Kids as political billboards?

[.Shane.]

Source...

Hmm... Gotta say, as a parent (of 3 kids) this fails my cringe test.

I'm quite happy to help my kids understand politics, etc... and engage them in conversation, get them interested, etc... but I really hate it when parents use their kids to push a message.

So, it fails for me because:
A. We're bombarded by ads enough as it is.
B. I think its inappropriate to do to your kids.

I guess, if the kid is a teenager and its really their decision, that's OK by me.

A couple quotes for comparison:

"It seems cute and benign," says Joan Ingber, a therapist who specializes in children's issues at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in Manhattan. "However, the more I think about it, the more it fails to pass my cringe test. It seems that we're bombarded enough by constant advertising, so why should children become the canvas for any ad? ... Do we really want to see kids in this role?"

versus

"Sure, we cringe when we see a child wear an anti-choice shirt," Kaplan says. "And I am sure conservatives may do the same when they see David wearing our family's politics on his chest. But we all want our children to share our values, and these shirts are one of the ways we get to express that."

Thoughts?

 

[bigdog5994]

i think its sick and ther just asking for a rebellious kid

 

[The Yankee]

That's really my reaction to it.

I mean, sure, children are often guided in their beliefs by their parents (either in-step with them or completely away from them), but talk about cheapening the entire process, for us and them.

On the off-chance that the child that young has any real clue what's going on, I suppose it's alright, though. But I would not be pushing such a thing on my unborn.

 

[mrt144]

I find no problem with it. children are ignorant in the first place so any material put upon them like that most likely means it is stupid to begin with. playing on people's emotions towards children is a dead giveaway that they probably suck.

 

[.Shane.]

i think its sick and ther just asking for a rebellious kid

Sick? No. Misguided. Yes.

I mean, sure, children are often guided in their beliefs by their parents (either in-step with them or completely away from them), but talk about cheapening the entire process, for us and them.

Well, I can see taking them to a rally or a march or something, that's more in line with exposing them to things that help them understand how our system works, what my views may be. But t-shirts, etc... I just find it exploitative and distasteful.

 

[Gilder]

Well, I am again glad to be born in a family whose only agenda to push on to me, is that people are idiots.

 

[Phlegmak]

I cannot see that it's wrong for a parent to teach certain values to his own children and to force those children to wear signs stating such.

 

[LucyDuke]

I don't really think children should be out in public to begin with.

 

[nivi]

Maybe we should teach tell parents to teach their kids how to eat properly, all we need to do is tell them that healthier voters vote more!

 

[Irish Caesar]

Yeah, I read that article before coming here (CNN beats out CFC in my surfing hierarchy) and thought the same: it fails the cringe test.

I suppose if the kid can explain why they're wearing the shirt to any who ask, it's okay... but it's likely that none will be able to in a logical, coherent way.

But hey, as long as we're headed for another revolution, we might as well be raising some foot soldiers!

 

[Pannonius]

People who use their children as some sort of political tool are psychopats.

 

[skadistic]

I'd do it for money. Other wise my kids will be dressed in Ben Shermans and Fred Perry with cute little boots and braces.

 

[The Yankee]

I don't really think children should be out in public to begin with.

You win the thread.

Especially when they're on mass transit.

 

[JollyRoger]

Kids shouldn't be used as politcal billboards. If you want to make a politcal point with someone close to you, have your woman conform her shaving habits to your support or opposition to Bush.

 

[lutzj]

The lesbian mother makes her kid wear a shirt saying "Let My Parents Marry".
She wants to marry someone other than David's parent.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I would never indoctrinate my child. I'll let them choose.

 

[Tasslehoff]

Depends. I don't think the parents should make their kids wear political shirts if the kids have no idea what it means. On the other hand, if the kids actually know what's going on enough to have their own opinions, it makes sense.

 

[Babbler]

I don't have any problem with, although it's kind of tacky.

 

[.Shane.]

Depends. I don't think the parents should make their kids wear political shirts if the kids have no idea what it means. On the other hand, if the kids actually know what's going on enough to have their own opinions, it makes sense.

That's why I drew the line, had to draw one somewhere, at 10 years old. Like I said in the OP, when my kids are old enough, I doubt I'd care. But, w/ young kids, I think its just another aspect where the parents are living vicariously through their kids.

 

[Irish Caesar]

That's why I drew the line, had to draw one somewhere, at 10 years old. Like I said in the OP, when my kids are old enough, I doubt I'd care. But, w/ young kids, I think its just another aspect where the parents are living vicariously through their kids.

Or perhaps when they get to middle school, which is similarly arbitrary and varies from location to location.

Politics shouldn't be kept out of our schools, but uninformed and potentially loaded politics should be kept away from those who aren't old enough to understand what's going on.