The Dentist World Will See You Now

At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to comment on this, since I was, in a sense, helping spread something that I’m about to suggest isn’t good: putting children on the Internet for the whole world to see.

It’s happened on MySpace quite a bit, and now a video on YouTube has become a hit in only one week of being online. It’s entitled “David After Dentist” and has—as of this writing—almost five million views.

The video’s star is a seven-year-old boy who had a tooth removed at the dentist’s office, and his post-operation, drug-induced results have been put online for all the world to see.

I must be in the minority, because many of the comments that I’ve read on both the YouTube page and other Websites talking about the video are predominantly the “Ha ha! This is cool! LOL” kind, and few seem to take into account any repercussions. (For the record, a blog on Slate by Nina Shen Rastogi points out that this video could stay with little David forever, into his teen years and adult years, whether he likes it or not.)

I can’t help but think that David’s father has helped to show the juvenile mentality of many parents today. The “this-is-gonna-be-cool” and “this-has-to-go-on-the-Internet-right-away” states of mind appeal to many, but the permanence of the video—not to mention the fact that David is now quite the star among pedophiles the globe over—is something that David will have to somehow deal with.

References

booba1234. “David After Dentist.” YouTube. 30 Jan. 2009.

Jardin, Xeni. “Kid on Drugs.” Boing Boing. 3 Feb. 2009.

Rastogi, Nina Shen. “After ‘David After Dentist.’” Slate. 5 Feb. 2009.

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