This just in from the you-couldn't-make-this-stuff-up-if-you-tried department. A new website designed by npower, a British electric company, is recruiting children using games, badges and cartoons to enlist as "Climate Cops"; their duties are to actively keep records on their parents and neighbors for violations of "energy crimes" against the planet. Children then use the results of their spying to build a "Climate Crime Case File" on the perps, which they then "report back to your family to make sure they don't commit those crimes again (or else)!" The site also warns children that they "may need to keep a watchful eye" to prevent future violations. Did I mention I'm not making this up? It gets worse.
The so-called eco-crimes range from leaving the tap running, to failing to use energy-saving light bulbs, to running the dryer on a sunny day, to putting hot food in the refrigerator. Children who visit the site can play a series of games where they chase down gas-guzzling SUVs or save polar bears from melting icebergs; those who complete all the games can unlock a codeword, enabling visitors to "join the elite cadets and train to become a Climate Cop." The codeword then unlocks a download, where successful "cadets" can print out a "Climate Cop ID". Did I mention I'm still not making this up?
If all this seems crazily Godwin to you, you wouldn't be alone; recruiting children to spy on their parents' infractions was artfully purposed by a particular mustachoed guy who was handing out Papers over half a century ago. Barring the patently nonsensical suggested actions (putting hot food in the 'frig? Brother!), the terrifically-horrible part is the implied moral lessons from this type of thing.
Read the whole thing.
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