LIzzie, as one who has taught adolescents (and has the grey hairs to prove it) I found it disturbing that lots of parents wanted to put teachers in charge of teaching the students such basic things as manners, as well as the more conventional parts of the curriculum. Many parents were unable to act effectively as parents and many seemed unaware that they had little intention of acting effectively as parents. Disturbing and distressing.

At the time, the only way I could understand 'why' was to interpret other aspects of the society in which I operated. It seemed to me at the time that the biggest growth industry was "administration" and that the ultimate effect of administration was to remove "responsibility" from more and more of the participants. The end result seemed to me to be a deskilling of the population.

A long bow? Perhaps. But I've never willingly relinquished what I regard as my right to make decisions over the things that mattered to me and which I regarded as my responsibility. So, how does one teach "responsibility" to adolescents? If nobody teaches it they can't learn it and they just repeat the mistakes of their parents. And their teachers, I might add. The only way I could teach such skills was to give them the opportunity to make decisions that were important and support them after the inevitable (hopefully, only occasional) mistakes.

Not an approach guaranteed to make one popular with either parents or authorities, but I kid myself that it has worked with my daughters. And for all I know, the Pussycat Poppettes or whatever they're called may actually be in charge of their personal lives to both your and my 'satisfaction'; I can't really tell. While they might be sensible young women with healthy attitudes offstage (I don't knwo and wouldn't go and find out) it's the manipulators of the industry who are the main problem. And THEY can only get away with their activities because WE let them.

Now, if I object to someone arrogating unto themselves the right to make decisions for me and censor what I can see, I can't really censor others. But I sure can censure them and I suggest that others do too. I'm not sure I'm interested in "beauty pageants" even for those who are aware and in charge of their sexuality but the parents who put their prepubescents through them need to be given a serious reality check and serious opprobium. But while I may be caustic I'm not too good at being a scold. So I avoid them and their ilk like the plague and am happy to tell them why.

Cheers, Rowan