Its The Parents Fault

I would say in the past 6 months I have seen an increasing number of things in the news about parents and their outrage for McDonalds. First, I think that they are being singled out. Really if you look at all fast food and even some sit down type restaurants, then McDonalds really isnt even the worst of them.

So some months ago Happy Meals were banned in San Francisco. Ok well they werent completely banned but there were a number of restrictions placed on meals that come with toys. So now fruit and/or vegies have to be included. Then I read a few weeks ago that there is a petition with 500+ signatures that is trying to ban Ronald McDonald from advertisements as well as being featured in the restaurants. All this is to effectively diminish McDonalds ability to market their products to kids. These parents and organizations are trying to curb the every skyrocketing child obesity that is taking over the US.

I find this all to be quite absurd. I have rather fond memories of having my birthday parties at McDonalds when I was younger, where Ronald himself would make an appearance. Why should kids be completely deprived of such an experience? I mean if trends like this continue then who would the Ronald McDonald house representative be? Just another corporate suit.

Basically it seems to me that Parents are not doing their job. Its the parents job to raise their kids and if they cant say no to fast food, hours of video games or time spent in front of the computer, then clearly they are to blame. I grew up with fast food however it was a treat. It wasnt something I could simply demand from my parents. I also played a number of sports growing up and was always outside riding around on my bike or playing other activities with friends. It seems like the era of building forts or playing kickball with the neighborhood kids is slowly diminishing. Of course its fun to sit with friends and play video games, but its the job of the parents to monitor and regulate that kind of activity.

There were times when I was growing up that I had to do a certain amount of pushups or sit ups so I could watch tv or play nintendo. On nice sunny weekend days I would pretty much be banned from the house and be sent outside to enjoy the good weather. Its the little things like this that can help kids stay in better shape. Saying no to fast food, candy, etc also helps. Parents should stop laying blame and take the responsibility of raising their kids.