Who is to blame when mass media (television, radio, hardcopy, internet) floods the viewing/listening public with fake news? Should we point an accusatory finger at the reporters who, knowingly or not, use scare tactics to up their ratings? Should we look to the companies/institutions releasing the false information and question why… what is to be gained? Or… do we take what we hear at face value and assume it is true? If we are guilty of not using our brains to confirm the accuracy of what we read and hear, who is responsible when dire consequences are the result?
As a society, we are hungry for information. We are inundated with truth and lies every day. Sadly, many people are gullible and, much like the children led away by the Pied Piper (never to be seen again), they march to the beat of someone else’s drum. If there is a lesson to be learned from this fairy tale, it is to think rationally before acting upon anything.
Below are a few examples of harmful misinformation:
A few years back, two medical reports on Fox 29 WFLX sent me running to my computer. The first report had to do with increased obesity in children born through caesarean delivery. The second focused on the danger the new colorful cleaning “pods” offered by certain manufacturers (Tide) presented for children.
As to the first report, Brazilian researchers claimed to have found a connection between overweight babies and C-sections. The consensus was that vaginal births provided healthy bacteria, which helped to avoid weight gain in later life. Let us look at the criteria used to reach that conclusion.
Initial findings were based on interviews with individuals born by caesarian section. The oldest person surveyed was age 23. Twenty three is not “in later life.” Twenty three is a body still under construction.
Scientists found a 9% to 16% higher likelihood of obesity in c-section births compared to 7% to 10% with vaginal births. When you realize how shortsighted they were in limiting the age range of their subjects, it comes as no surprise that the data they relied on never accounted for life circumstances such as heredity, weight at birth, education, income and bad habits like smoking and alcohol consumption. Once those factors were taken into consideration, the research proved to be completely false.
Unfortunately, the new evidence was not reported although it was readily available. As a result women who heard the broadcast and who were candidates for a caesarean delivery had something else to worry about… unnecessarily. It is frightening to think that women facing birthing decisions would make choices based on mendacious information and thereby put their own lives and that of their babies at risk.
On to the second story which spotlighted the lure of brightly packaged cleaning products and their danger to children. As backup to the television report, a column written by Doctors Michael Rolzen and Mehmet Oz appeared in the Palm Beach Post. Both stories perpetrated the myth that manufacturers are responsible for the safety of children. Doctors Rolzen and Oz noted that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) was looking into creating manufacturing standards that will protect children.
A 2001 UCLA report stated that unintentional accidents were the leading cause of death in children over the age of one. In 2021, the CDC released this statement: More than 7,000 children and teens age 0-19 died because of unintentional injuries in 2019. That is about 20 deaths each day. Leading causes of child unintentional injury include motor vehicle crashes, suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires, and falls. Child injury is often preventable.
Although it is a commonly held belief that accidents just happen, that is not true. The UCLA report noted that most injuries are not random and unavoidable. They are the result of choices made by parents and guardians. For example, parents make choices about whether to place containers of hazardous materials where children can reach them, i.e. Tide pods.
The purpose of creative marketing is to sell. The obligation of parents is now and always has been to protect their offspring. The two agendas are not mutually exclusive. Dangerous chemicals need to be kept securely away from small children whether they are packaged in brightly colored wrapping or titanium.
There are as many companies manufacturing cabinet locks as there are laundry and dishwashing detergents. A report issued by the State Farm Insurance Company in 2011 recommended the use of the aforementioned locks for households with small children. Said locks can help to keep our children both thinner and safer and serve to lower statistics on injuries and death.
Donna Carbone is the Executive Director/Playwright in Residence at the Palm Beach Institute for the Entertainment Arts. Please visit PBIEA at: pbinstituteforentertainmentarts.com