Kids in Politics
Mar. 22nd, 2005 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeOkay, in theory I think involving kids in the political process is a good thing. It teaches kids that government matters; it also educates them out of their natural self-absorption (and possibly forestalls the oh-so-jaded extended adolescent attitude of "it's all bullshit anyway"). But they shouldn't be allowed to get front and center--I get really irritated when they're used as props, obviously under the assumption that if a child says it, we're all supposed to stop and marvel at the "out of the mouths of babes" wisdom of children. Bullshit. That kind of transparent manipulation irritates me the way casting kids with speech impediments in commercials irritates me. (Speech impediments aren't cute, and kids being pumped up to be artificially cute is annoying. Kids speaking properly and articulately--that's cute. Kids just being kids is cute)
I say this because this picture yesterday sent my blood pressure skyward:
Ugh. Just ugh. I hate the scrawled crappy writing--someone should have helped that kid write the poster so it's more legible. (Oh, except that wouldn't be "childlike" and therefore by definition adorable.) It reminds me of those annoying construction site signs--"My daddy works here, please drive carefully" complete with patented backward Ses. And the argument--"what if you were Terri." Well, if I were Terri, I wouldn't know what was happening to me and therefore I wouldn't care! End of discussion.
I don't even blame the kid. As I said I think it's a good idea to expose kids to politics and making your voice heard. I blame whoever thought the rest of us would be swayed by the sight of a child in the front of the crowd waving a crappy placard with bad writing, articulating a simplistic argument. It's just annoying and manipulative.
I say this because this picture yesterday sent my blood pressure skyward:
Ugh. Just ugh. I hate the scrawled crappy writing--someone should have helped that kid write the poster so it's more legible. (Oh, except that wouldn't be "childlike" and therefore by definition adorable.) It reminds me of those annoying construction site signs--"My daddy works here, please drive carefully" complete with patented backward Ses. And the argument--"what if you were Terri." Well, if I were Terri, I wouldn't know what was happening to me and therefore I wouldn't care! End of discussion.
I don't even blame the kid. As I said I think it's a good idea to expose kids to politics and making your voice heard. I blame whoever thought the rest of us would be swayed by the sight of a child in the front of the crowd waving a crappy placard with bad writing, articulating a simplistic argument. It's just annoying and manipulative.
