When we got home, we downloaded a suggested app, Buycott, and The Girl tested various products in our house. We were pleased to see that much of what we buy supports a sustainable future, or at the very least does not support Monsanto/etc... in fact, the only foods that came up a big fat NO were the cans of stuff left behind by BIL when he moved out!
It's really got the kids thinking abut what we're putting on our plates. I'm writing up this week's menu and grocery list shortly, and they asked me to "please be careful about what you buy". I wonder if they're ready for Food Inc.? It's been a while since I watched it honestly, so maybe I should screen it again first - The Girl, especially but The Boy to a degree too, tends to have issues with some factory farming images.
I think too I may have them start watching CNN Student News - of course I would watch it with them - but at 10 and 12, I think they should maybe have some familiarity with what's going on in the world.
Anyhow, for their first march/political protest, I am satisfied that it was a good choice. It is something they feel strongly about, and the atmosphere was largely calm and upbeat, not quite like the anti-war protests I marched in back in 1991!
Are your kids politically aware/active? Do they have pet causes?
I love this! Lately I've been pondering this at the most basic level - what should my son know at his age about news, what's going on in the world, etc. It would be great to get in involved in something that matters to him. I'm going to start looking at the possibilities for when he comes back to me next year. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's great you're thinking about this - I think I was lucky in that an opportunity came along that was something they really care about, and that turned out to be such a gentle intro to political action. We'll have to see what they make of the news every day!
DeleteMy M.Ed. work is in human rights education; I rarely censor the news. Honestly, the only thing I censor is things like the recent kidnapping victims found after ten years -- b/c an 8 yr old being privy to sexual depravity is unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteChildren must learn about conflict or they will not learn how to deal with it when they are met with it (in my opinion).
We've written letters as part of Amnensty International's Student Action group, too.
I wish more parents would share the truth -- about human rights violations (a crime of which I believe Monsanto most definitely is guilty).
Most people don't even know we have an International Declaration of Human Right. Or, a Convention on the Rights of the Child.
I hope more parents start sharing the news with their kids!
{Stepping off the soapbox now.}