NYC shames teen parents to battle unplanned pregnancy

It seems that scaring and shaming people just won't go out of style in social marketing, no matter how much research proves it's ineffective.

These ads are from NYC's Human Resources Administration, and they feature "with hard-hitting facts about the money and time costs of parenting, and the negative consequences of having a child before you are ready".

Think Progress points out that New York's mandatory comprehensive sex ed curriculum, as well as better teen access to contraception, have seen the teen pregnancy rate drop by 27 percent over the past decade. But they compare this campaign to abstinence-only education, "a misguided approach to sexual education that teaches adolescents to be ashamed of their bodies, rather than equipping young people with the tools they need to safeguard their health" and expect that the campaign by itself will be no more effective.

But worse, the negativity heaped on kids born to teen moms is unconscionable. Just because the statistics are there, doesn't mean you have to be so insensitive to real children and their parents.

This one, however, has the right positive message (in the headline, at least):

Why couldn't the whole campaign have taken this route?

Are t-shirts protected speech?

The shirt in question is pretty hardcore. Too hardcore for American Airlines, who booted an unnamed passenger off a connecting flight for wearing it, according to Think Progress.

Interestingly, the post points out, the phrase was coined by an actual Senator, Oklahoma District 11 State Senator Judy Eason McIntyre, who Jezebel says showed up with it at an Oklahoma rally against the (since-struck down) "Personhood bill".

Via Jez

And that raises interesting questions about the evolution of everyday language. On its own, I'm not surprised a shirt that said "fuck" in big letters rattled the staff at American Airlines. They're scared of fretful parents causing a fuckstorm of bad press.

But when a democratically elected Senator has used the same words in a political statement, does the "fuck" become part of a protected right to free expression? If the dreaded F-bomb is now so commonplace in the conversation of educated and mature people, can we really claim a right to protect our children from it?

Things are getting passionate down there, while the election heats up. I expect to see and hear many more fucks to come.

You can read the original (second-hand) story at RH Reality Check.