Dobson High School - Equus Yearbook (Mesa, AZ)

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ISSUES Thin meant ATTRACTIVE. Thin meant SEXY. Thin meant SUCCESS. People in the '80s were seized with the idea of health and fitness, not necessarily for the beneficial ef- fects, but for .. . LOOKING GOOD Health became a BIG deal Psychologically, people equated a slender body with personal success and acceptance. To reach that goal, Americans tried countless diets and workouts. Diet- ing, though, was the most popular. Of the thousands of diet plans that crowded bookshelves, only a few really worked. There were fruit diets, fish diets, and the best-selling Rotation Diet on which certain foods could be eaten on certain weeks. Sometimes, dieting was taken too far especially by women. The refus- al to eat was anorexia. Often, anor- exics saw themselves as fat whether they were or not, and strove for dan- gerously low weights. On the other hand, bulemics ate, only to purge themselves of the food later. The other common way to lose weight was through workouts, and every celebrity had a workout to share with the world. Jane Fonda had several best-selling workouts. In addition, aerobics classes and jogging were big. Despite the emphasis on thinness, some “went public” and were open- ly proud of their weight. Come- dienne Rosanne Barr based her rou- tine on her weight and love of pizza and oreos. As their name attests, The Fat Boys, a rap group, made a “big” deal about their size. The majority of people, however wanted to be thin, and put them- selves through physical and emo- tional suffering just to hit the “right” numbers on the scale. FUTORE THE HUNGRY AND HOMELESS: Shockingly, there were millions of undernourished people in the land of plenty. In addition, poverty forced more men, women and families into the streets. POLLUTION: Nationwide, contaminated water supplies and harm- ful health effects from carelessly dumped chemicals increased. A major problem was where to store the nation’s nuclear waste. EDUCATION AND ILLITERACY: The country’s educational sys- tem was deemed to be in dire need of reform. Schools lacked qualified teachers and teachers lacked competitive salaries. Perhaps connect- ed, millions of Americans couldn’t read or write. THE DEFICIT: As the president introduced the first one trillion dollar budget, the multi-billion dollar deficit mounted. AIDS: Doctors scrambled to discover a cure and check the tide of AIDS. The disease took heavy tolls world wide. EMPLOYMENT: As American products slipped, jobs in the de- pressed manufacturing sector were eliminated.

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UST SAY NO!” That slogan, coined by First Lady Nancy Rea- gan in her crusade against drug use, became the sim- ple solution for teenage problems in the ’80s. Unfortunately, “just saying no” proved quite difficult, not only when it came to drug use, but also to having sex. 1.2 million teenage girls become pregnant each year; 75% of those pregnancies are unin- tended. Half of those girls will have abortions. Unwanted, unplanned pregnancy was a major problem that many teens faced. Without sex educa- tion in the home or school, many engaged in sex, be- lieving it safe. As the problem swelled, society gradually realized that the syndrome of chil- dren having children had to stop. However, a solution was not simple due to the moral and religious issues involved. 15% of pregnant teens become pregnant again in one year. Girls who kept their ba- bies were faced with hard- ships not only on them- selves, but on their chil- dren. According to Time, teen mothers were more likely to live below the pov- erty line. Only half finished high school; many were de- pendent on welfare. Teen- age pregnancy perpetuat- ed itself into the future, as Alarming statistics call attention to an emotional 82% of teenage moms were daugh- ters of teenage mothers. To many, teen pregnancy was the root of America’s poverty cycle. The average person saw 9.000 sexual scenes on T.V. annually. problem schools started clinics right on cam- pus to dispense medical care, con- traceptives and advice. There were 11.000 teen preg- nancies in Arizona in 1985. In Mesa. 1 in 9 girls under 19 be- came pregnant. The explosion of teenage births was triggered by several social con- ditions. Peer pressure remained constant; kids wanting to do the “in” thing had sex. Social stigmas regarding unwed mothers and ille- gitimacy were gone. In fact, it was trendy to be pregnant and single. The issue was important to many Mesans, as Maricopa County had one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in America. Despite this, Mesa schools had no extensive sex ed or clinics. Sexuality was touched once in elementary grades and again in junior high. 65%: 18-19 yrs. m 5%: 14-15 Under 1%: 13 and Under Teen births in Maricopa County. Source: Data Network The media propelled sex to youn- ger audiences, through TV, rock music and videos. Most basic of all, teens were ignorant about the facts of reproduction. Misinformation only reinforced the problem. 78% of Americans favored sex ed in school, according to Time. To counter pregnancy, some schools adopted sex education courses. They were usually challen- eged by conservative parents charg- ing education increased sexual ac- tivity. Sex ed remained the excep- tion. Even more controversial were actual clinics on campus. Some However, there was Stapley Hall, a school were pregnant girls could continue their educations. In an interview with the Mesa Tribune a 17 year old at Stapley Hall said, “I was pretty dingy. I nev- er thought about the consequences. I just thought about... having fun. I thought, ‘I’m not going to get preg- nant; it’s not going to happen to me.’ But it did.” TEEN PREGNANCY 296

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On Saturday Night NO WAY! Because . . . OKAY! Let’s Go. . . Tm grounded 1 have to babysit Tm engaged to be married Tm going out of town Tm sick and dying ‘I have mono 1 can’t date until I’m 21 1 have to deliver a paper route at 5 a.m. 1 have to take out the garbage 1 have to do my homework ‘I can’t miss the Love Boat 1 have to write my congressman 1 need to wash my hair 1 have to walk my dog I LEAVE ME ALONE I’M HAVING A ‘see a movie ‘have a picnic ‘watch the sunset ‘bake cookies ‘cruise around ‘ice blocking ‘to Burger King ‘tubing ‘dancing ‘cuddle at a football game ‘hiking at South Mountain go-cart racing ‘trampolining ‘ice skating Sticky Signs • Don’t laugh, it runs! • Save a wave, kill a kook. • NO FAT CHICKS! • Just visiting this planet. • If you’re rich. I'm single. • Go ahead! Hit me! 1 need the money! • Life is too short to dance with ugly men. • 1 swerve for small animals- they’re harder to hit. • Why can’t I be rich instead of good looking? • Still crazy after all these beers! • Promote wildlife, have a party! IDEAS