A variety of now-banned pesticides and pesticide residue are also being considered. While controversy inevitably swirls around who or what might be responsible, social and cultural pressures are mounting on our children. Girls are embarrassed by their too-womanly bodies. They are wearing bras when their playmates are still in undershirts. Society is trying so hard to put the brakes on premature adulthood.
Parents struggle but sometimes feel overwhelmed by outside influences.
Their children are swept under the influence of television, Internet, movies and advertising images that sell sex more aggressively than hawkers at a carnival. America's teen pregnancy rate, though down slightly this past year, is still higher than that of almost any other Western nation. And we wonder why. The early onset of puberty may not be as serious a problem as cancer. But it is a cancer of sorts, robbing girls of their innocence, their pride and their youth.