Give me a break. Have any of you seen the new “war on weed” Commercial? It shows a kid talking about how unfair it is that he is grounded for smoking weed. Then June Cleaver walks in and says something like “when I say no weed I mean it” and makes him get off the phone. The Commercial shows her stopping him from doing fun things. A little bit later it shows his friends offering him weed and he says no. Cut Back to June Cleaver saying something about being a concerned parent.
If you have never seen the commercial I really do not expect you to get this rant.
Not everyone was raised like me, Howeverm, I could not see my parents or any of my friends parents Having the reaction this woman did on the commercial. “Now Junior what have I told you about weed? I guess we are going to have to ground you pwecious yes we are!” My Mom would have killed me, and she definantly would not have let me go hang out with the same friends I had, you know, the ones with the weed?
I guess I don’t get any of these commercials. I mean do they really have any effect? If I decided to smoke, have an abortion, do drugs or any number of things we see these types of commercials for, I highly doubt a commercial is going to stop me.
Sorry for the complete lameness of this rant, but its been bugging me a while.
Maybe they don’t carry much weight with kids, but they could be useful in that they tell adults that it’s OK to tell their kids, “No.”
And parents ought to be saying no to permitting children under 18 to smoke marijuana.
I haven’t seen the commercial. And I have my own doubts about the effectiveness about the war on drugs, but I don’t think anyone under 18 should be smoking marijuana.
Well I am an adult, and I have no problem with telling kids no. Why in the world would I need a commercial to help me assert my authority? I mean are there really adults out there who are going to watch that commercial and decide its time for them to become parents who can say no?
What gets me is that it’s set in the suburbs. The Mom has a garden, & all the time in the world to watch the kid so he doesn’t skip out.
What about the single, working mothers in the inner city, who has to hold down 2 jobs to make ends meet? When she’s out working, what stops the kid from doing what he pleases?
Fuckin’ Bush-Baby morons still think it’s the 50’s.
Actually, that’s one of the very few anti-drug commercials that I don’t have a problem with. The kid tried weed, and gets grounded. There’s nothing about him letting the toddler he’s babysitting drown, or running over some kid in a drive-through, or raping a girl at a crowded party, or blowing up the World Trade Center, or any of the other malicious lies these commercials usually try to spread. All it does is show a kid getting punished for doing something kids his age shouldn’t be doing in the first place. Instead of trying to demonize the drug, they make it about what the real issue is: disobeying your parents.
It seems like most of the anti-drug commercial (including the cigarette ones) have a scene with the kid refusing the drugs when offered by his friends. That strikes me as the wrong message to be sending: “Go ahead, hang out with your drug addict friends all you want, just do use any yourself.” Since most people get into drugs from their friends, is this something you want to be encouraging? Well, it’s the government and it’s the drug war, so this is the logic and quality I expect.
In my area, the woman is black and sassy, not June Cleaver.
“When I say NO WEED, I mean NO WEED!” She is shown grounding him, turning off tv or radio or something.
I thought it was the most effective commercial yet, because both the mom and the kid were portrayed sympathetically. I wonder if it’s the same commercial.
When I was about 16 I once got busted smoking a joint with one of my moron, stoner friends. The cops brought me home at like 2:00 am and woke up my parents. My dad listened quietly to the cops then closed the front door when they left.
Then he turned to me and laid me out with a right cross.
They should know that it’s ok for them to assert some authority. They need to raise their kids right.
My parents both worked. I could’ve done things between the time I got home and the time they got home. I could’ve gone out nights and done things then, after I got a car. I didn’t, because I didn’t WANT to do those things, and because I knew that I would’ve been punished when they found out, and they made me believe they WOULD find out.
Know what? Now that I’m away at college, I don’t do drugs or drink or have wild promiscuous sex even though it’s HIGHLY unlikely my parents would ever find out. Know why? Because they taught me values and morals and I want to make them proud. That’s what good parenting is.
You don’t need it? Great. I don’t need it either. But I do know a few parents that do have problems telling their kids no about pot, staying out late, having sex and so forth.
I understand you don’t like hearing someone preach to the choir. But understand that there are a lot of people out there in the pews that do need to hear the sermon.
There are a couple of other issues that this commercial touches on, I think:
Reminding parents to talk to their kids about drugs, one way or the other. Sometimes it just doesn’t enter the radar for parents.
In an age that some argue has taken power away from parents (as reflected in the spanking debate), it reminds parents that punishments need to be acted on if they expect the rules to stick. Even the most well-meaning parents can sometimes “go soft” and let things slide. But you can’t, not for the things you think are important.
What Leaper said, plus the fact that is on television, and kids really DO absorb a lot of what they see, means that when I tell MY kid “no weed” she doesn’t think I hatched out of a spaceship overnight. This is familiar to her, she’s seen it on TV, where most of what she watches is either thoroughly sanitized as far as touchy subjects (Boy Meets World on Disney) or the parents are complete nimnuls (pretty much everything else.)
It’s a nice launching pad for discussion, really, because the subject of drug use DOESN’T come up spontaneously - if you start a discussion about drugs with your kids, it’s usually a Heavy Serious We-Have-To-Talk moment. That particular ad affords me the luxury of passing through the TV room and off-handedly saying, “You think THAT mom is strict… wait and see what happens if I catch YOU with drugs.”
You don’t need it? Great. I don’t need it either. But I do know a few parents that do have problems telling their kids no about pot, staying out late, having sex and so forth.
I understand you don’t like hearing someone preach to the choir. But understand that there are a lot of people out there in the pews that do need to hear the sermon.
