Pointless Displays

[Jason Tandro]

So Facebook is having this thing where you're supposed have cartoon images until Dec 6 in some anti-child abuse stand.

I'm never impressed by shows like this. Like that Earth Hour crap. IF you want to solve a problem you don't make a trendy and completely pointless display, you work on solving the problem.

So being the ass that I am, I was so tempted to post this as my picture:



My father talked me out of it; said it'd be tasteless and he's right, but it'd still be funny.

[tay120n64]

Do it.

Honestly, I don't even know what the whole thing is about, but I put Ludwig von Drake on my profile just because everyone else was doing it and it looked fun.

I'm not a tool, I just like cartoons.

[inferiare]

Its kinda a doube-edged thing, though. Sure, I posted a picture of Sailor Moon, but mainly because I wanted the excuse and there's a lot of people doing it and posting that status about it with the picture change. However it can also make people think and take active charge off of the interwebs too. Silly to do it on Facebook? Yeah definitely. Getting people to take an active stance off the web though? Even better.

Though a friend of mine brought up a good point: "child abuse" and parents who discipline their children with a smack on their butt are lumped in with the truly abusive jackasses and then they get their kids taken. That's bull. :/

[Jason Tandro]

inferiare wrote:

Though a friend of mine brought up a good point: "child abuse" and parents who discipline their children with a smack on their butt are lumped in with the truly abusive jackasses and then they get their kids taken. That's bull. :/

Don't even get me started on this. I've got a serious vendetta against the DSS because of crap like this. Those self-righteous assholes ruined a good part of my childhood.

[Miss Prime Blue]

Edited for profanity.

[chicken]

yea, you know, this "change you profile picture to the hero of your childhood" was something completely different. it was just fun, there was no real "message" behind it.

with this, you want to "support" anti child abuse, right? well, "J" just put it in a nutshell: if you really want to do something and not just swim with the swarm, when you have to DO something.

[tay120n64]

Miss Prime Blue wrote:

Edited for profanity.

This guy wins today's Awesome Guy of the Day Award.

[Freedan]

I've never understood the purpose behind stuff like that. "Change your picture if you hate child abuse".

Forget for a minute that this implies that you're in favour of child abuse if you don't change it. Saying "child abuse sucks" doesn't really do much to address the problem, does it?

That J fella said exactly what came to my mind when I read about this.

[arkisdabomb]

I personally just do both. I changed my FB picture, and am also going to donate a portion of my next paycheck (probably only like $20, money is tight at the moment unfortunately).

[Manibrandr System]

Unfortunately, we have cultivated a culture of convenience, laziness and indifference for ourselves, so when it comes to getting the chops to help a cause, this is pretty much the extent of what we'd normally do.

Quite frankly, while the picture changing thing doesn't directly help things much, it is a lot better than doing nothing, and certainly a lot better than denigrating the efforts of those who do. Because what it does is that is helps to raise awareness of the issue, even if it's just by a little, thus increasing the chances that someone who could do more will do more.

Let's take that facebook donator dude for example, he owes a lot more to the "slacktivists" than he gives them credit for. See, everyday we are so inundated with media that pleas like this normally gets overlooked, and it would be safe to assume that the only reason he even knew of the organization was because of those displays.

Think before you judge.

PS : Corporeal punishment IS child abuse.

[tay120n64]

Valerie Valens wrote:

Corporeal punishment IS child abuse.

I'm not sure if I want to get into this, but I'll just say that I thank my father every day for whipping my ass as a kid with his home-made paddle. By the time I was 9 he didn't have to whip me anymore. He just looked at me and I knew I had better behave. Even at 13 when he told me I was too old for it, I still didn't risk it. It kept me in line, and you can sure as hell bet that I'll be whipping my kids into shape as well.

I do believe, however, that schools have no business whipping my kid. That is a parent's job, and a parent's job alone.

Anyway, that's another topic really, and maybe we could start a debate on it or something in a more appropriate board, idk.

[Jason Tandro]

Valerie Valens wrote:

Think before you judge.

I have. I know what I believe in. Down with slacktivism. Donate, get involved in community drives. Do something more than just blinging out your facebook wall. And yes I have donated to numerous charities. Not much, granted, but whatever I can when I can.

Quote:

PS : Corporeal punishment IS child abuse.

No. Spanking and smacking your kids is not child abuse. Using a belt to "tan your hide" yeah that's a little extreme. But regular hand spanking, no not even remotely child abuse.

[Manibrandr System]

Like I said, denigrating people for doing so is not going to encourage them to do more.

Also, there are far better ways of disciplining kids without having to go physical.

[psychokind]

not even the army has to go physical to train their soldiers. it's entirely possible to breed your brood without violence. as long as their little kids (up to puberty), the authority of a fair, loving and determined male should do the job.

[Jason Tandro]

Valerie Valens wrote:

Like I said, denigrating people for doing so is not going to encourage them to do more.

It will do a lot more than telling them that the bare minimum is acceptable. What the hell ever happened to standards?

Quote:

Also, there are far better ways of disciplining kids without having to go physical.

I agree. Spanking is a "last resort" when all other methods of discipline have failed.