Weighing in

A Post Falls woman wants city leaders to impose tighter billboard restrictions, saying the troubling themes explored in Idaho’s gritty anti-meth ads are too racy and disturbing for children. Some readers of The S-R’s Huckleberries Online blog pointed out that meth use among Idaho teens has dropped substantially in the past year, but others suggested that while the campaign’s goals are laudable it’s time to tone it down and use the publicity to encourage family discussions about drug abuse. Find the letter to city leaders, full reader debate and a picture of one of the billboards at www.spokesman.com/ blogs/hbo/2010/jun/16/.

Digger: God forbid your daughter see what hooking up with a loser and getting involved in meth could actually do! I think the Meth Project does a fine job of conveying their message. Keep up the great work!

Jen: The billboards used to bother me, too. And especially after my 10-year-old son said they bothered him so much that he asked me to take another way home. We talked about what the boards were about so he knew it had to do with drugs, but the pictures still bothered him. After thinking about it, I realized that that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. If those pictures from those boards help him stay away from drugs and maybe even help him influence others to do the same, they will do what they were meant to do. Drugs and what they do to people are ugly. It’s hard to look at, yes. But better on the billboards than on our kids.

Chip Jones: Jen shows what good parenting really means. Talk to your children, help them make good decisions. Her experience indicates why the billboards should stay.

Kamm: I think these billboards and TV commercials are a wake-up call for loved ones who worry about children and drugs and poor self image.

Lizard_People: You supporters of “shock and disturb” imagery have one idea of what might reduce meth, and those of us that don’t want to force our kids to look at graphic pictures have a different idea. The problem is, we can’t opt out. You are forcing my two-year-old daughter to look at prostitutes, and telling me I’m wrong for objecting. I’m probably paying for this out of tax dollars, to boot. … Just the same, I don’t allow my children to watch TV, and we always stand in the “family friendly” line at Fred Meyer so we don’t have to look at “Saw” DVD covers. I’ll be willing to bet that my children turn out much healthier than most.

Blogmistress: These images are disgusting. They are supposed to be. That being said, however, there is no substitute to talking to your kids.