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There’s a lot to love about living in Utah; the incredible landscapes that offer endless hiking and camping opportunities, some of the best skiing in the world on what is often called “the greatest snow on earth, and the friendly and gregarious people with their equally friendly and gregarious children. But - ah - herein lies the rub, taking care of the little kindern. Me thinks there’s a bug in the ointment...and it’s buzzing louder than usual around the Deseret's capitol building.
I have been watching in utter amazement this year as our head-strong Utah State legislators have been bulling their way through our statutes and laws with added vigor. I expect a certain amount of this to happen each each year and anticipate several “message bills” - the proverbial“middle finger” to the federal government (“We hate the U.N., Leave our wilderness alone, etc.). But this year, I am shocked at the effect this unchecked one-sided bravado is having on our most valuable asset - our Utah kids.
Follow this logic if you can: They have voted away a law mandating toddlers and young children sit in a safety-proven booster seat because it’s inconvenient and because “so few parents are following it anyway.” AND...the premise used to defeat it - government intrusion on our personal freedoms. If there was some evidence that booster seats did NOT make kids safer, I can understand the argument, but this law change was simply made because it wasn’t convenient for mommy and daddy.
Now - add to this decision a proposal our dubious state Senator Buttar’s is trying to make - that we do away with 12th grade and make 11th grade optional and you’ll start seeing the reason for my rising blood pressure. Also voted down was the banning of selling junk food in school vending machines. So - if we don’t kill them in booster seat-less cars, we’ll just fatten ‘em up in grade school and hasten them on their way to diabetes.
It’s ironic really - a state that touts children as its most prized asset is dead last in education spending per pupil, relaxes a booster-seat law which is proven to protect them, refuses to remove fatty and sugar-laden junk food in schools, and is hoping to subtract 1-2 years of schooling from their education.
I guess we’re great at making our children - it’s just the taking care of them part that we don’t do so well.
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5 comments:
I've been a lurker on your blog for about a year now, and I think this is my first comment.
I couldn't agree more! Not only does this booster seat legislation endanger our children, it would be a pain to enforce. For a legislature that claims to want less government interference in our lives, this additional provision to the child safety laws just adds complications to an otherwise really simple law. A law that was made beautifully simple a few years ago when it became mandatory for all children under 8 to be in a booster.
Hopefully the legislature will hear the voice of the people this time, and do what's best for Utah and our children.
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.............................................
Dear 健康保寶 - these words are said with as much "sugar" as I could add. Fact is, when I'm passionate about something I call it "like it is" or at least how I see it. It's not personal, except to the children who are affected by a law change like this. I stand by what I said.
Kurt, you SKI with your baby on your back and you worry about booster seats? That is INCONSISTENT behavior. One unfortunate fall and you squish the baby. You might as well be Britney Spears with a kid on her lap while driving. You are just a liberal who hates personal freedom, plain and simple.
So, Kurt, I'm well over a year late responding to your post, but why not? Speaking as a "moderate conservative" I don't see any way anyone can argue with your points, regardless of political/moral affiliations. I also couldn't disagree more with the previous comment. In fact, I'd ask the previous poster - If you are opposed to issues such as gay-marriage, are you not simply a conservative who hates personal freedom? If anything, Kurt's passion for children's safety makes far more sense. At least in his argument, LIVES are at risk.
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