PSA Week: How to Say No

Hey kids I am back and welcome to Day 4 of PSA Week.  We sure have covered a lot of topics stemming mostly from ignorance so why not have something supercilious crammed down our throats as the adult “get real” with the youngsters?   I am sure if we follow these helpful hints and tips they will enrich our lives and fulfill our hopes and dreams.   Or it will be incredibly Norman Rockwell and I will see some folks whiter than most vampires from Twilight and just about as hip too.  So grab your poodle skirts, have Mom sew on that letter for your jacket and do gosh darn well at debate.  This is How to Say No.

Just say no to plaid, kids.

“How to say no, that’s tricky one to spoiler, but with practice and confidence you can push on ahead.”

Those happenin’ cats from Coronet Instructional Films are at it again babies and don’t you forget it.   Why, these are the fine people that brought us such illustrious titles like: Joan Avoids a Cold, Good Table Manners, Dating: Do’s and Don’ts and my personal favorite, Communism.   Most of these educational shorts try to give ideas or hints how to better behave in polite society, fend off booze and drugs or just be a good little Capitalist.   Occasionally with this film as an example, they did offer some advice but it was all in the delivery that the message is going to be sneered at.  We have a gathering of kids (All white, of course) that deal with peer pressure from being one of the ball players, the boy looking for second base and (Gasp!) smoking. 

 

No Johnny, not a hickey!

Such events will occur in a teenager’s life but the open debate format seems a bit hokey in this light.   The message is being able to say no in any situation that makes you feel uncomfortable and not to your liking.  That importance we can take away from this short is the message is clear but I was thinking some self-defense for girls, maybe show the boys to be more respectful to the girls via sensitivity talks and frankly it felt awkward to watch.  I found myself making too many jokes while watching it but I think that is because of the apple pie and baseball days of Leave It to Beaver land.

The discussion goes around this particular clique of the elite kids so you don’t get a feeling about the nerdy guy that got shoved in his locker yet again or the slightly ugly girl that gets hazed every day.    These feasible scenarios are just completely overlooked and not even mentioned one bit.   They vaguely cover how to avoid that heavy petting with changing the subject or mentioning the latest gossip and I felt myself snickering yet again.   Why not a card trick or the ball in the cup trick for a distraction?  

Car handles better after 12 beers, am I right, fellas?

The lack of realism in this film I guess was to not frighten the young ones watching this short but dammit all if this didn’t need to be more plausible and give them facts.   A real mentorship would have been better for them or establish a peer to talk to.