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Monday, January 5, 2009
Did these parents go too far?
A Pennsylvania family is in the news after a local supermarket refused to put their 3-year-old son’s name on a birthday cake.
Why would they do that? Because the toddler shares a name with one of history’s most reviled men.
Heath and Deborah Campbell named their first son Adolf Hitler Campbell. That was followed by JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, 1, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, 8 months.
The father says he was raised not to mix socially with other races but doesn’t care if his children do. They chose the names because he liked them and figured no one else would have those names.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that there are not a lot of little ones running around with those names.
I know we have some educators who read here and some of them will probably agree with me when I say that the unique name craze has gotten… a little out of hand. I check to make sure I have the correct spelling of even the most basic names when I am talking to kids and there have been more than a few I wouldn’t have dared to take a guess at spelling.
But the Campbell’s kids may have some of the most outrageous names I have seen. This seems almost cruel and very short-sighted. I can just picture job applications, college applications, etc.
Obviously along with our freedom of speech, religion, bearing arms, etc., we have the right to name out kids as we choose in America. It’s not that way everywhere though.
The Campbells finally got their cake through Walmart, although a spokesman for the company said the corporation would review its cake decorating policies too. Because the original supermarket is a private company, they had the right to refuse to make the order. Father Heath says that Adolf’s birthday party was attended by children of different races.
But in the long run, this isn’t really about a cake. If they are already having these problems at 3-years-old, just imagine what’s in store in the future. Sure, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover or a person by their name but that’s not a very realistic expectation in every situation.
What do you think? Has this couple crossed a line with their children’s names?
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