Save me from myself

Over the last few weeks, lawmakers in various states have been attempting to pass laws that essentially protect citizens from themselves. Whether it is the New York law that bans pedestrians from listening to iPods on busy streets or the national push toward banning teens from going to tanning salons, it makes me wonder whether we are just becoming too dumb for our own good.

There seems to be a national addiction to passing strange legislature. Entire websites are dedicated to the strange pages of our law books. While yes, it is a good idea to not raise a donkey in your bathtub, or to make it illegal to intoxicate an elephant, there isn’t necessarily a need to create laws for such circumstances.

Having spent some time in public school within a small town, I realize that a lot of people are so very, very dumb—our children’s cough syrup is plastered with labels that warn users not to drive or operate heavy machinery. I understand that some people just have too much alcohol and too little common sense to function. Not only are these regulations silly, but they deny a chance to actually learn a lesson.

The law currently making its way through the New York legislature would make it illegal for runners or pedestrians to wear an iPod or talk on the phone. That’s correct—someone walking on the street could get ticketed for rocking out to Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time.” The reasoning isn’t that they have horrific taste in music, but that they would be too distracted to cross a street or avoid getting hit by traffic.

Now, this law implies two things—pedestrians are stupid and drivers are even stupiderer…er.

The other law that is being pushed nationally is heavily supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics. As well as being highly patriotic, the group says that teens should not be allowed to go tanning due to the increased risks of skin cancer during adolescence.

The tanning law may cause one to wonder what kinds of parents are letting their young children cook themselves into an attractive Oompa-Loompa shade of orange. Sure, some older teens might be interested in the trend, as they were probably inspired by Speaker of the House John Boehner.

Some parts of the laws that are being considered are okay suggestions in theory; however, they clearly cannot be enacted practically in the real world. The New York law would make it illegal to talk on your phone practically everywhere but inside a building. While I have seen people clearly distracted by their phones while they cross the street, there is also an unspoken rule that drivers need to not hit people.

Both of these laws take the responsibility away from the individual and place it into the hands of the law. While this idea works for things like drinking and driving or acts of violence, incidences like these make laws more nit-picky and useless.

Instead of a parent telling a child that no, they cannot chemically tan their skin because it is bad for them, laws such as this eliminate the thought and learning process. I’ve figured out, at this point in my life, that rolling in a pile of used dirty broken glass is hazardous to my health, so I avoid it, regardless of the fact that it will exfoliate my skin. Perhaps teens need to be educated on the risks of tanning, but the outcome—horrific leathery orange skin, should be enough of a drawback.

It’s wonderful to imagine a world where people make the right decisions. But a world like that isn’t going to be created by passing laws that eliminate the need for common sense. While it’s good to protect people from the bad decisions of others, someone should be able to decide whether or not they can successfully cross a street.

If lawmakers are willing to focus on frivolous laws such as tanning and joggers, that certainly says something about the current political climate.

If instead of trying to pass laws that protect me from myself, you moved legislation that allowed citizens to better themselves, the need for such silly laws might be eliminated. If the same effort was funneled into education, perhaps I would have enough knowledge to realize that cars are very heavy and that I should make damn sure I don’t get run over by one.

While you cannot keep everyone safe all the time, there needs to be some accountability for personal actions in our society. ?