I think there is a huge leap between saying a grown man who watches porn will turn into always turn into a rapist (which I think most of us would find a ridiculous statement) and that it could be an influence on a young man (I think especially pre-teens) on going the wrong direction in their thinking about women and their ability to think of women not as fellow humans but objects to please them. The thing that made me think of it is that there were many many statements about raising boys right. I'm not implying we should make laws about it. It isn't something you can control anyway. But parents I think do have more ability to limit access to it when children are young and warn older teens (who need to start taking more responsibility for their own life). Even if we could statistically tease out that people who consistently view porn are more likely than people who don't to someday rape someone it would be only a correlation. After all, do they consistently view (I'm tempted to say specifically hard porn) because they already have inclinations to doing such things whereas men who don't aren't as drawn to it or is it because they consistently view it. So I don't think you can prove it one way or another but it makes sense that those myriad of connections made in the brain are going to be affected by porn regardless of what you find moral. I find it highly unlikely that a young boy that watches porn is going to just listen to his parent's lecture and not be affected by it. An influence doesn't make you do anything. But that doesn't mean that influences don't add up to a bad trajectory which seems to be what a lot of people were implying on the other thread. I would say the best determinant is to make it very very costly to do for the rapist. Would he rethink it if it meant he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison? I don't know but it does seem like some of them would. Obviously, he is already thinking of himself so I put in a completely different thread because I kept hearing the fact that parents aren't raising their boys right. That is a very vague notion. I think I'm raising my boy right and probably won't change what I'm doing but I'm curious what they mean by that.

There were a lot of topics in the other thread but what really surprised me was the lack of even the word "Porn" once, although I may have missed it. There were a lot of pages. I'm curious why. The reason I say that is because the discussion did turn, at times, to what society teaches boys. I do have a hard time with the word society. Certainly what is taught in my home is not taught in all homes. The actions and attitudes of parents even within the dimensions of this group (which is much smaller probably than society at large) are going to be very different. Some people are very religious and some are not for lack of a better description. People (both boys and girls) can accidentally see something even with computers in our home. Certainly it is easier to seek out than ever before if you are interested in it. Sometimes what is being accessed on the web is not even just a picture of a pretty girl but can be sick and degrading, torturous and abuse. Sometimes kids get pulled in. What starts as a mere child seeing something may become an obsession. It is hard for me to imagine an average child suddenly wanting to do the things that are available to watch. But if they continue to view it it can change their view of normalcy and it certainly turns women into objects rather than humans. What most evil requires is that empathy being turned off. That thinking that this person isn't human rather than empathizing with, "How would you feel?". You read about crimes that you wonder how anyone could get themselves to do such things when it would make others sick. I suppose it is dangerous to start another thread but it really surprised me when I thought back about it and the whole teaching our boys thing that is wasn't mentioned at all. Perhaps there were just too many other things being talked about.

And for the record, I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. The thread just didn't stay in one place and meandered around about how it might be better if men more quickly judged others it might help along with some other things. Edited to add: actually I let the meandering get to me. The excuses people come up with to defend the actual perpetrator are awful and the crime is often downplayed by judges but it seems like a lot of crimes are down played by judges depending on the status of the defendant which is grossly unjust. There are two distinct problems I see. Those people who downplay rape as though it is a lesser crime and the complete lack of blind justice where socioeconomic status and at times race factors into the equation.

Well, when I went to my first college party and a guy literally held a bottle up to my mouth trying to get me to drink I never associated with that person again or the people he hung out with. I learned quickly which people respected me and which didn't. But my study group that I went hiking with and studied with all were respectful young men and mostly didn't associate that much that I know of with the other group. I am not implying you can only associate with certain groups and be free of it. What I'm trying to say is to tell someone respectful of women to go influence another group across campus is not likely to happen even if he tried his best. Or to tell people that parents ought to raise their sons better. Well, the parents that agree are already trying. Really, what needs to happen is that there needs to be actual consequences. It is really difficult to control other people. Edited again because I have a huge problem with homonyms.

Yes, and even if 90% of cars are polite and accepting: that one that gets you is all that matters. I have a hard time with the statement that our culture or society is raising young men like this. When I worked fast food I had quite the educational experience about men but had never ever had an issue before. When I was in college I learned quickly to avoid certain groups. Other groups were great. Considerate, didn't think I owed them anything. My daughter and I are not treated like I hear women are treated regularly. We go through life being ourselves and doing our thing. I do worry about if she ends up on a large college campus and gets a job where she will encounter these other people. The truth is that certain sub-cultures breed this stuff not everyone. So when we say what if the good guys influenced the bad guys well, they usually aren't found together and would not like each other so I'm not sure how that would work overall. Maybe in some certain instances but not generally. Obviously, this jerk's Dad's response gives us a good indication of how he was raised, etc. Which is why the justice system should be the one to step in but has failed time and again. Edited to add: I realize there are sneaky (bleeps) everywhere but the truth is in some places they have to be sneakier because what they are doing isn't considered acceptable.

I love love quiet early mornings and I mean quiet not just tell the kids to leave me alone but I just gave up and started staying up after they went to bed. At some point it gets ridiculous. If I get up at 4, I'm tired way too early in the day.

I laugh at such statements. I may even snort.

This is what I have been thinking. I don't want either my son or my daughter getting drunk and having sex. Preferably neither since it is harder making decisions about the latter if you already have accomplished the former. It is unsafe to be totally unaware and to lose all inhibition and just as the girl is playing with fire by doing so; so is the boy. I can't control my children but I do pray they will make intelligent decisions. I don't know that I could ever have much of a relationship with my son if I found out that they did something like what the original letter was about. I say, "don't know" because really we don't know much about ourselves until we are in an actual situation but it makes me sick the way his parents and others downplay the evil he committed. I can't imagine ever doing that. Our society is weird that way though. For example, you can be charged where I live for accidentally leaving keys in your car. Yes, it is illegal to leave keys in your vehicle because someone might steal it. Why are we not just convicting the thief? When a completely high girl ran over a bicyclist in our city got a measly little slap on the wrist. A wife and daughter will never ever see their husband and father again and it looks like she will get and I quote, Fitzgerald estimated that, if approved, the motion would reduce Ellis’ time in prison to “a little over 90 days.â€. When this happened people started complaining about bicyclists in general. They started mentioning this cyclist that did something they didn't like last week. What? How is that relevant to the case at hand. But they did try to make it the cyclist fault somehow. People need to be responsible for their own actions and it is dangerous for both the goose and the gander to be completely out of it.

So would this explain the 6 credit hour PreCalculus class at our local University? Perhaps a lot of Freshman who are taking Precalc need more help whereas the ones who jumped straight to Calc might not need that much help? Seems fishy to me. But I have been out of it so long I have to relearn everything.

I just checked our school district website to make sure I wasn't off my rocker or remembering wrong but nope, our school district is the same as I remember as a kid. 6 periods a day and only 22.5 credits needed to graduate. When I was a kid I remember only 21 credits were needed. They have added an activity schedule where there is time for some kind of activity that isn't a whole class into the schedule. It's only ten minutes shorter than a class. Colleges must recognize that kids coming from these school districts aren't failing all their classes. Or maybe that is why summer school is such a thing now. When I was a kid you went to summer school if you had problems in school or to catch up on a class so you could actually graduate. That is no longer the norm though.

Six is just standard in my area. I had wondered if it would look ridiculous if he had 30+ credits. Our school district obviously does things differently than the rest of the country.

My son used the Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry book this year but not with Wilson Hill. As long as your student finished the Algebra requirement he will probably be fine. It is not conceptual like Hewitt's. It has lots of math exercisers at the end of each chapter but more basic ones based off of Algebra. There were things I didn't like about it like having to know the Ptolemaic model of the heavens. It is good to read about different ideas and see how new ideas come into acceptance but having to be able to explain it/memorize it was silly in my opinion so after the first review test we skipped those questions. He is big on actually knowing the stuff in the book by the end of the year so it isn't a cram and forget. There are weekly review sheets (we didn't use all of them) and the quizzes will have stuff from all the previous chapters not just the one you are on. On the quizzes, there usually will be a page with math (acceleration equations, etc.) and a page with essay type questions (state Newton's laws of motion, etc.). They are required to have the correct amount of significant digits, convert things to MKS if not otherwise stated, and those types of things. So there is a big focus on skills not just knowledge. The writer doesn't believe in a young earth and makes that clear but is a Christian and talks about truth a lot in the first chapter. Subsequent chapters focus on the math and such but the first chapter in most science books usually give you their idea of how we know things, yadda, yadda. It is good to know the author's angle anyway. I do not know how the Wilson Hill teacher (who may or may not agree with the author on everything) will handle it.

Hmmm, where I have been it has always been 6 credits. So do they have longer school days for these other schools or even shorter classes? Our local district has 6 credits a year for regular school. Summer school is popular so if you want extra credits you would just attend summer school. I can't imagine classes being shorter! One of the reasons we didn't put my son in school for Chemistry so he would have access to a lab facility was that they have to squash everything into 50 minutes. I know our labs don't often take 50 minutes. I have thought of block scheduling but some things like language or instruments we do year round though it would work for a few subjects.

Yes, the outskirts where it costs extra money to put in plumbing can have homes without running water but if the OP is getting a hotel in Fairbanks they will have running water. But the important point is OP should be ready for more rustic situations outside the cities is good to consider.

Well, not in the major cities. Not sure what you mean by main but yes, there are places that must haul water. It is a good thing to be aware of though, OP. A trip to rural Alaska is not going to be all that plush. There are resort type hotels like the Princess in some locations and accommodations will be nicer on the main roads. Girdwood and Anchorage can get downright fancy but out in the middle of nowhere things can get more adventurous fast depending on what you are used to.

Sorry for my impatience earlier. I really wasn't making myself very clear.

Agh, people who get me. I have a daughter raring to start her third instrument. It's her love but practicing 2-3 hours on top of all the basics and the foreign language that is required for college and the box checking minimum on foreign language seems so pointless. It seems more worthwhile to take all four years and actually be able to speak it. Oi She also fills notebook after notebook with stories but they are not for school. Then she needs a job to pay for her instruments. My son listened to 4 or 5 physics lecture series from the Great Courses on top of his regular curriculum. Did he have to? No. Did he want to? Yes. These specialties that give them direction as adults in what they're good at or want to do simply can't be pushed out because of requirements. Not in my home school at least. But my transcript still needs Foreign Language, Health class, and stuff that my children have no interest in. We can redeem some of those things but some need to be minimal I guess.

Sorry, Regentrude and thanks for responding. Perhaps, I should have added JAWM here but I obviously have a problem too. I think my personal problem and partially his is we go too in-depth and that is how we learn but high school courses usually skim the surface. If I kept track of actual hours he would already get more credits per subject too but we are still expected to cover all the bases at a very light level rather than at a more in depth level. So it is easy to get enough credits but difficult to do everything we want to do. I need to accept high school classes are just a taste of learning. Undergraduate classes an appetizer but it's ok you can feast away your whole life. There is only so much you can learn in any one year. If you want to know something well, especially broad subjects like high school classes you are going to have to study many years. We feel it is important to exercise pretty much daily whether or not it is overkill for actual credit and he doesn't want to give up TKD, skiing, or biking. I believe this is important for his health. So there you have it. I have a problem with overkill.

So the answer to the original question, "Am I the only parent who has trouble fitting it all in?" is yes. 8 to 8.5 credits and while working a job while getting in exercise and doing chores and living life is easy for you. So just say you don't have a problem with it. Sorry.

No, the issue is we want to take more than 6 credits worth. In fact, we want to take more than 7 credits worth. He has on his transcript 3 electives for this semester but when we look at what we want to do and are interested in doing it will take more than 3 electives per semester. I know the only answer is just wait to deal with some of this material in college or to not count what he does in his free time as school work. He likes learning so he will be doing it his whole life, hopefully. We are just struggling with what to put on the chopping block right now. Or rather what we really want to focus on. P.E. is going to have to go on the transcript for a couple reasons. I'm working through a charter school right now and also the State requires a couple years of PE. anyway but PE isn't really the problem since he needs to exercise anyway. It's taking four years of Latin and still wanting to do computer programming and robotics and economics and statistics. We just want to go over our time budget. So much to do and so little time.

Am I the only parent that can't fit everything into the standard 6 credits a year? I still can't figure out when we can do Statistics and I'm looking at 28 credits between what is required of us and what we are requiring of ourselves. I suppose he can just take Statistics in college but really we are leaving out so much we want to do! My son did an extra elective this year (programming) but really if he takes Latin and PE every year then he always needs to have an extra elective to fit in anything other than the standard 4 core subjects. I don't want to always require extra subjects but he also has interest in computer related subjects and they are useful also. He also is looking for a job. He needs the money for school and could use some of the skills from working but boy, how to fit it all in is something I'm not figuring out very well.

Denali is tricky. From what I hear things book up fast so that might be a good place to start your research. You can't drive past a certain point. You are required to take the bus. Check with car rental companies. I'm not sure if it is only R.V.'s but it is my understanding that some roads are off limits according to their contracts. I live up here so I cannot speak authoritatively on this as I always drive my own car but it is something to be aware of. Tammi had a great starter list. I would add that taking the train to Seward to get to your Glacier tour would be ideal. No one will have to keep their eyes on the road through some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Plus the train route is even prettier than the road route. They diverge a little ways after Whittier. There is a whistle stop at Spencer Glacier where the hike to the glacier is only a mile and a half or so. Some people also hire rafts with guides so they can raft up to the glacier and then the train picks you up at the end of the raft route to take you back to Anchorage. The time I went to Spencer Glacier we did not go all the way to Seward though so I don't know if there is a way to do both in one trip. https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/destinations/spencer-glacier-whistle-stop There are also a lot of nice paved bike trails along the coast of Anchorage and also south of Anchorage towards Girdwood and Hope. It is easier to see the landscape from train or bike than a quickly moving car. There are bike rentals places in Anchorage but I'm not sure of the cost. If you want to see Bears in the wild just go where the Salmon are running. Then you can check mark two things off your list at once. :) There are a few different Salmon runs. You are bound to hit some in June and July. Be careful of having to find hotels during Salmon runs. There are usually no vacancies in places like Seward, Kenai, or Soldotna during some of the Salmon runs (especially dipnetting) and it will also be more crowded in general. It will not feel like the pristine Alaskan experience but more like a crowded fairgrounds. Also, things like Mount Marathon or other events will completely wipe out hotels in those small towns. If you do travel by car I would advise you to get a Milepost. http://www.amazon.com/Milepost-2016-Kris-Valencia/dp/1892154358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465089111&sr=8-1&keywords=milepost There are quite a few guide services too but of course, that will cost a pretty penny so it really depends on what you are looking for.

Sorry your example must have been relating to the OP as in "if it were my daughter". I think I misread that.

Though I agree if you were looking at scholarship opportunities, clubs that compete, etc that an older student shouldn't get that extra year advantage; I do think the competition element of more generalized education is not a good idea. People of all ages should do what is best for their overall success. If it takes an extra year to be college ready then it makes more sense that they take that extra year rather than flounder. You must agree since considering your daughter. Just thought I'd point it out in this thread.