anti smoke people have gone too far.

[FroZen\WaRnings]

"Whats that lassie?"
"SMOKE!"

[ladylove]

Originally Posted by Northernlion

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hx0lrxqMI3I

That was some cool stuff right there. Good old Hanna Barbara...where the women are always two social classes short of humankind, and the men bring irresponsible pig-headed sloth to religious heights!

[Kwench(e)r]

I agree 100% with everything Snow said. They force feed people bullsh-t because no one wants to take the blame for the latest child criminal or child f-ck-up. We don't need to teach kids how to live, or not to smoke, or not to do drugs. They will learn that sh-t on their own. My brother was raised the same way as I was and he did drugs when he was in high school, and I never have/will. Kids make their own choices, because they're actually human beings, and that's what human beings do. We need to teach them, but we need to teach adults to man up to their own sh-t and their own mistakes. Your kid blows someone's thumb off in a firework accident, that's the parents' and the kid's fault. It has nothing to do with Daffy Duck's bomb blowing up in his face and his bill is on the back of his head.

[Surt]

You know, the Nazi’s were the first large-scale antismoking organization? Imagine living in the 1930’s and having the media pumped full of antismoking propaganda. Boy, sure glad we don’t have to deal with that kind of stuff anymore.

[Dr.Snow]

Like Kwencher said, I believe it all has to do with parents and kids taking responsibility for their own actions. Hardly anyone does these days, everyone seems to be looking for an excuse for their behavior. I drink because I enjoy drinking. I know that I go too far sometimes, I know that it can bring undesirable consequences, but I know all of this going into my decision to drink.

I take responsibility for my drinking, my reckless driving, coke snorting, and my brash conservativeness.

I believe two of those things are wrong, but I live with the consequences and don't make excuses for the things I do. You think it's wrong, don't do it. I've got a lot of respect for people who choose not to drink, do drugs, or get involved in politics, but don't expect anyone else to live up to your standards. It comes down to respect. Give what you expect to receive, don't force other people to live their lives as you see fit.

[Master Cola]

What I don't get Snow, is it is not about telling anyone how to live thier life. LadyLove had a valid point, by removing that content you are screwing with art, someone's work who most likely intended it to be viewed as it was created. But removing the content is not forcing anyone to do anything. It is just removing a potentially dangerous message that kids could absorb. If kids pick up smoking, yes it is ultimatly the parents and/or kids fault but why do we need that message to be there in the first place? Why do kids need to see that message and force parents to do damage control.

Originally Posted by Dr.Snow

Like Kwencher said, I believe it all has to do with parents and kids taking responsibility for their own actions. Hardly anyone does these days, everyone seems to be looking for an excuse for their behavior. I drink because I enjoy drinking. I know that I go too far sometimes, I know that it can bring undesirable consequences, but I know all of this going into my decision to drink.

I take responsibility for my drinking, my reckless driving, coke snorting, and my brash conservativeness.

I believe two of those things are wrong, but I live with the consequences and don't make excuses for the things I do. You think it's wrong, don't do it. I've got a lot of respect for people who choose not to drink, do drugs, or get involved in politics, but don't expect anyone else to live up to your standards. It comes down to respect. Give what you expect to receive, don't force other people to live their lives as you see fit.

What about the other people on the road when your are driving recklessly?

[Wolf(e)]

Hypothetically: if a kid sees a character on his favorite show smoking, and solely because of this, he starts smoking. If he hadn't seen it, he wouldnt have made that decision.
Who is to blame? The kid for making the decision (keeping in mind that he's young and may not entirely know what's good and what's bad)? The parents for letting the kid watch the show? Or the show for conveying a poor message?

I know that's not something that will likely happen in real life, but... answer it anyway.

[Surt]

That question doesn't deserve an answer because its ridicules. A child young enough to unquestionably imitate a cartoon characters action is -
A) Not going to acquire any tobacco to smoke
B) Isn’t going to know how to smoke
C) Isn’t going to be able to keep his smoking habit up

But, if it were a more realistic situation, as in an older child, then it would be the child’s fault. Everyone knows smoking is bad, even from a young age it’s conveyed to us through parents, school, and TV. If you know its wrong but do it anyway then its your choice, even at a young age, its still yours.

All this coming from a heroin addict! ^

[Surt]

Hey man, we all got our faults.

[QB14]

:LMAO: priceless

[ladylove]

Originally Posted by Master Cola

But removing the content is not forcing anyone to do anything. It is just removing a potentially dangerous message that kids could absorb. If kids pick up smoking, yes it is ultimatly the parents and/or kids fault but why do we need that message to be there in the first place? Why do kids need to see that message and force parents to do damage control.

You know, Cola, you brought up this message once before regarding video games, and I remembered it. What I enjoy about your posts is that you have a strong sense of values that you don't forget, and that you don't compromise on. That's excellent. If I'm phrasing it right, you believe that removing questionable content will not necessarily take away from the quality of something, but will remove the need for parents to have to take the extra step to clean up some corporation/video game producer/etc.'s mess...which isn't a bad idea.

However, I put forth another point for you to consider. I believe that in order for a child to be ready to face the temptations and manipulations in the real world, they should first be exposed to them in the relative safety of their own home. For example. A child is fascinated by seeing their favorite character smoking a cigarette on TV. Perhaps it does make an impression and they might be tempted to smoke. What this does is create an opportunity for parents to teach kids about advertising, how people are paid to make their favorite characters smoke in order to get money for their show, and how we know things about smoking today that folks back then really didn't know.

My thought is that it's better for people to understand in childhood about these things than to grow up fairly naively and find out as an adult that there are people out there who will manipulate you for money. (Remember the woman who shot her preacher husband last year?

Winkler told Tennessee authorities about losing $17,000 in what investigators have described as a "N1gerian 419" check-kiting scam.

Now you might ask...how can two grown adults not have heard of such a scam? Stranger still...how could they not have laughed it off just tasting how big of a scam it sounded? My theory is that they didn't know because they were sheltered people. And sheltered people are easily taken advantage of.

Life's lessons do not have to learned when the person is 18 and a new walking target on the block. They can be learned slowly, as kids, watching the three Stooges poke each other in the eyes ("It hurts, doesn't it? So do you understand what make-believe is now? They don't really poke each other, it just looks like they do."), or watching cartoon characters smoke ("Back then, a lot of people smoked because people didn't know that smoking could kill you. People still smoke, but not as many as when your grandparents were kids. I want you to watch when a cartoon character uses a product of some type. See how many you can remember and we'll talk about it.")

In a nutshell, sometimes it's good to see bad things while you can still learn in a safe environment. Better to make mistakes as a kid than later when no one can protect you anymore.

[Brenton]

This entire thread re-affirms my hatred for mankind.

[Master Cola]

A very good point LadyLove, a very good point.

I sat here trying to think of something else to say but I went blank.