I hope this helps the child obesity issues.

[Catlady711]

I don't go to the mat on too many issues, but this one requires it of me.

Parents are to blame huh ????
You should get a job with an advertising company, maybe they will greet you with open arms.
Perhaps maybe you could get a soapbox set up down and the park

I'd also get a megaphone if I thought people could hear me over their cell phones and Ipods stuck in their ears.

Advertising companys wouldn't want me, I think they waste ALOT of money trying to get kids to run their parents and con the rest of the world into thinking they care. They're like politicians only they have a snappy jingle.

preach to people about the advantages of one parent stays home to nurture the children properly (never mind about about food....sorry honey, we can't afford it this week !!!)
You my dear, are living in the past !!!!!

I was raised by a SINGLE MOM who worked many jobs she hated just to keep our heads above water. For a VERY SHORT time she was forced on ADC when she lost her job when the plant closed and once waited in line OVERNIGHT sleeping on the sidewalk with a whole line of other people to put a job application. She had a pinto that had several colors of primer on it and the muffler was wired up with pipe cleaners because mom couldn't afford any other vehicle. My dad was an absent father who did not pay child support. Grandma & Grandpa babysitted me often for mom (they did NOT raise me like so many kids are done with today), also mom had several close friends that babysat for her also and all of them watched me just about the same as if she would have been there herself. Mom frequently worked oddball shifts just so she could spend more of her time being with me rather than have me be a 'latchkey' kid or being home alone unsupervised.

I was a healthy child, fed healthy but certainly by no means overfed nor did we actually go hungry either. We never lived with rats or cockroaches and we had heat in the winter and a single box fan in the summer. We moved several times when rent got raised so mom could still afford to pay the bills, even if it meant changing schools twice.

Perhaps you should be considering the problems of this day and age....the mass advertising, the cheaper imports, the peer pressure on children in schools to have the latest Ipod (and if you don't have it, you're not cool), the fact that parents have to both work to support a family adequately.

It must be nice that some families HAVE two parents.

When I was in school all the 'cool' kids had a tv's and phones in their rooms, a stereo of their own, and Jordache jeans. Yes I longed to be like the 'cool' kids but when I'd ask mom for those things she firmly explained that she couldn't afford them, no we weren't getting them, and that in the grand scheme of things those items didn't mean squat, they were just "things" and if people only liked you because of the 'stuff' you had then they weren't your friends.

We drank powdered milk, couldn't afford pop/cable/or vcr. We had one lone radio in the house my mom got when she got married (no stereo's here), one lone tv (given to us) and our clothes were made by my grandmother because we couldn't afford much for store bought clothing. Most of our furniture was given to us second hand.

On mom's few days off she spent time with me on homework (she insisted I never get below a C average ever), we went for walks, bike rides, went to parks, talked, and went to the library (cheap or free forms of entertainment that foster a solid relationship). She spent time with me EVERY day after work (even if it meant she lost some sleep) to talk with me and do stuff with me. Many times she did without new shoes or dental work so she could provide those to me.

So don't start preaching to me the importance of ipods and 'cool' stuff. They are optional NOT a necessity and the sooner people realize this the better off the world will be!

Gone are the days when mom stayed at home and gave the kids cookies and milk after school.....finito old mate !!!!!

Stuff like that only existed on Leave It To Beaver, get real. NONE of the kids I went to school with had parents that could afford to have a stay at home mom, probably because both parents had to work to buy those stupid Jordache jeans huh?

Times have changed, advertising and sales have become smarter and smarter, they get into your home no matter WHAT you do !!!!!! On TV, on the computer, on magazines, on the voices of peers, newspapers, on every product that comes in your door.

Yeah so if the family has so much money for a computer and magazines why the beef about "sorry no money for food?"

It's still the parents job to say NO regardless of their peers and ads. And it's the parents job to know who the friends are, what kinds of messages the kids are exposed to, and to TALK to their kids about what they may encounter in the world and why the parent believes certain things are in the best interests of the child and STICK with it! My mom managed that, not bad for a single mom huh?

No, you cannot blame people 97%, that is a crazy opinion. Even with the pressures on people in this day and age, most parents are doing absolutely the best they can. And in MY opinion, we should be doing something about the external influences.
Wom

When I see people in my neighborhood (and no I don't live in the projects or anything like that) ALLOWING in full parental view the following things....(and these are only a handfull of TONS of similar type things)

Playing basket ball in the middle of a busy street daily (not moving for traffic either)

Shooting a BB gun at the siding on their own house

A 6 year old bare handedly ripping one of my shrubs in half

A 10 year old boy peeing on the sidewalk in broad daylight (more than one occasion)

Kids ages 5-17 using language that would make a sailor blush, and loud enough you can hear it across the street on a daily basis.

7 year old kids being told to 'keep an eye on the baby' that is sitting on the edge of a pool while the parent goes inside for another beer.

Two teenagers SKATEBOARDING on the roof of their house!

And THESE kids are our FUTURE, no wonder the world is so out of whack these days!

These are just a tiny portion of the things I see on a day to day basis that I NEVER saw when I was growing up and parents kept better tabs on their kids rather than trying to be their friends or trying to buy them so much stuff out of guilty feelings of inadequacy. As a general rule then parents weren't too lazy or too wrapped up in their computers/ipods/video games to take the time it does to RAISE their kids!

I didn't intend this to be an arguement, I simply was stating my opinion that media does not raise the kids, and I think too many people like to place blame with anyone but themselves 97% of the time. My opinion may not be popular, and you may not like it, but it wasn't necessary to get ornery about it when you don't even know how I was raised!

Kinda goes back to the old line "the music/tv/video game" made me do it, I'm not at fault, we should sue" mentality.

I wouldn't be surprised if you deleted this thread because parents can and should have more control over their kids regardless of what the media has to offer! If that be the case then fine, it wasn't my intention to make enemies nor to get into an argument. I was stating my opinion which in the begining you said I had some valid points to, until it apparently hit too close to home.