ASA gives the right decision

Today came the news that the Advertising Standards Authority passed the Barnados' advert Breaking the Cycle as OK.

I've written before that this advert shouldn't be banned. And although some forum threads have focused on the negative, there have been plenty of posts supporting the ad -- see Barnados twitter page for examples. So goody, goody.

Neighbours for the homeless

I have written already about good humanity and UK's half-heartedness to look after its own. Here is another issue.

I was Christmas shopping in Aberdeen yesterday. Having already decided to keep Christmas spending to the absolute minimum, I was keeping my spirits up quite well even while seeing soaking homeless men sitting on the street, and planning the options of which charitable cause in need of support to put to the family on Christmas Day. And the household finances are not healthy so I kept myself happy in the knowledge that me and my other half have a happy home and enjoyed walking warmly in the rain and closely arm in arm with him, even while we were wondering what could be done for those without a roof 24 hours a day apart from provision in the city: the temperature in Aberdeen yesterday was 4 or 5 degrees warmer than the countryside.

We did actually walk past The Big Issue vendor Stevie Johnson outside Marks and Spencer's, and then wondered why we had. We got out our change, went back to buy a copy and started talking to him. He is desperate to move on and get his place, really fed up with his situation, wants a normal life. He is very wary of now turning to alcohol to relieve the boredom of living on the streets. We wish him luck cos it won't be easy. But Stevie's comments on Aberdeen council's recent changes in its policy for the homelessness make me wonder again about how humane we are in the UK.

Aberdeen council no longer wants homeless people begging on the streets, so they have put up begging boxes for people to put money in, rather than straight into hats on the street. My partner and I didn't see these but let's say they are collecting money that the council can use. But the council has closed homeless shelters, for health and safety reasons, and there are less overnight shelters available in the city.

Any reason that justifies reducing floor space under a roof, so that more people are sleeping under the stars, is better for their health seems rather dubious to me. And also, it raises the question, what is the begging box money providing now?

It seems to me that Aberdeen council would have the homeless having less neighbourly interactions, both in their begging and in their shelters. It only takes some lateral thinking to realise that following an out-of-sight-we'll-be-less-hassled policy can only result in a more dogmatic anti-homeless view. Shame on it.

We are shown but we don't want to see

Barnardos' new video Breaking the Cycle is shocking. Will it be banned like their 2003 campaign, which featured a cockroach coming out of a baby's mouth? Let us hope not.

The outrage hasn’t started in earnest yet, but it seems certain it will do. There are already angry comments such as "they'll stoop to any level to get money nowadays".

Some parents fear for their children because they might see it while watching X Factor or I'm a Celebrity. My just-turned 13 year old would be uncomfortable but she would not thank me for keeping it from her. She knows what sadnesses there are, in the world, not just in the UK. She has been aware for a long time from my magazines (New Internationalist, Amnesty), radio and family conversations. Now she is well equipped to receive these shocking moving images and maturing all the better for it.

If children are old enough to see others seeking fame and the sarcastic "wit" that the judges are encourage to utter, they are old enough to assess the other types of damage that humans can wreak on other and experience the hurt that comes from it. I suspect that those who don’t see Breaking the Cycle in this way don’t see X Factor or I’m a Celebrity in this way either, and are as self-obsessed as the stereotypes they watch. The comments "one thing raising awareness but another upsetting people" and "if i want to give to a cause, its because i belive in their plight not because i was shocked into it" dismiss that shock comes first, then awareness, then belief. Let's hope that once their shock has dissipated, a true awareness will develop.

Let’s think again about what this video does. It shows a cycle of desperation, punishment, abuse and escape through drugs that then leads to desperation. It is vivid because that IS what is happening to people in some parts of UK society. Another’s comment is "I don't think these type of ads are constructive to be honest and just give people the wrong idea that if they have seen it on tv then it's the norm." This person obviously hasn’t sat on a bus and seen a mother punch her daughter with sovereign rings on her fist -- someone in this household has.

Another comment is "there is enough awareness at the mo especially after Baby P", Victoria Climbie’s death came before Baby P’s, but the horror of her death didn’t prevent his. Shortcomings in social services can only be part of the problem if we believe that there is enough awareness. This is why such a shocking video is needed.

The nation needs to wake up and get its brains and hearts. "A 16y girl from care-home needed shelter, I asked Barnados & NSPCC to put her up” says another comment. How can the UK expect charities to act on behalf of our social responsibilities, expect social services to do their job when we don't press them to do it, expect that keeping only one eye open is enough to prevent These Things happening again and then damn those that would try? With hypocrisy, I imagine.

It will be very bad for us indeed to damn the advert. If we do, we will be more Dickensian than when Dr Barnardo started his charity. He used the media and we responded to it and made the charity successful. Let’s not change our minds now.