Never Shake Your Baby
Waiting for the bus this morning, which by itself is an exercise in behavioral science, I noticed an advertisement on the side of a passing bus. "Take care of your baby", announced the headline. Followed by, "Never shake your baby."
Never shake your baby? What?
Underneath the headlines, the reader was directed to call 311 (New York's information and non-emergency number) for more information and to ask for the brochure. Brochure! Indeed, there is a Never Shake Baby brochure, compliments of the New York City government.
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A baby is the greatest gift of all. Yet, some parents, siblings, or caretakers who would not consider hitting a baby, think that shaking a baby is okay. This is WRONG! |
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hhc/html/community/shakenbaby.shtml
Am I missing something? Do people really need to be told this? How much money is this campaign costing the taxpayer?
Is New York using this as a disclaimer, so when they drag people in on abuse charges, the defendant can't claim they weren't aware of the harming effects of violently shaking your baby?
I fear the likely answer is that some people are trying to justify their existence. Justify their salaries by creating these types of social services. In the meantime, I'll be waiting for the next ad: Don't Forget to Feed Your Baby.