Benetton advertisements ?
First of all art and advertisment are not the same. Secondly, at least in Germany no one can force you to change an advertisment or take it back unless it violates the law. Morality does not play a role. You can complain at the "Werberat" if you think that an advertisment is immoral, and if they follow your argumentation they can openly criticise the advertiser, but that's it. They cannot force him to change the advertisment or take it back just because it is immoral.
Children are not mentally developed enough to really know how to behave in stranger danger, they can be taught to go to a store or yell for help and not to get into a car with strangers, but when your mum is the photographer, or the parents give consent for your naked image to be used there is no say and the child will think it is normal.
If parents give consent that a naked picture of their child is shown in an exhibition they do not give consent that it is raped or that child pornography is ok. I dunno, maybe it's my education. Until I was a teenager my parents dragged me to France for the holidays. There were quite a few places where you could bath naked and I'm pretty sure there were a few perverts there to spy on naked children - I mean, what's easier than to go to exactly such places where hundrets of naked people are if you wanna see naked children in real life? I never really gave my parents consent to take me there, but honestly, I certainly don't think they put me in any kind of danger or feel bad that they took me there.
If someone turns up to school and says they are a cop and mum has been in an accident and they are going to take the kid to mum, most children would go. Adults would be more sceptical and ask for ID, ask questions etc.
And do you honestly believe that because of prohibiting an exhibition one less pervert would go out and do exactly that? I very much doubt it...
I wasn't pushing the "video games made me do it" but everything will set off someone, and while games are censored and rated due to content, art is not.
Actually art is censored and rated due to content - that's why they won't let a six year old into a movie for a 18 year olds UNLESS they are in the company of a parent (at least that's how it is in Germany). Now, you could say that shouldn't be allowed at all that a six year old sees such a movie but you know, sooner or later the state has to trust parents that they know whats good for their children and what not. It's not a big secret that with some parents that's not the case - but that's how it is.
I am not saying ban everything, but society does need to take extra care to protect the most vulnerable in society.
I think it's part of our overly political correct society that we think children epitomize innocence or vulnerability. In Germany there is this particular tendency among anchormen which really drives me crazy everytime I see it. Whenever something bad happens - let's say a plane crash - they'll first tell you how many Germans were among the victims and then, how many of them were women and children. No one seems to give a fuck about how many men died... for me a victim is a victim. I don't care if it's a child or an adult, a man or woman or what nationality the victim had. I don't even care if it's a criminal or a honest person. If someone puts a gun to your head and pulls the trigger it doesn't make any difference that you can deny your consent. And I'm sure the pain for your parents won't be less just because you might have been an adult person. Did we prohibit guns so far?
Especially when it comes to children I see an overly protective society prone to hysteria. There are child molesters everywhere! I mean, I see it in Germany... whenever a child is abused there is a public outrage that is beyond anything which makes sense. Among the most idiotic things you constantly hear is the reintroduction of capital punishment.
