Friday, December 10, 2010

Battling abuse with pictures of cartoons

There is another meme on Facebook in support of a cause. There are pictures of cartoon figures replacing profile photos left and right. Many different toons are getting used. These profile pictures are intended to “bring awareness” and battle child abuse.

Pictures of cartoon characters as profile pictures on Facebook

“Change your FB profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood. The goal? To not see a human face on FB. Join the fight against child abuse. Copy & paste to your status to invite your friends to do the same.” This Facebook status has been making its rounds for the last few days. Thousands of people have taken part in this cause using cartoons from mostly the 80's and 90's. Some that are used a lot are Pinky and also the Brain, Strawberry Shortcake, and Might Mouse.

Childhood cartoons and child abuse

This is not the first time that Facebook profile pictures and Facebook statuses are used to raise awareness for various issues. There is typically a certain topic that someone is trying to make others aware of. The problem is that awareness doesn't necessarily tell people how to really take action. Although there isn't any data to show how many individuals changed their picture to be a part of this movement, by visual effect alone there seems to be thousands taking part.

How to make a change

The issue of child abuse is a lot bigger and takes a lot more than memories of our own childhoods. Bringing awareness to a concern and taking action on a concern are two different things. If you post your picture of a cartoon but don't make a change beyond that, all you are really doing is spreading awareness and making yourself feel good; which is good as well. Spreading awareness to all is a good start, but there is more you need to do to really be considered taking action. One simple step would be to consist of the National Child Abuse Hotline number inside your status, 1-800-4-A-CHILD. Don't forget that a childhood cartoon is only a picture and not more.



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