*Problem Solved* Shirt is Still a Problem

A T-Shirt sold throughout the USA, known as the *Problem Solved* shirt, has been pulled off of shelves at all K-Mart stores at the behest of various anti-violence organizations:

A T-shirt sold at K-Mart stores that shows a boy pushing down a girl and calls the action "Problem Solved" drew more than 50 protesters to the sidewalk in front of the chain's Alexis Road store yesterday afternoon.

Various comments from anti-violence groups include:

Carolyn Wilson, who teaches high school social studies in Lenawee County's Deerfield Public Schools, said the shirts at Kmart seemed like part of a cultural desensitization of violence that should be addressed.

"I think people need to speak out about corporations selling violence," she said.

Mary Ann Howard, a retired radiology technician, said she had never been to a rally before, but felt a need to actively protest these shirts.

If such shirts are acceptable for sales at Kmart, she said: "No wonder kids do the things they do."

Ms. Rucker and her husband have led dating violence-prevention sessions for teens, but she said "that shirt undoes everything" they've tried to do.

I'm sure the protesters have every good intention in their heart when they got K-Mart to take these shirts off their shelves, but the fact of the matter is people commit acts of violence not because they saw a funny shirt in K-Mart, but because of other underlying problems in their head. To draw a correlation between domestic violence and a T-Shirt and say *no wonder kids do the things they do*, is plain ridiculous. Kids do what they do for many reasons, but committing a serious because of a T-Shirt isn't one of them.

I can't see this helping the cause of domestic violence representatives, it will just make them look thin skinned and silly. Their time would be better spent in other areas to help victims of violence. In Britain during the 80's, stations use to ban groups like the Clash and the Strangers from the airwaves, and this always meant one thing: Those banned groups became huge overnight successes. Their albums sold out the next day, they became heroes to children. This is along the same line. This shirt might be banned in K-Mart now, but I guarantee this shirt will become a huge seller elsewhere because of this.

Problem? What problem?