A Culture & Family Institute Special Report:
Fairy Tales Don't Come True
2/13/2006
By Linda Harvey

Josh is 13 and, like many kids his age, he's often unhappy. Everything about his life is uncertain. He's only 5 feet 4 inches tall, and many of the girls in his middle-school class are taller. He has no idea how his body will end up. Will he be tall, short, plain, handsome? He's slightly overweight and hasn't found a sport he excels in. He only has two or three close friends. Sometimes his voice changes an entire octave, up or down, at a moment's notice. He's an average student, and he sometimes dreads going to school because it doesn't interest him much.

On top of all this, Josh has troubles at home. His parents don't get along. His father works long hours, and his mother yells a lot. She's stressed out over unpaid bills, problems with his older sister, who sometimes uses drugs, and her own ongoing treatment for depression. They don't have family dinners except around holidays, and they haven't been on a family vacation in two years. Josh can't remember the last time he had a conversation with either parent involving more than two sentences.

In other words, Josh is a lot like many American adolescents. His family has only casual ties to a church, and his parents consider themselves moderate politically, when they have time or interest to think about it.

Josh's standards are being formed largely not by parents of high character, but by the American culture, including television, his public school and the Internet. That's where he developed a keen curiosity about sex, and it's also where he gets his information and values. And his values right now are leaning toward believing he might be a homosexual.

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