Presidential Visit to UK

[Sualdam]

Just watching the evening news, and was struck by a thought.

If schoolchildren were forced to actually attend school every now and then, the number of people protesting George Bush's visit to the UK would have been down by about 95% on current numbers.

[matauri]

Isn't it annoying Sualdam !! I been assaulting the Ed Dept here over it. We had many kids under the age of 11 hurt in anti war/bush protests here, when they should be in school!

And here is the worst.....

I went to those protests because I wanted to see what they knew about what they protesting about. Guess where Iraq is???? hmmm...in the middle of Sth America, in Indonesia, some even thought it was in England!!! I showed these kids a map & asked them to tell me where Iraq was. And Bush.,...LOL...if you ask how long has he been president...anywhere from 5 - 10 yrs! Who is Aust PM? John Howard they say. What party is he? Their response was "ummmmmmm". Some weren't sure if Bush was England or US, and ditto for Blair.

By this time I was concerned. This was my future staring at me in the face. Protesting over something they know nothing about. But even worse.... this was our teachers/parents allowing this? Where are the truant officers during these protests???

I've been an activist for most of my life, and I have never seen so many children at these events as now. I think they have recruiters in the schools, parents, teachers, etc. Just to build up the numbers.

Shame shame shame !


Cindy

[Greyhawk]

Cindy we finaly found something we agree on. why is it parents push their view on children and refuse to respect the childs freedom to think for them selves.

Greyhawk

[Mili]

To Cindy:
And Bush.,...LOL...if you ask how long has he been president...anywhere from 5 - 10 yrs!

It only seems that way ... sometimes.

To Greyhawk: Children should be given both sides of the story before choosing for themselves. A child is capable of seeing through a lot of stuff when given the facts.

To Sualdam: Seems to be a misconstrued notion that the one's views are the only gospel truth. That is a shame, really. Without proper education, the future leaders will have no foresight, or worse, will never give 20/20 vision to hindsight.

- Mili -

[Sualdam]

Let's try to avoid the insults about Bush or comments on 'the War' - otherwise this'll get closed pretty quickly.

I noticed you highlighted the word 'choosing' - which I would have picked up on anyway.

In most species of animal, growing up is something that happens before you become an adult. You don't see lion cubs hunting with the pack. You see them playing around being looked after by their parents. That way, they learn properly what's right and what's wrong... hang on a sec... learn properly what's right and what's wrong... that's better... so that when they finally reach adulthood they are able to handle it.

How is it, then, that human children who cannot possibly fully understand what they are supporting or opposing are allowed to skip adult skills training sessions (i.e. school) to attend big demonstrations - whether it be political ones like this or ones that show they are upset that their favourite girl/boy band split up?

Is it perhaps because there are some devious adults out there who, realising they can easily get a half a million under 16s screaming and shouting, actively encourage them to attend to simply swell their numbers.

I'm not so sure children should be allowed to make up their own minds on critical issues. That's part of the reason we have a mess now. :)

And they certainly shouldn't be allowed to attend political demonstrations. That's weak parenting and weak schooling.

[Mili]

Excellent points Sualdam. Very.

Responsibility needs to come from all sectors, because our children will comprise tomorrow's society.

Apologies for words which may have sounded like borderline criticism. Not my intention. (I'm apolitical). Believe me, a Mom knows first-hand that being a decision-making leader is a very difficult shoe to wear.

- Mili -

[Sualdam]

Nope. Nothing wrong with what you said. Opinions make the world go round, and disagreements and discussions make it go faster :)

[matauri]

Another display of idiosy I find at protests..

Have you ever noticed the woman with babies in strollers in the front line & on the sides. I hate that practice, and do you know why they plan it that way? Its so that when the protestors get vigorous that with the babies on the outer perimeter, that cops will be slow in reacting to them.

Using babies & children....how useless a society we are turning into!



Cindy

[minstrel]

Have you ever noticed the woman with babies in strollers in the front line & on the sides. I hate that practice, and do you know why they plan it that way? Its so that when the protestors get vigorous that with the babies on the outer perimeter, that cops will be slow in reacting to them.
yes... the "human shield" concept which we criticize vigorously when Saddam Hussein and his ilk use it but are afraid to talk about when it's adopted by suburban protesters... the real problem with "politically correct" is that it isn't "correct" at all... it is, as Cindy says, simple idiocy most of the time...

[Sualdam]

The newsreel tapes last night could easily have been mistaken for the first 20 rows of an S Club (<insert number or phrase here>) concert.

[pete61uk]

As regards the Bush visit:

It baffled me constantly; I thought the protesting was supposed to be about Bush being given the ‘State visit treatment?’

The vocal ‘majority’ didn’t have a clue what that actually meant, especially as they were using it as a forum for demanding something else, anything else, most of which was totally off topic.

As far as the kids’ protesting is concerned it looked more like a kindergarten reunion for all the sense they're being there made.