I am honored to welcome as a sponsor of this site The Responsibility Project from Liberty Mutual. I agree with them that “the more people think and talk about responsibility, the more the world becomes a better place” and I am very impressed with — and inspired by — their thoughtful website about responsible choices, with films, blog posts, resources, and community-building on a wide range of important topics. Is it responsible or irresponsible parenting to allow a nine-year-old to ride the subway alone? Are tattletale websites a way to ensure accountability or a descent into gossip and snarkiness?
I especially love the “what’s your policy” section of the website, which asks visitors a series of questions about what responsible choices are for parents, employers, teachers, students, neighbors, pet owners, athletes, consumers, doctors, politicians, and a range of other categories that include and overlap us all. Each visitor to the site can think through a range of issues and assemble his or her own list of policies. You will be able to see mine as it develops — for example, I said “yes” to the policy that a responsible boss does not multitask when talking to an employee (a good reminder that I do not always live up to this one myself).
When I began the first Movie Mom website almost 13 years ago, it was with the idea of not just helping parents make responsible choices about media for their children but about encouraging parents to use the movies and television shows the families viewed together as a starting point for important conversations about how the characters on screen and how we in our lives make our choices and deal with the consequences. It is a privilege to partner with Liberty Mutual and the Responsibility Project in their effort to help all of us think about what it means to make responsible choices.