on their own.

As we can tell from this story though, many parents can’t make good decisions either.

There is not an easy canned answer to this problem, so this leaves us with laws that try to protect as many of our children as we can.

Can parents force religious beliefs on there children? It’s sad, but yes they can. Hopefully when children become "adults" they will remember their oppression and make an informed choice.

Unfortunately though, we live in a very technologically complex culture that really requires education into the 20s before one can be self-sufficient. And it is almost axiomatic that one cannot expect to be fully responsible for oneself, if one is not self-sufficient.

I think that there are a lot of problems with our delayed entry into the adult world. I don’t know that there are any simple solutions however.

Now. Ask me if it should matter if being gay or bi WERE a choice, and I get even more confused.

Incidentally, I was wondering what you thought of this, in light of the above post and conversation: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=856748&amp;CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

I can’t come to a firm opinion on it because I have thus far been unable to ascertain how the girl herself feels about the whole thing. Which leads me to believe I must put a fair amount of weight on what a child wants, at least after a certain age.

I understand the emotional vs the logical conundrum. I hit it in several of my beliefs. However, my solution is that to remember the following – emotion is fleeting, and fickle. Logic will stay the same no matter what. Choices based in logic have a better chance of remaining for the best, while ones based on emotion tend to be knee jerk responses which might seem silly or poorly thought out with hindsight.

As to the young girl – it’s sad, however she is at the age where her parents have that say. The state has a safety net, where if they feel that the parents are neglecting or abusing the child there are steps that they can take – and it seems that Texas has taken those steps.

I agree that the child’s opinion should have some weight in the matter, but the final choice should be the parents (if they are not fit, then the state).

This sounds odd, but…I don’t know if I agree with that. *ponders*

I agree that quick emotional choices are often bad. But if I think something out for a while, can’t put my finger on why I feel a certain way but maintain my strong feelings even after long examination I tend to go with my gut. In those cases I continue to re-examine my position though and often eventually find what my reasoning was missing.