cause4concern wrote:
Now, I do agree with much of what is posted on this forum; but I'm afraid comparing a cartoon ad campaign to stop wasting energy to Deutsches Jungvolk is a very silly thing to do...
I'm afraid you have rather missed the point.
Firstly, the designation of certain lawful actions - desirable or not - as "crimes" is an unwholesome distortion of our moral code. It confers moral equivalency between not turning off a light and, say, shoplifting or vandalism. It seeks to impose a moral judgement on a normal activity, blurring the line between something which is lawful and something which is not. This confusion, especially when children are the focus, cannot help define and communicate our moral code, with which many children have only a distressingly limited acquaintance.
Secondly, the recruitment of children to pass judgement on their parent's "crimes" is wholly malign, not least in undermining the authority of adults.
Third, in that the campaign seeks to align children with an external agency, which is setting the paramenters by which the children should judge their own parents and other adults, it creates an alternative authority which purports to be superior to that of the parents and other authority figures. That is confusing to the child, and also creates a potential area of friction ... what if the parents object to this overt attempt to undermine their authority?
Fourth, not only does the campaign encourage the child to believe it has the moral right to pass judgement on the behaviour of parents and other adults, it actively encourages the child to "enforce" that judgment, distorting the normal relationships between adults and children.
Fifth, by asking the child to record the "crimes", it undermines the bonds of loyalty which should exist between child and family. The children are being encouraged to put the notional and highly contentious objective of "saving the planet" above that of family cohesion and loyalty.
Sixth, it asks the child to make judgements which it is not qualified or equipped to make. How does the child know whether there is a good reason for leaving a light on in an unoccupied room? For instance, crime prevention authorities recommend leaving lights on randomly in different, unoccupied rooms, to deter burglars.
(And, by the way, the advice on not putting hot food into a freezer is unsound. Many food poisoning outbreaks are caused by slow cooling - leaving food out at ambient - to which effect, I and my specialist colleagues have gone into print actively recommending people to put hot meat joints and stews prepared in advance - for instance - in a freezer for half an hour before putting them in a fridge.)
Overall, the recruitment of children to pass judgement on "crimes" committed by adults - as defined by others - is exactly the technique employed by the likes of the
Deutsches Jungvolk and the Pioneers. The comparison was not lightly made. That you completely fail to see the parallel - and your subsequent comments - speaks more about your judgement than mine.
).