ONDCP Puts Hispanic Parents on Drug Alert ... by Villainizing Their Children
Coinciding with the (coincidental!) release of a CDC survey that found Hispanic teens more likely to use drugs and try suicide than black and white kids, the Office for National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) launched this really weird campaign.
The heading above the girl at left says, "I sell drugs during recess." And here's one where a sheepish-looking boy divulges, "Yesterday, I offered marijuana to your daughter."
The effort will appear in print, on TV and over the radio.
Paranoid parents aren't necessarily known for their capacity to communicate well with their children -- which is one of the real weapons against the so-called "war on drugs."
The campaign could also become ammunition for the actual playground sharks. I can hear it already: "Teacher, the prepubescent ESL kid is HIGH!"
Kids can be mean. They're even meaner when your parents are overprotective, your English is cursory and you look younger than you should. The last thing marginalized Hispanic kids need is a media buy depicting them as drug dealers. Ads focusing on marijuana abuse treatment would have been better.
This isn't the first time the ONDCP turned good intentions into bad propaganda.
Comments
I love how everyone - I mean everyone - talks about diversity, and how much they understnad and know the Hispanic market. But at the same time, we keep on seeing this type of stereotypes being portrayed, by the very same industry that takes pride on being Hispanic...
This sucks! Not your post. The current Hispanic market situation.
Reality is ugly: even cute, innocent looking kids can get sucked into the drug culture permeating the world our children are growing up in. What is the ONDCP to do if it wants to transmit this idea to parents of Hispanic youth? I'm a mother of six children of Hispanic-Asian descent, and if I were to see an ad of this type portraying a stereotypical "gangster" type (black or white), I could easily ignore it thinking that's neither my kid nor the kid mine hangs out with. This ad seems intended to warn parents that, unlike people, drugs are not racist nor classicist, anything goes and anyone can be a target or a weapon in this war. This PC mentality avoids the true issues in an attempt coddle everyone! Kudos to the ONDCP for being brave enough to launch an honest campaign.
I dont understand why we worry more about so called stereotypes than the safety of our children. Im glad someone is telling me what danger looks like and that this is a fact backed by research. As a 28 year old Latina, I dont care if drug dealers are or are not hispanic, I want to keep them away from the children in my family at all cost.
Yes, Carmen, but wouldn't it be better to take the research one step further? Only one...And by that, I mean trying to understand the reason(s) WHY latino kids are more likely to do it.
At this time, I think a much better campaign could've been done to EDUCATE, not only the Hispanic Community, but the "general" community/market. Shit, I'm not just saying to ignore the fact that latino kids sell weed, and don't tell anyone. NO! I'm just saying that there could be a better/different way to get the message across based on the reasons WHY THEY DO IT, rather than WHO THEY ARE....
This way, if the community understands the WHYS, everyone's more likely to help eliminate (try to) the problem...wouldn't that be the ideal/ultimate goal?
well screw this advertisment for referrin to hispanic
cuz i am
n the problem wont be solve like this...i think this was racist