Sunday, January 11, 2004

Public Service Messages

This NY Times article talks about a new government public service campaign targeting various problems facing today's teen. Apparently a big part of the new program is this webpage which arms kids with facts and problems signs and the like.

Being a cynical and generally mean person, I clicked over there ready to laugh at the newest hokey. But actually after looking around, the site seems pretty reasonable and thoughtful. For example, under alcoholism I was expecting a test looking something like:

1) Have you ever had a alcoholic drink?
2) Have you ever thought about having an alcoholic drink?
3) Have you ever wished you were older to so you get buy drinks?
- - If you answered "yes" or "maybe" to one of these questions, then you are an alcoholic. - -

But instead the information seems reasonable, and actually appropriate for today's teen (whatever that means -- I keep forgetting that I'm not today's teen anymore). I guess in a world where the government is going to spend money one way or the other, this seems like an important problem and a (at least) not laughable attempt to address it.

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