You might remember that this year I've
partnered with Responsibility.org as one of their #TalkEarly
bloggers. It's been a really good partnership for me, because I'm
learning a lot about myself. Last month I took a closer look at mydrinking habits. This month I'm re-examining my funny bone with their #RefreshYourFunny campaign.
You know that I'm a sarcastic person.
In fact, I believe sarcasm is a foreign language and I'm pretty sure
I'm fluent in it. I love to post quips and I haven't met a snarky
e-card or meme that I didn't want to share immediately. The thing
about humor is that there is always a hint of truth in there. When I
joke that I'm not wearing pants while I'm writing this, there is a
very strong possibility that that quip is true. When I pose for a picture with
Grumpy Cat and say he is my spirit animal you know that deep down that is my most solemn
wish and prayer. However, when I post an e-card that says “All she
wanted for Mother's Day was to be shit balls drunk” of course I
don't MEAN that, but I post it because I think it's funny. But
through my partnership with Responsiblity.org and the #RefreshYourFunny campaign, what I've come to
realize is that it's all fun and games until your kids see this
stuff, because they don't speak sarcasm as fluently as we do.
My blog and Facebook pages are not a
place I let Gomer and Adolpha see. They know I write “adult
content” (which always sounds dirtier than it really is) and that
they're not allowed to read what I post. However, they're older now
and I can't police them all the time like I could when they were
toddlers. They have Google and they know how to use it better than I
do. I'm sure they've peeked at my blog and Facebook pages a few
times. Hopefully they peeked on the days I was being kick ass and
sticking up for someone, but with my luck they peeked on the day I wore
underwear on my head. While neither of those are appropriate for my
kids right now, I'd still prefer they see those posts than ones where
I hope they buy me a bottle of wine for Mother's Day, because they are the reason I drink. I want my kids to
understand that there's nothing wrong with responsible drinking, but
it's not responsible to make light of anyone who has a problem and that's what I'm doing when I
share those kinds of memes.
I've taken a challenge from
Responsibility.org to refrain from posting booze-related memes for the entire
month of May. I know what you're thinking: May is a long month, Jen. I know!!! At first I was worried I'd fail, but then I
realized, they didn't say anything about inappropriate poop jokes!
Will you take the #refreshyourfunny challenge and refrain from sharing memes about alcohol in May? Tweet me (@Throat_Punch) your funny non-alcoholic memes using the hashtag #RefreshYourFunny.
You can watch this short video to see the impact these memes might have on our kids.
You can watch this short video to see the impact these memes might have on our kids.
As a member of the #TalkEarly blogger team, this post is part of a campaign sponsored by Responsibility.org. All opinions are always my own.
3 comments:
As a recovering alcoholic I was already shying away from sharing the drinking jokes. Didn't think the message was healthy.
My daughter is getting sneakier and sneakier about reading my blog also. The policing is getting tougher and tougher, and sarcasm is a separate language!
Drinking jokes are funny, for ADULTS who do not have a drinking problem. The message delivered in this video is confusing and actually is mixing two very different topics - how we discuss alcohol with kids and what we post online about alcohol.
Does someone REALLY think that if I post an ecard on my timeline saying my kids cause me to drink that I mean that? If you do believe that, you definitely don't get sarcasm and need to move along.
Little children should not have access to their parent's FB or any other online profile, unless it is something set up specifically for use by their family. Older kids who may have access should be mature enough to get the joke, but if they don't, then a simple conversation will clear that up. I just don't see how avoiding the posting of alcohol-themed messages online for any length of time helps. Parents should have age-appropriate conversations with their kids about alcohol, whether it is kept in the home or not, so kids can develop a healthy attitude about alcohol, and also understand that they can come to their parents with questions.
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