- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 93,836
- Reaction score
- 68,921
- Location
- Colorado
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian - Left
I agree that parents should have more influence over their children but my observations in this day and age make me wonder, generally speaking, how many actually do.
My nephew comes to mind. He has good parents. He's in his teens now and thinks he's black. All his friends think they're black. In fact, they give blacks a bad name they are so bad at it.
I KNOW he didn't get it from his parents.
All that being said, keep in mind that I am an old fart and I probably just don't understand.
OK, but that's not my problem. People have to raise their own kids. I should not be held responsible because of it. The tobacco and alcohol companies shouldn't be held responsible because of it. People make the choice to have kids. It's hard, it's not easy, it's tough and requires countless hours. That's their choice and the consequence of it. Why can't a tobacco company have a commercial? Because kids may see it? If a parent can't sit down with their kid and overall in their life have a more positive and powerful influence over their kids than a commercial...well they probably shouldn't have been a parent in the first place. But it's not my problem, and it's not the tobacco company's problem, and it's not the alcohol company's problem. It's the parents problem. They have to do the work, they have to put in the effort. Yes, tobacco and alcohol are bad for you, certainly there is room for reasonable regulation to make them state these things. But people are free to make choices, and if someone chooses to smoke or drink; that's their choice. They are beholden to the consequences of it. No one else.
I grow weary of the "Oh won't someone please think of the children" arguments. Helen Lovejoy coming out of the woodwork. And the "it's bad for you" argument is just as bad. Who are you to tell me what I can or can't do? Just because it's bad for me doesn't mean I can't do it or the company can't advertise. If some people are so strongly inclined to try to save us from ourselves, they should be pushing for prohibition. But as it stands, tobacco and alcohol are legal products. And there's no reason to forbid a company selling legal products from advertising their products. That's it. Don't care if it "influences the children", go be a parent. I don't care if "it's bad for me", it's my damned choice. If it's legal, it should be allowed to be advertised.