...and trying really hard to sound less stupid than her competitors...
...A task which seems to get easier with every passing year...
Okay, look. This is
The Escapist. If this topic goes on for another twenty pages, I'd still be surprised if one post in a hundred expresses support for Ms. Cameron's views. On one hand, she has a point. There's a lot of childhood obesity in America, and it
would be a good thing if kids, especially young kids, spent a little more time outside playing with one another and a little less time playing video games while their harried parents try to get a few things done.
On the other hand, she states this really, really badly. Which is perhaps understandable given the sound-bite nature of these things, but not excusable. What is
needed is more balance in modern life in general. Yes, most of us should be getting more physical activity. We also shouldn't be working schedules that make us miserable, encourage bad eating habits, hinder productivity, prevent us from seeing our families (and often make us strained and exhausted when we do), and don't account for illness. It would also be nice if most of us lived in benign, happy places where kids play safely in the streets under the benevolent eye of some "Aunt Rita", and not in places where we worry about bad drivers, drug dealers, pedophiles, bullies, and the like. It would be nice if everyone could walk to a safe, well-maintained park.
An awful lot of people don't live in idyllic conditions. And I don't see Ms. Cameron advocating for more family-friendly work and leave laws, or more funds allocated to public parks and play spaces, or easier access to child care, or relocating all those less lucky than she to the mysterious sepia-colored wonderland where she apparently grew up.
So if "Take away the TV, take away the video games, set some standards for our children!" is poorly phrased and unfortunate shorthand for what might be ideas that might have some merit, here's my poorly phrased and unfortunate shorthand response: "Bite me, you vacuous bimbo."
