Posted on 02/21/2011 10:29:38 AM PST by Gena Bukin
Regardless of whether a judge or jury finds Evan Emory guilty of a sex offense for creating a lewd video with schoolchildren in the background, the case has highlighted a cultural divide between the so-called Millennial Generation and pretty much everyone else.
Many of the Millennials — mostly young adults without children — wonder what all the fuss is about. So Emory made a video with Ravenna elementary children in the background looking surprised and smiling a lot. They say since Emory sang a harmless “Lunch Lady Land” song to the children during his actual performance and subbed in lyrics with sexually graphic references afterward, before posting the video to YouTube, that no harm was done.
These Millennials see the video as a joke and comedy, and even if some admit the video was in bad taste, they believe no crime was committed. This kind of thing is on comedy shows and MTV all the time, they reason. And it’s certainly on YouTube, the social networking site that allows anyone to post a video of almost any kind for the entire world to see.
They are outraged that Emory, who was a good student himself at Ravenna and never got into any trouble, is facing a 20-year felony charge of manufacturing child sexually abusive material. They can’t fathom that Emory, if convicted, is facing the possibility of having to be on the sex offender registry the rest of his life when he didn’t actually “expose” the children to anything.
Then there is the opposite spectrum — those who are horrified that someone would find humor in using children as a backdrop for a sexually explicit song. Whether the children actually heard the lyrics or not is beside the point, they reason, because it was the children’s innocent faces that were shown smiling and giggling when Emory’s nasty words were heard by hundreds and perhaps thousands of people before the video was removed from YouTube.
The parents of the children on the video are especially horrified, and as a parent, I can’t blame them. It would make me sick to my stomach to see one of my children placed in a situation like that. Many of them think the charges fit the crime, though it’s pretty clear that a 20-year felony for something like this is way over the top.
Still, the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s office wants to make an example out of Emory so they went after the “big” charge. And Ravenna Superintendent John VanLoon probably echoed the sentiments of many folks when he said: “If you think that’s something funny, you really need to review and look at your personal values.”
Which brings up a bigger challenge in this age of technology. There was a time when you could limit the kind of garbage kids are exposed to — a time when TV programming didn’t allow even partial nudity and there weren’t hundreds of cable channels from which to choose, smart phones, the Internet and social media. Today there is no place to hide and despite the best efforts of parents, kids are influenced by all these contraptions they can access almost anywhere, anytime.
According to Wikipedia, the Millennials have been shaped by the rise of instant communication technologies and are “peer-oriented.” Reality TV, MTV, YouTube and the like have helped to desensitize teens and young adults to the difference between right and wrong.
Many young folks seek the instant gratification and star quality so prevalent in society today. And they seek it without considering the consequences.
Which, at least, might explain the cultural divide this case has highlighted — even if it doesn’t provide a good way to fix it.
Or behind the wheel of a car or around sharp objects.
you make no sense.
I got it. why’s that?
I’m going to bed. Night LJ.
And fair warning that FR OFFICIALLY supports the WOT and Bush Doctrine.
Statement by the founder of Free Republic
Goodnight.
Good night! I didn’t get much FR time today, will pingify tomorrow.
I think the best course is to ignore the idiot from now on, since I can’t physically put him in the corner with a dunce hat on as he deserves.
Yes, that statement was in 2004.
I agreed with him then, we all did. We didn’t want to hurt the sitting Republican President. But, now that we’re in much worse shape financially than before, and we aren’t talking about Bush, but a policy, which is now Obamas policy, we’re talking about changed circumstances. When the circumstances are changed, it’s just being smart to rethink the policies in light of the new situation.
What game are you talking about, the one where you can’t explain the difference between an occupation and a liberation?
By the way, please do. Because if you don’t explain the difference between “liberation” and “occupation”, I don’t see how Ron Paul could be called kooky for using different words than you. Basically, what you’re saying, unless you can explain differently, is that Ron Paul is kooky because he uses the word “occupy” instead of “liberate” and “occupation” instead of “liberation”. How those words are different exactly is unclear, but not using one of those words makes you kooky.
Note also that I haven’t said what my own foreign policy position is. It’s not about that. I’m just trying to determine what exactly makes that a kooky statement.
You could start at the top, and try again, because it seems awfully hard to tell the difference between occupying and liberating.
Leave pop culture behind and join the adult world.
Which is the best world outcome? The Bush Doctrine of free muslim Republics that hold elections or Muslim countries under sharia law?.
You aren't even worth debating as you have no idea what you're talking about. Keep your Boob Tube politics and pop culture mentality off of FR. They don't work.
I will not respond to you again.
Which is better?
Whichever costs us less. We’re broke now.
Fake Phone Calls: News or Not? (Society of Professional Journalists criticizes prank)
Was this other prank unethical, or was it just a victimless prank? I'd especially like to hear from those of you who defended this kiddie porn prank. Those of you who think the teacher and the children were not victimized, do you think the governor and his friend who was impersonated were victimized? Was the prank pulled on the governor a matter of freedom of speech and artistic expression?
If you were zotted over your defense of child pornography, make sure and identify yourself in your comments so we'll know who you were before. I doubt we'd figure it out otherwise, because I strongly suspect that the people who defended this prank will not be defending that one.
Your link didn’t work but I did find the correct article.
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Sorry, the requested document does not exist on this server.
Fake Phone Calls: News or Not? (Society of Professional Journalists criticizes prank)
Was this other prank unethical, or was it just a victimless prank? I'd especially like to hear from those of you who defended this kiddie porn prank. Those of you who think the teacher and the children were not victimized, do you think the governor and his friend who was impersonated were victimized? Was the prank pulled on the governor a matter of freedom of speech and artistic expression?
If you were zotted over your defense of child pornography, make sure and identify yourself in your comments so we'll know who you were before. I doubt we'd figure it out otherwise, because I strongly suspect that the people who defended this prank will not be defending that one.
Thanks. I guess I should have included the URL in the link. LOL
ROLOL!!!!
ROTFLOL!!!
...as they chuckle, wink, and nod.
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