Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Childhood, Confidence, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Devious Strategy, Education, Entertainment, Fatherhood, Insight
So this is the last post until next Thursday as I’m traveling for work.
I know you all think this means I’m going on a ‘free holiday’, but I am going to take the high road.Ahem.
Yesterday I wrote a post about media helping kids grow up too fast in ways that drives complicity and pressure not independence and individuality.
It’s a subject close to my heart now I have Otis.
Protecting your child is a weird thing.
You know you want to, but you know there’s only so much you can do.
That’s part of the reason I never felt comfortable living in America.
Despite having our house in an incredibly privileged area – the reality that gun crime is everywhere there – never made me comfortable. I would feel uncomfortable going to the cinema. I would look for exists every time I went to the shopping malls. And while you may think I was being over-the-top, the reality is these things happen … in fact, the week after we left LA, there was a shooting at the mall we used to go.
Anywhere where you get a leaflet through the door warning you about violence and guns in schools needs to take a long hard look at itself in terms of what it values more than a life … which is why this video from the Sandy Hook Promise organization makes sure everyone knows that the best way yo protect your child in America is teaching them how to deal with the environment that surrounds them.
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#1 country in the world for school shootings.
Comment by andy@cynic September 20, 2019 @ 6:22 amtrump. making america great again.
wanker.
psa is good. saying you can spot the fucking signs before it happens plays right into trump/NRA hands. most things ive seen are people interviewed post shooting saying the gunman was a loner. if being a loner is the sign then emos are about to have the shittest time.
Comment by andy@cynic September 20, 2019 @ 6:25 amI agree. Unless they are saying the signs are anyone with a gun.
Comment by Bazza September 20, 2019 @ 7:59 amThe PSA is powerful but I agree with Andy that the ending puts all the emphasis (and arguably, blame) on stopping these school shootings on the victims not the gun laws.
Comment by Pete September 20, 2019 @ 6:53 amWell said Pete. The film leaves you breathless but the message at the end is wrong. Being vigilant is important, but parents always are. The problem is the ease you can obtain a gun here and that should never be allowed to fall from the agenda.
“Hopefully” preventing another school shooting is not the same as preventing one but I assume that is the reason the PSA ends that way because they know the NRA power over government is so strong guns will never be banned.
Comment by Mary Bryant September 20, 2019 @ 7:22 amI think you just explained the reason for that final sign-off They know gun laws won’t change and so this is the only thing parents can control.
Comment by Pete September 20, 2019 @ 7:35 amThis thread, that I agree with, has just made me happy I don’t have kids. I couldn’t deal with the anxiety every day they leave for school.
Comment by Bazza September 20, 2019 @ 8:02 amEach to their own Baz, but what I can say is that personally – being a Dad has enriched my life in ways I never imagined and in ways I would be willing to put up with the daily anxiety I’d have about him going to school in America. Or any school for that matter.
Comment by Rob September 20, 2019 @ 8:27 amHadn’t looked at it that way, that’s a great point Pete and Mary. Maybe that isn’t what they intended, maybe the vast of majority of people won’t even see that but I am sure the NRA will and will twist to for their agenda. Which is the sickest element of it all.
Comment by Rob September 20, 2019 @ 8:26 amSurely the point the PSA is making is that there’s nothng the kids can do to prevent a shooting and so the solution has to lie elsewhere? The ending shows the futility of being prepared.
Clearly, however, that’ not the message everyone here is taking fom it, so perhaps it’s failed.
Comment by John September 20, 2019 @ 10:08 amI agree John, that’s how I saw it too … but now a couple of others have talked about the ambiguity of the end message, I do think it might not quite land as they intended. Maybe.
Comment by Rob September 20, 2019 @ 11:17 amStop listening to ad folk. It’s a film not an ad.
Comment by John September 20, 2019 @ 12:19 pmYou realise that’s the language of an ad person don’t you John.
Comment by DH September 20, 2019 @ 1:31 pmNot a brand film.
Comment by John September 20, 2019 @ 3:40 pmIt’s quiet around here. Too quiet.
Comment by Bazza September 23, 2019 @ 7:02 amHe’s been sighted on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week.
Comment by john September 24, 2019 @ 11:13 pmHopefully by a sniper.
Comment by Bazza September 25, 2019 @ 8:28 amThat explains the camo.
Comment by John September 25, 2019 @ 9:05 am