Ads urge parents to talk terrorism

[Moloch]

Between spoonfuls of cereal, a little girl in pajamas looks across the kitchen table and innocently asks her mother some chilling questions: "What if something happens? Should I stay where I am and wait for you?"

She may not understand the implications, but she's talking about terrorism. Now the government wants parents to provide answers.

In a series of new TV, radio and print ads, the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging parents to talk to their children about what to do if disaster strikes.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=5&u=/usatoday/20041123/ts_usatoday/adsurgeparentstotalkterrorism

[DireStrike]

1. Remember not to rate this story down!

Don't shoot the messenger. Rate a story down only if you think it's covering something inappropriate, something that isn't news, or is biased.

This is quite shocking. "Our media empire isn't omnipresent enough! Please extend it!"

[saigon68]

26. Its operation "Scare the Fuck" out of everyone.

Remember last year how they tried to scare the seniors--- WELL IT WORKED.

[rkc3]

2. Should I tell my kids, that terrorism is used by our government to

make sure we're fearful of anyone who doesn't look like us?

[KansDem]

3. My wife and I talk to our children about terrorists all the time...

Hardly a day goes by when the name "George W. Bush" isn't mentioned in some context during our conversations.

They know...

[Union Thug]

4. Instead, I'll tell my kids to ignore the propaganda...

...that seeks to make them subject to the corporate/right wing agenda.

My message to kids; Don't trust a goddamned thing that comes out of the mouths of the spokespeople for the Bush government. NOTHING.

On Edit: This is the same farce that they pushed on us as kids, teaching us to fear and hate the people of Russia and its satellites. I hated that crap as a teenager, and I hate it today.

[Sugarbleus]

12. I lived through those days...it was weird indeed.

People running out to purchase backyard bomb shelters!!?? "Duck n Cover" drills, civil defense drills...

Somehow, my parents kept us calm and on an even keel. The whole era seemed unreal .. though the drills were creepy.

My grandson is worried. He tries to hide it, but every so often he asks a question ..in a "silly" sort of way. I tell him we're fine and not to worry. I encourage him to continue with dreams of college and maturing etc. We talk about politics less, since black tuesday..but it comes up once in awhile. I will not go around and scare the crap out of him when this is his time to enjoy his youth.

One of the things we got used to when we lived in the age of bombshelters and nuclear strikes is this: If it comes, it comes..let it fall in my lap and be done with it. There is nothing I can do alone to stop the inevitable. We continue to dream dreams here at home. No point in living in fear.

Screw the GOP fear machine! :grr:

[Union Thug]

17. Agreed, if it comes, it comes....

No sense spending our days worrying endlessly. And like you say, no sense ruining a perfectly good childhood by scaring the hell out of our children. If we are worried about children, we'd better start thinking about what is happening to those helpless little babies in Iraq, not about indoctrinating our own children into this madness.

Personally, I'm not buying into any of it. The reality is, I stand a greater chance of dying in an automobile accident than in a terrorist attack, but I don't spend my time worrying about what I'll do if I get t-boned on the highway. Same deal with an airplane. Every so often, I am asked to travel as part of my job. How much time do you think I spend worrying about crashing? The answer... NONE.

[tavalon]

19. Yes, however, a small counterpoint

that many, if not most of us ignore. Even before terrorism came to our shores, there were natural disasters all over this country. It's important that every family have an exit plan for their house in the event of a fire and a meetup plan in the event of ___________ insert your tornado, earthquake, etc. here. Many of us don't bother, just like we don't bother to change the battery in the fire alarm. Not good practice in either case.

I'm not saying scare the kids, I'm saying that every family should have contingency plans for basic emergency. I have a flashlight in my locker at work and a basic box of emergency supplies in the trunk of my car and I have had both of these for more than 20 years (yes, I replace the batteries).

Fatherland Security are a bunch of asswipes who are just trying to get us to propagate their political fear message. However, the reminder to all to put in place basic safety precautions (including drills - we do them at the hospital all the time) is not a bad one. Hell, even the recommendation to have duct tape is not a bad one. Do you guys have any idea just how useful that stuff really is?!

[Union Thug]

23. Hey, I've watched Red Green. I KNOW how valuable Duct Tape is!

[kayell]

27. Yes, this really does bring back memories of those days

I remember the insane drills in school. We were all herded into central hallways and taught the standard turtle pose. I remember families who had bomb shelters in their back yard and the discussions of what to do if neighbors tried to break into your shelter.

Thankfully, I had sane parents who talked about how silly it all was, who didn't try to scare us. It was bad enough with all the FEAR_tm our teachers were passing out at school.

[demodonkey]

5. Duck and Cover. When you see the flash, make like Mr. Turtle and...

crawl under your desk -- and you too will be safe from the instant nuclear.

Sounds like we are going back to the "scare the kiddies" tactics of the 50s-60s.... to this day many baby boomers can't hear a fire siren without wanting to turn on the radio to see if we are about to be nuked.

Glad to hear that there is another generation being brought up in fear of the "bad guys"; will help make sure that for decades to come they vote only for the "good guys" who will keep them safe ...

[grumpy old fart]

6. Recruiting the kids....Is your daddy a terrorist Johnny?

Just the first step in recruiting the Bushista Youth...Let Uncle Chimpy help keep you safe from those nasty Liberal parents of yours....

[Lorien]

7. Keep them afraid from birth onwards

they're easier to control that way.

[wildflower]

8. My head is spinning...

I feel like the powers that be can never decide whether we're safe or not. Every week it's a different message. :crazy:

Maybe it's like Randi says: we're in danger, but safer danger.

-wildflower

[UL_Approved]

9. USA Today strikes again

These guys seem to be in the middle of getting first pick when we go to a fully fascist state. The pinnacle of state-sponsored bullshit.

[musette_sf]

22. The building I work in has "news" screens in the lifts

and this was one of the cheerful USA Today snippets I saw on my way up today. Echhhhhhhh.

[hatrack]

10. Ad urges parents to terrify children ALL THE TIME

:puke:

[Career Prole]

11. Teach them terror now so that when they reach voting age

they'll salivate when they hear the words "security preznit". Think how much the right-wing will save on ads later if we terror-train our kids for them now.
Note to the Ministry of Homeland Defense... up yours!! :grr:

[genieroze]

13. Instead of Duck, Duck, Goose

It's duck and cover time children. If a nuke comes just hide under your desk. Um okay.

[Lori Price CLG]

14. Well, here is my response to that article:

:puke:

"Ads urge parents to talk terrorism" <--as in... the terrorism emanating from the Bush regime?

Lori Price
http://www.legitgov.org/

[grumpy old fart]

15. Hopefully this will boomerang as badly as the "duct tape"

crap they tried to sell us back in the early days of the Ministry of Homeland Security. Remember how that got shot down, albeit meekly and belatedly, in the MSM?

[Retrograde]

16. there is such a thing as emergency preparedness

for things do - rarely, in most cases - happen in the mundane world: earthquakes, tornadoes, accidents, any of which can separate children from their families for a while. So yes, parents (or other caretakers, to be PC), should talke to their charges about what to do if they're away from home and the Big One hits, or mommy can't get home tonight because a bad accident closed the roads, or flood waters are rising, or anything else for that matter.

And yes, I think parents should talk to their children about terrorism, and about why they do not have to go around in fear of their lives on a constant basis. There's a big difference between vigilance and planning and running around in blind panic.

[sandnsea]

18. Parents need an ad for that?

I don't think so. It's terror propaganda, plain and simple.

[Ima]

20. yup

"Be afraid, be very afraid."


Most all family's, already have some plans, for their children if a disaster happens.


This constant harping, by the government, is all about control.

If you are always in a state of fear, you will not be able to act appropriately if danger does come.

[Carolab]

24. Absolutely, think about it

In the bad old days we got this crap in school.

Why is it on TV?

To scare EVERYBODY, or an early warning system that Bushco plans another terra attack somewhere?

[Endangered Specie]

21. I guess "one of 'those' talks" has changed meaning

since I had mine.

[FormerOstrich]

25. I don't have kids so I don't have to worry....

However, I was talking about "fear" and it's control to an acquaintance recently. She is an elementary teacher and lives in la la land. Finally she admitted that she hadn't thought about it but her school now has a ton of "drills" that they didn't have before 2002. So you may want to ask your kids about the "drills". The ones she described to me sounded atrocious.