It wasn't the first time this topic of conversation arose. Tonight, Matt and I debated the local SleepCountryUSA commercials. And I say "debated" only because I tried really hard to play devil's advocate, but the truth is that I feel just as he does.
These commercials make me cringe.
You've probably heard them. They often use the line "Not everyone can be a foster parent, but everyone can help a foster child." My most-recently least favorite commercial talks about donating a pair of pajamas being like giving a child a "warm hug".
My discomfort with these commercials has far less to do with their efforts (I like helping foster kids, too) and much more to do with their methods. These tag lines inspire guilt, and guilt is a crappy motivator.
The part of me that cares about what other people think of me also hates the way these commercials make it sound like foster parents aren't providing for foster kids. Granted, there is a small percentage of kids who don't get placed with foster parents (about 9% of foster kids are in institutions, 6% in group homes, and 1% in supervised independent living), and I won't argue that these kids need all the help we can muster. But foster parents already get a bad rap for the occasional horror story that ends up in the newspaper. (And in case you weren't aware, those situations really are few and far between. Department of Child & Family Services does an excellent job of monitoring their foster families and overseeing the wellbeing of kids in their care.) So these commercials make it sound like neglected kids get put into foster care where they continue to be neglected. And for the vast majority of foster kids, that is just not the case. So I don't like the insinuations of these commercials.
Am I saying don't donate? No. Feel free.
Am I saying SleepCountry, or their efforts to help kids, is bad? Not at all.
Do I sound totally crotchety for feeling this way? Maybe. And I think I'm okay with that.
My point is this: if you're going to donate your time or money to a cause, don't let it be driven by commercials that inspire guilt. Give your resources to something you're passionate about. You'll do a greater good.
We live in an incredibly rich country. Even our poor are rich, compared to the rest of the world. And instead of dealing with our problems, Americans like to throw money at them and hope they'll go away. So let's not talk about all those problems that lead families to need the help of the Children's Administration, that places kids in foster care. Let's just give "warm hugs" to those kids. (Please detect my sarcasm.)
This is just our opinion. I'll even give you the grain of salt to go with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment