KIDS is a dead-on accurate portrayal of the troubled youth of our times. But what a lot of people don't realize is this problem exists not only in large cities like NYC, but is without a doubt a serious problem in small towns. Homemade drugs and some '40s' followed by a 'roll in the hay' is the favorite Friday night pastime in a lot of rural areas. In some ways, small town kids have a bigger risk because the free clinics and youth programs available to kids in urban areas don't reach out to the country. Kids and parents alike seem to share the mentality of "that stuff just goes on in the cities". I grew up in a town of less than 10,000, and there were kids exactly like Telly and Casper in my high school- from the lingo and behavior right down to the dirty, stretched out t-shirts.
AIDS aside, what I think is the scariest part of the movie is when Telly and Casper go to Telly's house, and his mom is there. She takes her parental duty as far as asking "where have you been?"- to which Telly responds with a lie, saying they were out looking for jobs. The audience knows they are lying, obviously- but you can tell the mother doesn't really believe it either- she's just too lazy, or preoccupied to bother with the whole thing. Pretty common occurrence among today's parents.
KIDS should be a part of the required curriculum in Sex Education classes for all high school freshmen. Any parent who believes the vulgarity and sex and drugs is exaggerated or glorified is in need of a serious wake up call. If it's not your kid doing these things, then it's the one sitting next to him in class. And don't be so sure it isn't your kid.
AIDS aside, what I think is the scariest part of the movie is when Telly and Casper go to Telly's house, and his mom is there. She takes her parental duty as far as asking "where have you been?"- to which Telly responds with a lie, saying they were out looking for jobs. The audience knows they are lying, obviously- but you can tell the mother doesn't really believe it either- she's just too lazy, or preoccupied to bother with the whole thing. Pretty common occurrence among today's parents.
KIDS should be a part of the required curriculum in Sex Education classes for all high school freshmen. Any parent who believes the vulgarity and sex and drugs is exaggerated or glorified is in need of a serious wake up call. If it's not your kid doing these things, then it's the one sitting next to him in class. And don't be so sure it isn't your kid.