think of the children!

Ok i'm not good with starting good topics or serious ones but thisis my first shot on a topic for the discussion of the phrases "for the children" or "think of the children". What do these mean to you? What do they entail and how do you see them used?

Hysteria and the onset of moral authoritarianism. I distrust any fucker who wants to do anything for the sake of "the children".

Thanks for the link i'll make sure to take alook at it. Right now i'm just hoping to generate discussion on thematter here. By the way this was inspired by the Non Existent Youth Bill thread.

I have two children (older is four years, younger is five months), so if I answer this, I'll be biased.

There is nothign wrong wiht that we'll be biased because we have opinions. My opinion is that it's bullshit and is used to scare the general public in to allowing government and other Moral Guardians to violate our rights.

I suspected Think of the Children! was BS even when I was a little kid myself... no, ESPECIALLY then. Partly because I knew we were already thought about a fair bit.

Keeping children safe is a good and noble cause, but it does not mean that one should perpetuate mass hysteria or violate the rights of people who are older versions of children - adults.

Everyone's rights should be respected, and everyone should be protected as much as is necessary. However, neither cause should cut someone else short.

Very well said Anonym. Freedom before safety I always say. Interestingly enough I just started watching a Penn and Teller Episode about this.

I used it once in a sales pitch to a customer. We had a good chuckle, but she wound up buying what I wanted to sell her.

What Anon said. I'm not out to shield my child from everything under the sun, to include the sun - I think that will leave her woefully unprepared for life as an adult. However, I can act as a filter to protect her from the really zany stuff. Will I succeed in that? Dunno. Time will tell.

Stock Phrase used to manipulate people. This Is kind of obvious.

I haven't actually heard it used much, although I certainly understand why some would use it....

They mean we should think of children's innocent sensibilities, and not give them fairy tales bowdlerized of violent justice by guilty adults who prefer mercy. </ GK Chesterton >

I'm not entirely against shielding children from some of the unpleasantness the world has, but I think they're more mature than a lot of people give them credit for. Or at the very least, know more than they let on. Pour Example—I don't think there's anything wrong with swearing around kids or letting them see it on TV. It's no worse than what they'll on the schoolyard anyway. As far as violence goes, eh. That's up to the parents.

I think the point at which "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" goes wrong is when it begins hurting the non-children. Stuff like the Hot Coffee incident with Grand Theft Auto, when they tried to ban the game on the basis of kids accidentally finding it. Or how at my college, we're apparently not allowed to watch R-rated movies in the cafeteria. It's perfectly reasonable when the kids from the nearby elementary school are there, but any other time, it means we can't watch movies we actually want to watch.

That phrase should be made illegal.

A stock phrase used by Moral Guardians to force everyone to conform to their narrow views.

Which is not to say that people shouldn't think of children - but in discussions of the matters which are related primary to the wellbeing of children (education, contents of book targeted towards kids, laws against child abuse and so on and so on). In such discussions there is no need for this phrase - after all, it is what's being discussed anyway. If there is a need to say "But think of chiiiillun!", then it is clear that an issue has nothing to do with them, and children are mentioned only as an argument to sway adults.

A call to make every aspect of society PG-rated. Hardly a noble endeavor.

How much of this is due to the parents themselves, wanting to have an illusion of control over the outside world as a way of covering up their own insecurities and all that?

edited 31st Mar '11 4:39:47 AM by EnglishIvy

Were I to be a benevolent dictator, saying "think of the children!" or equivalent Stock Social Conservative Tactics to influence policy would be a capital offense punishable with summary execution.

edited 31st Mar '11 4:46:19 AM by SavageHeathen

Buzzword that's so tainted no-one can take it seriously anymore, used mostly by lazy parents who want to shaft the responsibilities of upbringing onto the rest of society.

Yes, Savage Heathen, we all know you'd like to brutally murder everybody who disagrees with you.

I definitely believe that there are some things children shouldn't be exposed to. But the right way to go about that is probably for parents to take a stricter control over what their children watch or play, rather than for governments to start banning things left right and centre on the chance that children might see them.

The other time I've seen this used is as an argument against gay adoption, to which I say, yes, I am, and it looks just fine to me.

Thus making you less benevolent than the average bear trap.

edited 31st Mar '11 4:56:20 AM by JosefBugman

What if your kid has a question about something that makes you uncomfortable? Will you answer them honestly, dishonestly, or would you tell them to be quiet?

You do this?

Personally, I think I'd try to be as little dishonest as possible, but not to the point of being blunt.

And make it look like I don't know how to say it (or sometimes that I don't know, period).

edited 31st Mar '11 4:59:35 AM by Medinoc

Honestly, of course. If it's a subject I'm uncomfortable discussing, I'd much rather they asked me about it and got a truthful answer than asked some other kid or looked it up on the internet.