People want a Nanny State to outlaw children's toys in Happy Meals. I get it. Kids can pester parents and it becomes difficult to win the war of attrition. Still, if you think that Happy Meal toys are wrong and that you don't want your children to be enticed by cheap plastic crap from a transnational artificial food corporation, here's a thought: don't visit McDonalds. It's the option we often choose in our house and it works well.
If you think that advertising to little children is wrong, here's a solution: get rid of the television. I heard there's this amazing parental switch device on even the oldest television sets and it allows adults to turn off the television instantaneously. We have an off button at our house and it turns out that it works really well.
If you think that Harry Potter is evil and should be banned from schools, here's a solution: don't let your kids read it. It's really easy. You just tell your children to avoid the book or they'll go to Hell. Or offer to give them free pizza coupons for each one they read. Meanwhile, I'll continue reading it to my own children.
Part of being a parent is engaging in conflict. It's part of being human. It's part of living a story. Whether your concerns are liberal or conservative, traditional or progressive, natural or structured, talk to me, question me, engage me in debate, but don't push your agenda through a political process. Instead, try being a parent.
I think you miss the real point of these attacks, it isn't about what their children are doing it is about what other people's children are doing. Some people actually believe that the government (local, state, national, global) can do a better job raising our children. I bet if you dig deeper on the Happy Meal toys it comes down to $$.
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not want the government having anything to do with making decisions about my children.
On a side note, about the only time we get Happy meals is when they have the Madam Alexander dolls my mom collects. :)