In response to Created Equal’s decision to display a video of an actual abortion in the Plaza of the Americas, Gainesville’s regretful parents have decided to show a video of the devastating and lasting impacts child raising can leave on the body and mind.
Parents Mary and Joe Stevenson spearhead the movement, and they cite their “god damned brat of a son” as their inspiration to engage in this form of community outreach. Just like the Created Equal organization, the Stevensons drove down to the University of Florida from Ohio in a minivan. It was reported that no amount of The Wiggles or Kidz Bop would satiate their little Jakey’s demon ears, and the amount of fast food bags sprawled across the dashboard indicate that chicken nuggets, french fries, and juice is all it takes to feed the belly and mind of a growing boy.
The video was projected onto a screen in the Plaza of the Americas. It showed grainy cell phone footage of Jake making a mess out of his vegetables, and complaining shortly thereafter that he didn’t “like the way they smell”. It also showed footage of Jake dropping and breaking household objects. Some disturbing clips included Jake sneezing out a lego brick, peeing in the Stevenson’s pool, eating a crayon, peeing in the Stevenson’s neighbor’s pool, rolling around in dirt, and peeing in the pool at a local waterpark. While the video played, Jake was seen pulling on his mother’s shirt mumbling, “I’m bored” over and over and over again.
“It was horrifying. It was disgusting. It made me nauseous and quite frankly, I’m surprised the school allowed it to be played in public like this” said UF student Michael Millstein.
I mean how can campus authorities sit idly by while a video of a young child spilling milk plays in public? It’s awful.”
Students surrounded the parents in a circle, who were sitting on stools in the center, and actively debated and discussed the burdens of childraising with them. “What about the miracle of life? What about having someone take care of you in your old age?” asked audience member John Snew. Mary responded with “You know nothing, John Snew. You’ve never raised kids. You haven’t seen the things I’ve seen.” Mary then went silent and stared forward blankly for a minute, while visions of Jake saying, “I’m hungry” over Paul Simon’s song The Sound of Silence played in her head.
As the video demonstration and Q&A ended, we got a moment to ask Joe about his thoughts on it all, since his wife did most of the talking. “I love my son. I really do. In between public temper tantrums about God knows what and crying because the sun is too bright, he’s a great kid with a promising future and a great attitude.” Joe hesitated, “But if I knew at the time that having a child would forever ruin my ability to ever feel happiness, I’d probably have gotten a vasectomy.”