American public service ads and propaganda are so useless. It really bothers me, because I think they could be a lot more effective than they are if they would just offer some more realistic and factual information. Here are a couple of examples:
Stayteen.org
I was excited when I first saw an ad for this organization, because I thought maybe they were on to something. Telling girls not to get pregnant because if they do then they lose out on the rest of their teens? It sounded like a very realistic message to me. Well, that’s sort of the message…except that the website does nothing but preach abstinence. As I paged through the site, I didn’t see anything about safe sex…just information about “waiting.” Useless. There is no information to prove that abstinence programs are decreasing the rate of teen sex…in fact it’s been steadily increasing for many years.
The Meth Project
This one has irritated me ever since this billboard sprung up near my house. This campaign uses increasingly disturbing images to try to scare kids into never trying methamphetamines. The fact is that these are not the typical effects or faces of a meth abuser – in fact this lipstick one is plain impossible because meth doesn’t rearrange your teeth. Even the American Dental Association has admitted that meth mostly contributes to tooth decay by making users less likely to brush their teeth, more likely to have a high sugar diet, and not by any directly corrosive action. (Wikepedia: Meth Mouth) That’s not what the ads infer, is it?
The reason why it bothers me so much is because this is why these campaigns fail. They fail because there is a large disconnect between the public service ads and what kids actually see occurring with their friends’ experiences with a drug and/or sex. So they instantly write off any communicated dangers as government trash propaganda (which it is) and they go ahead and try drugs/sex anyway.
For once I’d like to see an accurate public service ad. Tell people that they can more easily get HIV if they do meth, because sex is more extended and they are six times more likely to forget to use condoms. Or that it is so much more addictive than the other drugs that it isn’t a good recreational drug choice. Or that it may get you fired from your job because your sleeping schedule will be screwed up and you’ll never be able to get to work on time, and feel awful in the process. I don’t care what it is, just say something accurate.
But if you tell people meth is going to make you look like your face exploded, well…that’s right about when they stop listening because we all know people who do or have done meth, and that just isn’t what typically happens, is it?
The fact is that there are some drugs that are legitimately very risky, and many are unaware of those real dangers because they are disregarded in public service campaigns for more sensationalized images that mean nothing.
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