Child Naming Restrictions

Message Effects- Fear

Child naming restrictions are slowly growing around the globe, some places faster then others. Even within the United States, naming restrictions can be found in states like Iowa, Nebraska, and New Jersey. However most states that do have restrictions are focused on the length of the name, the use of accents, and no numbers. Nebraska and New Jersey are the only two states that have restrictions that Prohibit names that are obscene. Many U.S. Citizens are against restricting names; some may argue that they fear in giving the government the power to reject a parents right to name their child, and then they are in jeopardy of losing more freedoms.

            Professor of Law at the University of California, Carlton F.W. Larson, wrote an article where he shares a legal analysis of parents' rights to name their own children. He talks about Americans and our fear of losing our first amendment rights, if we let the government reject names then we are letting the government walk all over the free speech clause. Larson also brings up the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that the government would be intruding on citizen's rights. The diversity within the United States creates havoc especially when it comes to forming laws. It seems that everyone sees this issue differently, but they all see the negatives that will be an outcome of change, so they choose to do nothing out of fear of what may be.

            Countries like, New Zealand, Sweden, and Denmark approach naming restriction with efficacy. These countries believe in the seriousness of the negative effects that certain names may have on children. The only way they can resolve this issue is to take the option away before more innocent children become victims. Some counties even supply a list of names that their citizens may choose from. For example, Portugal has a list of previously approved and rejected names that is used as a reference and available on the internet.

Letting fear take over, not allowing us to make a conscious look into the problem at hand is severely slowing down progression in any debate. Fear is a great tool to get what you want; however what you want is not always what everyone else wants. Fear is definitely a major factor in stopping more naming restrictions within the United States. Understanding that fear plays a role makes it easier to talk about the subject more, because fear is not real, it is a product of our imagination. It is essential to see that fear is not a valid reason to put a halt to formulating a solution for an on growing global issue.

Dramatistic Theory

            In the past few years a family from New Jersey has made waves that has progressed the debate of naming restrictions within the United States. The Campbell family if a great example of why naming restrictions is growing into a necessity around the world, having named their three children Adolf Hitler, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeanne. The media coverage is really what made this story blow up, allowing for the situation to become dramatized. Many people want to know who, what, where, why, when, and how. The attention soon shifted away from the children and their names and moved to the parents and their backgrounds. The story just keeps going and today they are still battling for custody of their children.

Not many people are siding with the parents and their decision, especially after the fathers’ criminal background and his links to Nazism have come to light. Most people will try to identify with Adolf Hitler Campbell, who now has to live with the repercussions of his parents’ insensible mistake. We should be happy that the government rescued innocent young Adolf; we should be willing to do more.

            The Campbell family’s story has given us a reason to make a change. By finding out the background information on the family, it can be seen why the parents found their way to naming their kids after Nazi related terms. Burke’s "Pentad" answered questions that lead to the reasons why Adolf and his sisters had to be taken away from their parents. Using the Pentad can be extremely beneficial by providing more information to the audience and answering necessary questions that lead to their participation to the cause.

Discussing Naming Restriction

Should we allow the government the right to intervene when it comes to naming our children?
       
        Countries like New Zealand, Sweden, and Denmark are a few that have put restrictions on naming children, all of which protect children from potentially embarrassing or hurtful names.

A name is only a name, right?

        Sticks and stones may break my bones, and words may also too. In an article from nydailynews.com, “Being called a name can hurt -- even if it's the name your parents chose for you.” The article goes on to talk about research published by the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science. They concluded multiple experiments involving 12,000 adult participants who, “found that a bad first name can not only ruin your self-esteem, but it may actually make you lonelier and dumber.” Going further then that, in a “trend across all sub-experiments,” it indicated that people with unfortunate first names were more likely to smoke, be less educated and have lower self-esteem compared to people with more common names.

         Flipping the script, according to an article by the Star-Ledger, “A Superior Court judge has decided that a self-proclaimed Nazi from Holland Township and his wife cannot take back their four children, three of whom were named in honor of the Nazis” This couple has been fighting for the right to their children since 2008 when they tried to get their, then, 3-year-old son Adolf Hitler Campbell a birthday cake. The courts have stated that the children were removed from the parent’s custody due to the fathers abusive behavior. Lawyers on both sides have been silenced by a gag order. Reported in an article by  nytimes, “Mr. Campbell’s choices have prompted a debate over whether provocative names alone should be considered child abuse.” In addition, a report by ABC News , Campbell was also noted to have said, "They need to accept a name. A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what (Hitler) did." I agree with Campbell's last statement. He will not do what Hitler did because the government intervened. Reported by another article by, ABC News, young Adolf has made threats, including, "I'm going to kill you" as he threatened one of his younger sisters with a vacuum. We can only hope that Adolf will not go on to do the terrible things Hitler did, but, who can say, who Adolf would have become if no one intervened.

Difference of opinion
  
       One side of the argument is focusing on the effects of these “unusual names” on children during early development.  Some believe we need name restrictions to help these children who have no choice in the name they are given. By pointing out these negative effects, I believe that more people are willing to listen and understand why restrictions may be needed.
 
       The other side wants to look at the freedoms that we are granted in the United States. They believe they should have the right to name their children anything they want because that is what freedom means to them. Some parents aren't responsible enough to handle that freedom, which is why this comes to question. These extremist tend to push the envelope so far that we start to question if we should limit  that freedom.

Challenges
        It isn't easy to ask people to limit their freedoms, however it is necessary to ensure the welfare of the children. The  people who oppose name restrictions will argue, who will have the right to say whether a name is acceptable or not, what kind of restrictions would need to be enforced, and would every state have the same restrictions? Another challenge would be to make this issue relate to everyone by showing them that a name is not just a name.

For more information, check out the following:

Adolf Hitler Campbell
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/31/adolf-hitler-campbell-custody-battle-nazi-names-new-jersey_n_1561046.html

Denmark
http://www.perfect-baby-names.com/Danish-baby-names-article.html

Sweden
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2090401/Swedish-parents-win-legal-battle-to-name-their-children-Lego-Elvis-and-Metallica.html

Unusual Name: Study
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/badly-chosen-baby-names-lead-self-esteem-education-smoking-study-article-1.1002198#ixzz2MuVu3kAw