Liz Atwood discusses the culture wars in this week's Tween Tuesday:

Lucky me. The Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition arrived in the mail last week. It’s a dream come true for adolescent boys. But while my sons took turns ogling this year’s swim fashions (that look remarkably like last year’s and the year before, as best I can tell), I’m reminded that today’s kids are growing up in a much more sexually charged environment than when I was growing up ---and since I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, that’s saying something. Yes, I was a teen when Rod Stewart came out with Tonight’s the Night. But for all the provocative lyrics (some of which were in French), there was much left to the imagination. That was before MTV and Youtube videos.

Today the kids listen to the music on their iPods and then rush to Youtube to click on the videos. And that puts parents and teachers in a predicament when it comes to the annual variety show at my kid’s elementary school. Every year some of the young girls choose songs I would think way over their heads. Some dress the parts as well. If you ever saw the talent competition in the movie Little Miss Sunshine, you know what I’m talking about.

Recently I sat in on tryouts and watched as parents and teachers tried to dissuade a couple girls from dancing to the Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling.” On the face of it, that seems like a fine song. The group led off its Super Bowl performance with the tune. But click on the video and you’ll see lots of drinking, lewd behavior and people falling-down drunk or high. 

I know this battle isn’t new. When Elvis was on the Ed Sullivan Show, the producers refused show him below the waist. Still, call me a prude, but when my son turns on his favorite rap station and the singer talks about taking a girl from the shower to the bed, that’s too much. We had a big battle in the car a few days ago because I kept turning off the radio.

I wonder if we parents are fighting a losing cultural battle in the culture wars?