It’s time to “spring forward,” which basically means you’re sacrificing one hour of sleep for a few months of extra sunlight in the evening. It’s a pretty fair trade, that is unless you’re a farmer. Hopefully your morning didn’t start out rough, but if it did then we’ve got the cure for you blues: insanely good videos awaiting your enjoyment on our YouTube channel.
If all this excitement isn’t enough, it’s also time for “The Week In WHAT?!” Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Toddlers Reveal Incredible Foresight in Pregnancy Prevention Campaign
After spending two years and over $400,000, New York City recently launched its new teen pregnancy prevention campaign, which quickly drew the ire of various groups in the community including Planned Parenthood. Critics insist that the advertisements are merely reinforcing stereotypes and not providing any information to girls that might need assistance. The posters feature images of sad toddlers and slogans such as “I’m twice as likely not to graduate high school because you had me as a teen” and “Honestly Mom … chances are he won’t stay with you. What happens to me?” Um… do these kids seem wise beyond their years or what? All joking aside, do you think the campaign is on point or crossing a line?
When Your Going Problem Becomes a Growing Problem
You know when you have to go so badly it feels like you’re about to explode, but then you can’t find a public restroom anywhere in sight and run into the nearest local establishment instead? Minus the occasional feelings of guilt you might experience for not being an actual customer (or maybe that’s just me), usually all’s well that ends well. Not so for a woman in Tennessee who recently experienced a unique conclusion to her hunt for a bathroom. After ducking into a restaurant and using their facilities, an employee directed the woman’s attention to a sign stating that all non-customers would be charged five dollars for access to the bathroom. When the woman left without paying, the employee wrote down her license plate number, contacted the sheriff for an address and sent a handwritten note requesting the outstanding charge be paid in full. Someone sure was gunning for that “Employee of the Month” plaque!
Laughter Can Land You In Jail?
Since when is laughing a crime? Robert Schiavelli of Rockville Centre, New York received two separate tickets for “disturbing the peace” after one of his neighbors called the po-po complaining about the volume of Schiavelli’s laughter. Apparently, cackling can be quite costly on Long Island because he’s facing a total of $500 in fines – or the tickets could lead to 30 days in jail. NBD, right? The citations were the latest in a string of events between Schiavelli and his neighbors, who’ve allegedly been feuding for decades. So, if you’re on your neighbors bad side, you might want to send a muffin basket before watching the next episode of your fave comedy. Hey, it’s cheaper than the alternative!
Life Lessons Courtesy of Twitter
One student learned a valuable lesson the hard way: teachers use Twitter too. After he took out his anger towards the teacher in a tweet, one of the student’s fellow classmates revealed his own sentiments about the rant by snitching. When the teacher found out about it, he opted to shame the student by sharing the tweet with the entire class. In a twist of events, the story about the tweet-shaming went viral on Reddit. Talk about a teachable moment! No word on whether the snitch needed a stitch.
And there you have this week in “WHAT?!” Can’t wait to see what’s in store for humanity next!
The teen pregnancy campaign is problematic on a number of levels, not the least of which is the implication that the impact of early parenthood on the lives of the teen mothers themselves is immaterial; once again, we valorize the trope of the “sacrificial mother” while demonizing her choices and blaming her for the ills that her “poor choices” have inflicted on others- primarily her own offspring, secondarily the society that is implicitly “responsible” for the “care” of her children in her reduced ability to be an effective role-model and provider. This does nothing but re-affrim the stale stereotype that a woman’s most valuable contribution to society lies in her ability to birth and rear successful and productive (male) offspring. The problem of low-educational attainment rates for the children of teen moms has little to do with the mothers themselves, and much to do with the failure to provide adequate social supports and resources for those who find themselves parenting under challenged circumstances.
Being part of the teen pregnancy statistic (not as a mother) I think I have some say in this…I don’t really think it’s crossing the line – much. The sad toddler propaganda isn’t really needed, and I don’t think it’s a slag on mothers who ARE pregnant and have made the decision to raise their child. While I have nothing against teen pregnancy simply because someone is a teen, I do believe that something like this is doing a favor for young kids. There are a lot of good young parents out there but they are far and few in between. Many don’t realize that having a kid straightens up only a few; the rest more often than not can’t deal with being a parent and putting their life on hold for an infant who needs them. It’s a warning to kids who are at risk of going down that path, it’s to prevent them from limiting options in life.
Hmm, the teen pregnancy one is disturbing to me. I didn’t stay with my son’s father (I had him at 18) and ‘nothing’ happened to my son, he is now 14 and is happy, well looked after and hugely loved.
The rest are quite funny, but mad!