Introduction
This is the story of a girl named Savvy. If it shocks, it is because to even the casual observer, the new sexual revolt that is raging throughout the land, carries shock waves. Particularly when one reads police ledgers and psychiatric reports, social workers' casebooks, sociologists' and doctors' reports and conclusions.
Although Savvy's environment is not one of her making, she is not averse to taking advantage of every tiny crack in the crumbling "establishment." Nor are millions of other teenagers, male and female.
She is a composite of millions of children - for she is a child in years, though not in the ways of the hundreds of things which "turn-on" this generation of youngsters, such as speedy cars, wild, psychedelic experiences, marijuana, LSD, and promiscuous sex with both boys and girls.
Because of her broad, but not unusual experiences, she is called "Savvy." There is literally no stimulation of the mind or body, no fulfillment of a desire she has felt, that Savvy has denied herself. She knows every sex trick in the book, but she is only typical of millions who can match, and in some instances, outstrip her in degradation and perversion.
Savvy knows no rules. She has no respect for the laws of the church, of the land, of society at large; nor does she have a moral code of her own. She therefore knows no guilt feelings, as we shall see.
She is not a neglected child of the slums. She comes from a middle-class family who are no more aware of what Savvy is really like underneath her cute, mini-skirted exterior, than they are of thousands of her counterparts who live in all parts of the country.
The facts of the surging revolt of our teenage children are plain, but most choose to hide their heads in the sand and ignore them. A talk with police, with child psychologists, with student counselors, teachers, doctors, sociologists, will substantiate the facts as to what is happening - not in isolated instances, but to an alarming degree.
Venereal disease among the juvenile population is now approaching epidemic proportions. Experts state that it is not just a lack of sex education, or poor knowledge of how to use mechanical means such as condoms to prevent disease, but an outright refusal on the part of youngsters to use anything which might synthesize or detract from sexual pleasures. And, importantly, many young females refuse to take any precautions against pregnancy!
The latest figures available, from the year 1965, show that one of every eight girls who are married are pregnant at the time. And the rate of unmarried mothers has climbed a startling 40 per cent since the second world war. Significantly, the average age of the unwed mother now stands at 17, whereas, until recent years, the average was 21!
Surveys such as the Kinsey Reports show that over 80 per cent of all girls are non-virgins when married, and that among lower grade levels, more than 60 per cent of all females admit to sex relations before age 16.
At least 20 per cent of all females between the ages of 14 and 26 are estimated to have indulged in some form of Lesbian sex; while the homosexual societies themselves claim that a whopping 27 per cent of all young males have indulged in homosexual activities. They further boast that of that number, over 80 per cent have become overt and confirmed homosexuals.
In the cases of young girls engaging in sex, more than half state that their first experience, or the majority of their sex experiences have been with males of from 35 to 50 years of age. From this same number, about 30 per cent admit that they were the instigators or aggressors in the sex situation!
Sociologists and psychiatrists, as well as police and other experts closely involved with juveniles, have concluded that there are a number of contributing factors to the rise of juvenile sex delinquency. However, most are in agreement that two or three major factors are most responsible.
First, the breakdown of the moral structure of the home. This involves the high percentage of unsupervised youngsters who are left practically to their own devices, because of both parents working. This not only diminishes the amount of sex education they may get, no matter how restrictive or actually wrong, but it puts the child in the position of having to experiment with sex, since little or no sex education is given in schools. Religion teaches sex in one word: "Don't," and today's children will not accept an unexplained or irrational forbiddance of anything.
Another important element of the junior sex revolt is the conduct of the adults. Newspapers and magazines blare the sordid stories of sex orgies, wife-swapping, call girl and mistress activities; children are actually taught to cheat and lie by conniving, loose-moraled parents. As a classic but simple example, how often does a youngster answer the telephone, only to have a parent whisper: "Tell him I'm out." How many children are taught not to cheat at school, yet are knowing witnesses to parents who cheat in business deals or on income tax forms. The idea projected by the legendary bandit of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood, of "stealing from the rich," is instilled into the child of today by parents who feel and preach that "big business and the little guy are mortal, natural enemies, so if you can gouge him - go ahead." Most children are victims of the 11th commandment: "Thou shalt not get caught."
Children are natural mimics, and, looking at the actions and morals of their parents and older brothers and sisters of college age, they have strong reasons to scoff at anyone who preaches old-fashioned honesty, integrity, and fidelity as being "square."
Many experts see part of the answer in the "urban explosion." That is, where once families were isolated and revolutionary ideas spread very slowly if at all, the center of the community was the home, the church, and the school, which was always staffed by trusted members of the local community. With the mass movement of families to urban areas, there is no focal point for local activities that has proven effective in diverting young people's energies to constructive activities.
And part of the urban explosion involves the "mobility" of the modem youth. It is estimated that at least 20 million teenagers today have access to an automobile without the involvement of an adult, either as the driver, or as passenger. This, in effect, accomplishes a lot of things. It provides the teenager with the thrill of speed; it makes personal contacts within a short time possible; it permits isolation for purposes of "necking" and total sex participation. Moreover, it provides the average teenager with a private "bedroom" on wheels. It also makes possible the attendance of such events as "beach parties," sex orgies, hippie "love-ins" and "sleep-ins," that would have previously been impossible.
In an affluent age, youngsters have more money than ever before. Nothing is beyond their purchasing power, from contraceptives and sex gimmicks, to speedballs, marijuana, flashy cars and clothes, to liquor and motels for a "quickie." .
No one factor is completely responsible, but authorities and psychiatrists place the majority of the "blame on careless and indifferent parents who are "too busy" with their own problems of economics and sex to give direction or even attention to their offspring. As one noted TV commentator put it: "The generation who raised their children in the permissiveness recommended by Dr. Spock and his kind, are now reaping a harvest that resembles the whirlwind!" The Chief of Police of a large western city recently said: "These parents seem willing to turn the rearing of their children over to other delinquent children, or to the harsh lessons of the law - and the kids know no law but that of selfish desire. Then, when the police must enforce the law, even to the point of actual combat with these animal-like children, we are accused of brutality. The real brutality, as I interpret the word, is in the utter abandonment of these children by parents, to the winds of chance and to an uncaring society."
There is a "rebellion factor" involved in the behavior of many youngsters. Inside themselves they instinctively seek and need discipline, and they resent and sometimes hate parents who do not provide it; or who try to substitute money and pampering and permissiveness for good old-fashioned discipline and guidance.
In order to "punish" or get even, many juveniles deliberately indulge in "mind blowing" acts which usually involve sex, since this is the one subject which parents are so vague about.
Yet psychiatrists tell us that the sex drive is secondary only to that of self-preservation, and sex exploration and curiosity is as natural as is pubic hair. Neglect and misunderstanding of this important element in the human makeup has led to a wider "generation gap" than is supposed. The kids are more "with it," today. They do not look upon sex with fear or religious awe. They approach it as it should be: a normal, healthy function of the human body which can bring ecstasy and fulfillment, or if abused and misused, degradation and pain.
Another seldom recognized phenomenon with definite bearing on the action of today's children is this: in 1865, the average age of maturity (including menstruation) in the female was 16.5 years. Today, a world-wide survey shows that the average female is a "complete woman" at age 13.2 years!
Maturing at this early age, the juices and urges of sex come on earlier and stronger, and today's youth will explore the sex jungles because they have grown up in an atmosphere which tells them to look out for themselves. Parents, society, the church, even the leniency of the law, says clearly: the fittest survive. Be number one and look out for number one.
If they turn their eyes to parents, they are met with ignorance, indifference, and Victorian rules of conduct that are so obsolete that even their grandparents could not observe them.
If they turn to society (and their world is a limited one of teachers, neighbors, and the law enforcement officers) they are met with the same ignorance and indifference. They live in a world where they are shunted from one to another; where the "institution" has replaced the home; where no one really has the answers because no one really understands the problem or takes time to explore its mazes.
In an effort to "find themselves" and to identify with someone, something - anything, they turn to liquor, to marijuana and to the so-called "mind-expanding" drugs. They seek a foundation, an anchor, a refuge - and they find none.
In the end, they have only one another: a case of the blind leading the blind. They stumble on, seeming to sink deeper and deeper into the quicksands of indifferent ignorance, and the salvation they seek grows ever more distant.
As the reader moves through the pathetic, often sordid life of the girl called Savvy, we feel sincerely that if he pauses and reflects soberly, he will find in Savvy someone that he may know.
-Jack Benjamin