For Those Who Require More Evidence...

[teleen_fiction]

That the facebook cartoon profile picture meme is causing more harm than good, I give you sheafrotherdon's post on the subject.  

Comments

[salomesensei.livejournal.com]

Wow, yeah. As a pink ribbon hater, I'm really aggravated that what I took to be a "Whee, let's put up cartoons from our childhood" meme is actually more of a mess than that. I think my instinct to delete my facebook account may be more right than wrong...

[teleens-journal.livejournal.com]

Eh, I rather link facebook for the people with whom I've connected, but I really hate all of the different 'causes' that get spread around there with no thought as to how those who are actually affected will be helped/harmed by it.

[mercury-pheonix.livejournal.com]

Nearly everyone on my Friend's List on Facebook have done this, so I put a quick post as to why I wasn't (to stop people coming down on me with the - BUT DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT THE CHILDREN??? crap). But still, I got some people I know very well saying that I was missing the point. I WAS going to take part, because it seemed like a fun thing to do - you know, everyone puts up a profile picture of a cartoon - but the minute they started making weighty statements about "making a difference", without actually asking the people they're meant to be "making a difference" for what they think, is the minute when I get squicky about it.

One of my friends actually said that it was important to do it because it was all about prevention. That if someone who may abuse a child sees all these photos of cartoon characters they will be transported back to their own childhood, remember what its like to be a child, and maybe wouldn't actually abuse a child at all. I was tempted not to even reply to that, but I did: if they're not dissuaded from abusing the child by the fact that the child is standing in front of them then why would a cartoon character be more effective? And, as has been rightly pointed out here, what about the abuse victims who will be transported back to their childhoods by seeing the pictures (if it trasports the abusers back, it will definitely support the victims back)?

I have not been a victim of abuse myself, but I have two parents who are teachers and I have voluteered in many schools - therefore I have come into contact with a lot of children who are or have been the victims of abuse. And this won't help them one jot.

Still - here's me being looked down upon for not taking part.

[teleens-journal.livejournal.com]

Still - here's me being looked down upon for not taking part.

Same here, sigh. Even so, I'm always going to take the side of the survivors over the do-gooders.