I see elements in the Catholic blogosphere are blaming the president for the parent-kid kissing fiasco at the Minnesota high school. It reminds me of other dimwitted ideas that pass for high school activities.
About ten years ago, a death was staged at a local high school in a town I lived in. A popular student was missing from school for two days after he presumably “died” in a drunk-driving accident. A memorial service was staged at the high school gym. All this about a week before prom. The kid “rose” from the dead, coming out of his casket. The administration’s excuse? Maybe someone will be saved.
Well, sure. And maybe someone else will die because they know that their parents, teachers, administration, and even their Lutheran pastor can’t be trusted to tell the truth, and otherwise good advice will be disregarded because of one cry-wolf in 2002.
Dumb ideas always have consequences. The whole world can have the best intentions, but some poor sap is still going to trip on that banana peel.
In the case of Minnesota’s Rosemount High School, I’m sure that several million YouTube viewers will laugh. Instead of an educational institution that exemplifies academic achievement, leadership, or even athletic success, RHS will be synonymous with crass, vulgar, and creepy. Who could blame opposing crowds from holding up banners with lips?
It’s more entertaining to see conservative bloggers and their commentariats blame President Obama, public schools, and abortion for this stunt. (Funny, but I don’t see the same things get blamed for misbehaving bishops.) The things people will do to make their outrage go down more smoothly.
19 December 2011 at 8:02 pm
I fall somewhere in between a mere shrug and indignant outrage at this. Yes, it’s awful, but it’s not uncommon. From what I understand, this particular prank is usually performed either by (a) having students blindfolded, kissed by another student, and then that other student is replaced by a parent before the blindfold comes off, or by (b) having the students stand face to face with a member of the opposite sex while unblindfolded, then blindfolded and kissed (MUCH less enthusiastically than these parents kissed their kids) by their moms or dads.
It’s a pretty stupid prank for this day and age, no matter how it’s played, IMO. This particular school district just happened to be collectively dumber than average and got it all wrong all the way.
That said, the behavior of certain parents in the video is way creepy, especially the fathers who locked lips for more than the nanosecond it takes to merely peck someone upon the cheek or lips, and MOST especially that super-creepy mom who grabbed her son’s hand and stuck it on her butt.