6.        We briefly discussed in class why it is that some topics seem to be off-limits to satire (The Holocaust, 9/11, Islam etc), although that is not to say they are NEVER satirised. Choose a topic which you believe should not be satirised, and use it to write a speech to be given at a Public Speaking Competition. Your speech should last about 2 minutes when read – you do not have to give the speech, simply write it. (15 marks)  Convert your written speech to notes on palm cards and present it to the class. (10 marks)

      I strongly believe that child abuse is off limits for satirical shows such as the Simpsons, South park and the Cleveland show to joke about as child abuse is far too serious a matter to mock as well as being a topic that gets all the wrong attention. 

      Child abuse can leave children traumatized for the rest of their lives, even throughout adulthood. People such as Michael Jackson, Kyle Sandilans and Jimmy 'The rev' Sullivan are examples of this. All these people's lives either ended tragically or continue to do so. Michael Jackson - pop-star - was a verbally abused child and had surgery to change his appearance and overdosed on Meds to deal with his feelings. Eventually the additional Meds killed him. Karl Sandilans - radio host - also had a rough childhood. At 15, he ran away from home and started taking drugs. He's now and overweight-alcoholic who smokes frequently. Doctors giving him only a few more years to live with his addictive and unhealthy lifestyle. Jimmy Sullivan - drummer for avenged sevenfold, a heavy metal rock band - turned to drugs and alcohol very early in life and died recently when he mixed meth with cocaine. 

      All these lifestyles follow a pattern - they have similar starts and finishes. Child abuse gets all the wrong attention - only being noticed when satirical jokes can be made about it  - and as a result, the children who suffer from it are often neglected and they turn to all the wrong habits. If such children received help for being so badly abused and traumatized from their childhood, these unfortunate habits resulting in casualties wouldn't be necessary. For these reasons, I strongly believe satirical jokes on child abuse are wrong and unforgivable. 

      To conclude, it is wrong for satirical shows to mock child abuse. You may not agree, but if you were the child being abused and you saw someone making a joke out of it on TV, don't you think that you would feel bad?