I watched "Juno" last night. Is this really the current state of our high schools??

[Beth in SW WA]

Scary!

 

I'm obviously out of touch w/ the real world. Can I just stay in my happy place?

 

I'm curious what others here thought of that movie.

 

Thanks!

[mo2]

I haven't seen it yet but was debating on renting it. Did you enjoy the movie?

[Beth in SW WA]

I haven't seen it yet but was debating on renting it. Did you enjoy the movie?

I wouldn't say I enjoyed it. I found it disturbing. Since it has been all the rage lately, I decided to watch it. I also have "As You Like It" and "Richard III" -- I should have watched those.

[Susan in TX]

I just watched Juno last night too. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "current state of our high schools" but I have two teens in public school and I'd say that the reality (at least at their school) is much worse than what the movie portrayed. I was surprised that in the movie there was a stigma attached to teen pregnancy. There really is none at the high school my girls attend. In Sept. they enrolled 93 pregnant 9th graders! (The school has about 4000 students total.)

 

The current issue of the student newspaper has a two page spread about the problem of PDA (public displays of affection) at school...and we aren't just talking about kissing and holding hands. There is also an article about the pain experienced by a teenaged Father who decided to give up his parental rights, as well as an article about the only married couple at the prom (who left their baby with Grandma for the evening.)

 

Susan in TX

[dirty ethel rackham]

Actually, it is not much different than the high school I went to (25 years ago.) I was more in the goody-two shoes crowd, but I knew plenty of Juno-like girls.

 

I actually liked the movie. DH made a date for us to go the weekend it came out because he is friends with Diablo Cody's dad. I thought the dialog was very fresh. The immature dad-to-be was very telling about a trend in boys who never grow up. A bunch of moms in my monthly coffee-klatch have been discussing this very thing. The connection with the adoptive mom was very touching (if not unrealistic according to many adoptive moms I have talked to.) It reaffirmed my commitment to being involved in my kids lives, to know who they are. I don't want to be those clueless parents like in the movie.

[Heather in Neverland]

As a high school teacher, I had LOTS of pregnant girls in class. They seem so excited over it too. :001_huh: And PDA (as in kissing) was the least of our worries. We found kids having sex in the bathrooms all the time. We even caught 2 girls and a boy having a 3-way under the bleachers in the gym. And the sex activity on the bus was out of control.

 

I always tell people...however bad you THINK things are in the high schools, I promise you they are MUCH worse.

[Whisperlily]

It *really* depends on where you live, and the school you're talking about.

 

It is most definitely NOT like any high school I've had any association with. Perhaps I've always lived in relatively conservative areas, but I viewed the portrayal of the high school in that movie as showing only an "extreme" element. There were a few pregnant teens at our local high school recently (3, perhaps in a school of 1500) and there is still definitely a major stigma attached.

 

I really don't think this is the way things are, as a general rule. As with anything, you can probably find an example somewhere of a school like this, or a city/area where this is the norm, but I think it's a stretch to say that it's "the way things are" in public schools across the nation.

[6packofun]

Actually, it made me think of the book High School Confidential a bit in that there is this apathetic, relativism about things that really should matter. Have sex, who cares. Get pregnant, who cares. Talk about it like you would the latest t.v. show. And that's just one aspect of their lives--the culture of who cares is huge.

 

The movie bummed me out. lol But I will say that the one redeeming thing was that I felt Juno was attracted to Mark (both as a cool parent she'd want to give her baby to AND in a crush sorta way) because he was like HER. And by the end of the movie, we and she see that neither are fit to be parents because they are self-centered and focused on things that don't truly matter like music and movies and entertainment and all that keeps us from having deeper relationships with *people*. I think she learned that and it's why she decided to invest in a committment, finally, to Bleeker and probably won't make the same mistake again. I enjoyed Bleeker's character SO much and love that actor (from Arrested Development) anyhow.

 

I'm not a fan of single parents adopting, but in this case I liked the outcome.

 

Side note: Eww at her taste in movies???? Blah. But then again, if someone is tortured to death, who cares? :glare:

[angela in ohio]

Yes, it really is. And our middle schools. Dh saw it frequently when he taught.

 

I really liked Juno (aside from the language.) I watched it because World magazine did a piece on it and the other pro-life movies out lately. I thought the step-mother-Juno relationship was beautiful. I thought the statement made by the way they portrayed the would-have-adopted-father was insightful.

[Dawn E]

I agree that realistically things are probably worse than the movie portrayed.

 

That being said, I really enjoyed the movie. Aside from making me laugh out loud more than most movies, it made me want to get more involved with the young people in my community. We used to work for a campus ministry before we moved to this state, and it made me long for those days. The movie really had heart that a lot of movies nowadays do not. I actually felt hopeful after watching it.

[Beth in OH]

This is our experience, too, Susan. My oldest attends a rural high school, and the level of sexual activity (even in middle school), the number of teen pregnancies, and the complete acceptance of single, teen motherhood as a thing to be desired/celebrated is much worse than Juno. A number of girls have more than one babydaddy before they graduate.

 

I enjoyed Juno, but I thought the most unrealistic thing about it, based on our experience, was the lack of "drama". Juno and her boyfriend were unselfish and mature about giving the baby up for adoption. Our town looks like an episode of The Jerry Springer show with respect to personal interactions. Here, the boyfriend and girlfriend would have been screaming at each other about what to do, breaking up, getting back together, calling names, texting their friends to garner support and search out opintions, and ultimately, the girl would be living with her parents raising the child alone, with grandma and grandpa being "supportive" by watching the child so the girls could have a "normal" high school experience. Emotions would run at a fever pitch the entire time.

 

I am sad for our daughters. The current high school scene is stealing their opportunities. There is no room for immature judgment--the stakes are simply too high.

[Heather in Neverland]

I wanted to add that I have worked in affluent districts, middle-class districts and urban districts and what I noticed is that the behaviors these kids are engaging in is not much different...it is the lengths they go to in order to hide their behavior that differs.

 

The rich kids in the affluent districts were just as likely to engage in casual sexual behavior as their poor inner-city counterparts. BUT they were more likely to use birth control (and get abortions), and more likely to hide it from their parents. They used drugs just as much but were more likely to pop oxycotins while my inner-city students were more likely to smoke pot.

 

The one thing they had in common was this "anything goes" kind of attitude. Sure, girls got pregnant and people did drugs when I was in high school, too, but is was more scandalous back then. Now, they don't even blink.

[angela in ohio]

I enjoyed Juno, but I thought the most unrealistic thing about it, based on our experience, was the lack of "drama". Juno and her boyfriend were unselfish and mature about giving the baby up for adoption. Our town looks like an episode of The Jerry Springer show with respect to personal interactions. Here, the boyfriend and girlfriend would have been screaming at each other about what to do, breaking up, getting back together, calling names, texting their friends to garner support and search out opintions, and ultimately, the girl would be living with her parents raising the child alone, with grandma and grandpa being "supportive" by watching the child so the girls could have a "normal" high school experience. Emotions would run at a fever pitch the entire time.

 

 

This is actually what I liked best about it. I thought it provided a positive model for young people who are facing difficult choices. Juno, the boyfriend, and her parents were all good examples.

 

There was just *so much* in this movie - about parenting (the scene with the step-mom and the adopting mom in the nursery had me sobbing), about family, about individuality, about maturity, and so forth.

[Jenny in Florida]

And I was in high school almost 30 years ago. (Wow, I really wish I hadn't taken the time to figure that out!)

 

I saw the movie with my daughter, and we both enjoyed it. I thought it was actually quite sweet.

[wagnfun]

It *really* depends on where you live, and the school you're talking about.

 

It is most definitely NOT like any high school I've had any association with. Perhaps I've always lived in relatively conservative areas, but I viewed the portrayal of the high school in that movie as showing only an "extreme" element. There were a few pregnant teens at our local high school recently (3, perhaps in a school of 1500) and there is still definitely a major stigma attached.

 

I really don't think this is the way things are, as a general rule. As with anything, you can probably find an example somewhere of a school like this, or a city/area where this is the norm, but I think it's a stretch to say that it's "the way things are" in public schools across the nation.

 

I'm wondering what state/county you've been associated with. I, 19 yrs ago, graduated from a private school in an influential area in Orange County California. There were knife fights on campus. Drugs & alcohol were as easy to get a hold of as a diet coke & popcorn from my fellow students. In my senior class, there were 5 girls who'd had abortions, 2 fathers graduating & a few engaged girls. This was NOT abnormal in my friends schools either. I can only imagine what 19 yrs has done to the schools. Although I haven't seen the movie, from what dd tells me (senior not homeschooled this year) and from what I read in the thread- this is "the way things are" in public schools across the nation. Resently, my friends husband (teacher) a high school student came on to him looking to get out of a test. He is constantly having to tell the girls to put clothes on when they come to class-- this includes his new rule- if a girl is wearing a short skirt, she DOESN"T sit in front of the class.

[Beth in SW WA]

(the scene with the step-mom and the adopting mom in the nursery had me sobbing), .

 

Me too. That scene was fantastic.

 

I thought the acting was incredible. The dialog was current. The high school culture was probably portrayed fairly accurately (besides the maturity of the Juno-Bleeker putting the baby up for adoption & Juno alone seeking out the adoptive parents).

 

What I found disturbing was the hook-up concept. Bleeker & Juno weren't even "dating" when they had s*x. Welcome to the 21st century, Beth (talking to self here:))

 

I loved the character of the sweet Asian girl outside the abortion clinic.

 

Would I recommend this movie? No.

 

As I said, I should have watched my Shakespeare rentals.

 

Retreating to my happy place...

[Diana in OR]

I haven't seen the movie, but I posted recently that in my graduating class, 24 years ago, there were more students who were already parents than went away to college. There was no stigma attached.

[Remudamom]

Ugh. I disliked the movie so much that I put my sil under a partial shun for making me go with her to see it.

[elbac]

Although we haven't seen it yet, dd and I were discussing this movie. She told me that a message board she frequents (for girls) had a discussion about the movie, and the vast majority of them said that this was in fact how their schools were.

[pixelroper]

It may have not meshed fully w/my personal beliefs, but that isn't my criteria for a bad movie or a good one- I would and have recommended it. I thought it rather refreshing. Dh did not care for the subject matter but thought it was "better than planned parenthood propaganda." Both of us agreed she showed a strength of character in the end, that is admirable. I didn't get the impression that it glamorized teen pregnancy, or casual sex at all. The ending resolved many of the seemingly shallow aspects of the story. I wouldn't go so far as to say she makes an excellent role model either. They did a really good job w/the characters and nailed the cliches, (I think I've know some of them!- so in that respect I would say it was accurate, maybe more scary than funny in some cases).

[Rich with Kids]

I liked it. Jennifer Garner is one of my favorite actresses. I won't let my dd14 see it yet, though. She really wanted to. She's aware more than I am about what goes on in p.s. But my gut, at least for now, is telling me to hold off.

[Reya]

Teen birth rates peaked in the early 1990s, though there has been an up tick recently because of a desire to teach abstinence in isolation.

 

(Abstinence education is NOT going to work when all the rest of one's education is deliberately devoid of any positive ethical significance. People don't *not* do something because they're told it's wrong--they must believe its wrong, and it takes more than a couple of weeks to convince someone of that. It requires a worldview. When you teach "if it makes everybody feel good, it's good" for 99.99% of the time, you can't throw a band-aid on it and hope it'll work.)

 

In my fifth grade class (1990), there was one teen mother before the end of the school year. Yes, FIFTH GRADE. By sixth grade--which had 1/3rd as many students in my particular school--there were at least three new ones. Seventh? Oh, five or so, and five in 8th. By 9th, they could enroll in the program set up for teen mothers so that they could finish high school. I just wanted to HIT so many of them. They were such idiots. Most of the 12, 13, and 14-y-o's had 16+-y-o boyfriends (who should have been in jail!) and were SOOOOO PROUD of the fact that they were "real women." Even then, I thought that they weren't merely children but particularly STUPID children and that they should have their babies given to competent adults and have a mandatory IUD until they turn 18--maybe that would stop the multigenerational cycle of failure.

[linders]

My 30th HS reunion is this year (oh, how can it be?). It was an upper middle class area in southern California, "nice" parents, but I remember being terrified about attending because drugs were so rampant that there were a half dozen undercover cops base there at all times. They rotated them out as kids figured out who they were. There were areas of the schoolgrounds you avoided unless you wanted to go hoarse saying, "No, thanks" to the dealers. My junior year, there was a student "sit in" and eventually smoke bombs from police and arrests over a change in curriculum. 3 of the 8 senior cheerleaders were pregnant at the end of senior year.

 

And everyone tells me high school today is worse.

 

Now I guess I better rent that movie...

[HollyinNNV]

Scary!

 

I'm obviously out of touch w/ the real world. Can I just stay in my happy place?

 

I'm curious what others here thought of that movie.

 

Thanks!

 

I personally loved the movie. It was quirky, different and not depressing! I loved the relationship between Juno and all the various people in her life (w/the exception of the adoptive father). Anyways I think it was a terribly realistic portrayal of many different personalities. Many times I caught myself thinking that they were people just like I have known in real life.

 

As far as Juno herself, I think that the movie pretty well classifies her as the "different" kid. She is not at all average in the movie. She is more of the rebel cast-out IMHO. I think that Juno's personality is pretty timeless and I can see her fitting into a movie set in many different time periods.

 

I think the best part of Juno is the outlook that-things will get better. It is not the end of the world. There are good people in the world. We all make poor choices. Love your neighbor, love your kids. I thought the step-mother/child portrayal was awesome. I'm sick of the stereotypical evil stepmom.

 

I also loved the portrayal of the boyfriend.

 

A lot of how people react to Juno probably depends upon their background. My dh and I thought it was great.

Holly

[PinkInTheBlue]

Fortunately I don't have any personal experience with our local high schools, but I understand it's that bad there too.

 

Currently I am living back in the town I graduated high school from. Ninth through twelfth is probably 1000 students. 20 years ago, when I was there, teen pregnancy was somewhat frequent and drugs and drinking were the biggest problems. Apparently it's much, much worse now.

 

We were eating lunch last week and a young girl (about 19 or 20) asked if we homeschooled since we are so often in there with the boys during school hours. When I said we did she stood at our table telling me how I should be so glad we did. She says the local high schools are as terrible as I've been hearing. They have mandatory police on campus all day. Drug dogs patrol the lockers, sex in school, teen pregnancy is rampant and they've taken a number of guns our of lockers as well. Apparently these problems aren't restricted to the big public schools. The county high schools and private schools are having most of the same problems.

 

Well, I guess that answers that question for us! :)

[Just a Jen in Mississippi]

I just saw Juno on Friday night with my husband. I liked the movie, but did not relate to her character. She was much more sarcastic and unemotional than I am, so it took me a while to get into her character. That said, I was bawling when she gave her baby up and was lying in that hospital bed with Beeker. I knew something was up with the adoptive dad and I found that creepy. But as far as high school goes, I graduated in '91 and one of my best friends had gotten pregnant and gave her baby up for adoption the previous year and my other best friend had an abortion our senior year. So, I'm not sure how much worse things are as all of my friends were sexually active. I myself, was in a serious relationship with my boyfriend (now my husband) at age 15! I was just lucky that I didn't get pregnant. I know if I would have, I wouldn't have been as calm as Juno. I just didn't relate to her personality, but liked the movie.

[Just a Jen in Mississippi]

In my fifth grade class (1990), there was one teen mother before the end of the school year. Yes, FIFTH GRADE. By sixth grade--which had 1/3rd as many students in my particular school--there were at least three new ones. Seventh? Oh, five or so, and five in 8th. By 9th, they could enroll in the program set up for teen mothers so that they could finish high school. I just wanted to HIT so many of them. They were such idiots. Most of the 12, 13, and 14-y-o's had 16+-y-o boyfriends (who should have been in jail!) and were SOOOOO PROUD of the fact that they were "real women." Even then, I thought that they weren't merely children but particularly STUPID children and that they should have their babies given to competent adults and have a mandatory IUD until they turn 18--maybe that would stop the multigenerational cycle of failure.

 

Fifth grade!!!! WOWZERS! I was just learning about sex stuff then and didn't know what virgin meant until at least 6th grade. I remember being asked if I was a virgin in 6th grade by a boy in my class and I said, "NO!!" I didn't know what a virgin was so I must not be one!:lol: That was around the time of Madonna's "Like a Virgin". I can NOT believe my parents let me sing along with that. My parents looseness and my own wild side teen years is a huge part of why I tend on the side of sheltering my kids. I talk to my kids about tough things and we as parents are the biggest influence in their lives. I just want things to be different for them.

[Kay in Cal]

I really loved the movie! We went to see it back in January as a trade with my dh--I wanted to see Atonement, dh wanted to see Juno, so we saw both. I had been afraid that I would find it upsetting either one way or the other--either they would be too blase about her pregnancy and treat teen motherhood in a cavalier fashion, or it would be "preachy" and have a finger-wagging quality that would make the movie unenjoyable. In the end, I though the writer did such a fine job of walking that line between a serious situation and a "flippant" teenage girl making tough decisions.

 

I thought it was pretty spot on to many of the teens that I have been in ministry with over the past couple of decades--although Juno was better spoken and "cooler" than the average teen girl. And the high school situation portrayed in the movie didn't seem that strange to me... pretty close to what I found 20 years ago in high school, at a "good" "upper middle class" public high school in Colorado. I'm kind of intrigued that so many posters feel the social situation in the movie was so surprisingly awful...

 

We also got the soundtrack by the Moldy Peaches, we liked it so much!

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

25 years ago, in a girls-only, upper middle class, mainly white, *Catholic* school run by actual nuns in habit, there were at least two girls out of 80 that got an abortion in the last year of high school. That's two that I know about, and I wasn't with the in-crowd. There might be more. It was hush-hush though.

Nowadays, the girls I know who are finishing high school post pictures and videos of their activities on Facebook and Youtube. Nothing hush hush there. And very in your face, if you ask me.