AnacharsisIV t1_j9k1de7 wrote
If anything we should put this up in times square so kids can watch it and know exactly what they get when they subway surf.
I used to want to touch the burners of my stove as a child until my dad let me. I got a burn on my finger, and after that I didn't touch the goddamn stove.
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9kq9u2 wrote
Does that type of reinforcement work with kids?
I remember like 20 years ago those "Scared Straight" style PSAs were really popular but their effectiveness at deterring kids from being shitheads was underwhelming, to say the least.
AnacharsisIV t1_j9kwkfo wrote
I mean, I haven't touched a stove since then.
Smart kids who know cause and effect won't surf on a subway car. Dumb ones who don't understand that do us a favor and absolve society of the burden of taking care of them and fixing their stupid decisions by decapitating themselves before they do more harm. Seems like a win win.
habattack00 t1_j9kzpww wrote
>Dumb ones who don’t understand that do us a favor and absolve society of the burden of taking care of them and fixing their stupid decisions by decapitating themselves before they do more harm. Seems like a win win.
Insane take. ‘Just kill off the dumb kids, am I right?’ Problem is that all kids are dumb. The right way of doing this is trying to keep them from subway surfing at all costs, not advertise it for some social ‘survival of the fittest’ bullshit.
AnacharsisIV t1_j9l0xpw wrote
>‘Just kill off the dumb kids, am I right?’
Who said I (or we) are doing any killing? Let the kids kill themselves.
> Problem is that all kids are dumb.
How many people do you know that were so dumb they got pancaked by a subway train of their own volition? Kids may be impulsive, but it takes a special level of ignorance to do something like that and assume you'll come out fine.
habattack00 t1_j9l3ym2 wrote
Except kids don’t willingly get killed out of their own volition. They do it because they think it’s fun and don’t understand the risks they’re taking. Same with eating tide pods because they saw it online, same with wanting McDonald’s each and every day because it tastes good, same with trying out heroin because their friends are trying it.
And before you say ‘well that’s why we show them videos of other kids getting decapitated so that they know what could happen’, evidence doesn’t mean shit. Kids in NYC see cracked up homeless on the streets every day, and that doesn’t keep them from trying out crack out of curiosity when their friends offers it. Hell, most adults have seen images of crippled lungs after years of smoking, but people still smoke. The fact of the matter is that even when presented when evidence of objectively bad decisions, people will still do them.
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9lcqbl wrote
>The fact of the matter is that even when presented when evidence of objectively bad decisions, people will still do them.
Yup.
The NYT story from yesterday is a perfect example of this.
The story details how a kid went to a memorial for a friend who died subway surfing, yet he continues to subway surf himself.
If his own buddy dying didn't deter him from subway surfing for internet clout, no amount of fear-mongering PSAs will do it, either.
I have no clue what the solution is, though getting these videos banned is a start.
It is crazy to me that the MTA didn't get this done a long time ago, given the one video last June of the kids doing it on the J-Train went really viral.
AnacharsisIV t1_j9l6dg5 wrote
> Hell, most adults have seen images of crippled lungs after years of smoking, but people still smoke.
Is that a really good argument when the rate of Americans who smoke has dropped so precipitously in living memory? I don't have the numbers on hand but I wouldn't be surprised if the same applies to crack cocaine. Or just any kind of cocaine, really; that's not a drug I think most kids are trying nor would be able to afford.
RyzinEnagy t1_j9v2gbm wrote
With the train surfing and the hot stove, getting hurt is a direct effect of those stunts and is effective with kids.
The scared straight routines bring in some navy seal cosplayer after the fact to try to intimidate the kids into behaving...that doesn't work.
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