Ow, My Balls!

Every now and again there's another news article about today's youth that makes me understand why society's going to hell. Here's a case of a kid who lost a testicle due to some idiotic ritual of "sack tapping"--boys punching each other in the groin because what could be more hilarious than putting some unsuspecting kid in a lot of pain and perhaps irreversible damage?

When I was a kid (yes, get off my lawn, I was walking uphill both ways to school, you could buy a soda for a nickel), pranks played by one kid on another might consist of being shoved into the wrong bathroom, or having your books knocked out of your hands. I'd heard of (though never experienced, fortunately) "pantsing" and "wedgies" at that time. But it seemed that even the most lowbrow of schoolyard idiots knew that the groin was off limits. If you went for the groin, it had to be a life and death issue. Otherwise, you're likely making it a life and death issue right then and there!

Of course, we can partly blame TV and movies that make punches and kicks to the groin look hilarious, with the victim back up and running shortly after. Keep in mind though, TV and movies also make powerful blows to the head and even gunshot wounds to the outer limbs seem like something that can be shaken off (see, Kate from LOST).

So what does it mean that kids are getting stupider and more brutal? It means we adults really shouldn't count much on every having anyone cover our Social Security when we get old. We'll be lucky if they float us out to sea on an iceberg.