It Takes Balls

If you can’t stand up to a little kid, then don’t have children. According to this BBC article (via Boing Boing), some parents in the UK think it’s not enough to stop cartoon characters from selling smokes to kids; they want cartoon characters to stop selling sugary cereals, too. Why?

Because it makes it hard to say “no” to the kid.

Come on. My kid pitches a fit all the time when he wants something he can’t have. And you know what? I don’t care. I’m the adult, and it’s up to me to decide what he can and can’t have until such time he can figure it out for himself. I can’t stand it when parents say “I can’t control him” as an excuse for their kid’s shitty behavior, because it’s only going to get worse.

The cereal is marketed for kids. I may get a craving for Captain Crunch from time to time, but obviously I’m not the key demographic. What are the manufacturers supposed to put on the box? Skulls and crossbones? Or should we go back to the ’80’s, when Jewel had those plain white boxes with the military stencil lettering and the green and black stripes (and there would always be at least one full aisle of stark shit like that)?

Suck it up, people. You don’t want your kid to eat it, you don’t buy it. You don’t want your kid watching something, you change the channel. Be the goddamn parent. Don’t ask the government to do it for you.