*please repost
On 12 November, it became legal to force unemployed people to work for their benefits – to do 40-hour-weeks for under a third of the minimum wage. The Government's Welfare Reform Act introduced 'Work for your Benefit' pilot schemes, which once completed can be rolled out without any further debate. It also attacked single parents – who face sanctions if they fail to prepare for work outside the home as soon as their child turns three – and people with impairments, disabilities or severe andenduring illnesses.
Two days later, members of twenty-three different groups from around theUK met to share information and plan resistance to these pernicious attacks, which will take their toll on working-class and low-income communities.
Groups present included Unemployed Workers Unions from six cities acrossthe UK, the Disabled People's Direct Action Network, Southwark Mind,WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities), SingleMothers' Self-Defence (part of Global Women's Strike) and members of the union in the Department of Work and Pensions – PCS. They were joined by feminist and other groups (all listed below).
The strength to be gained from meeting in solidarity with each other was immense and created a real sense that a movement is building: a movementwhich will not only fight the immediate attacks of the Welfare Abolition Act, but draw out the connections between our struggles and together challenge the ideology driving them.
The Act seeks to make our worth dependent on work; work defined in the really narrow terms of waged work for someone else's profit. By making us compete with those in waged work for non-existent jobs, it helps drive down wages and conditions. We all take the brunt as the rich make even more money out of us.
• We want solidarity with and from people in low-income, temporary and insecure work. These are the jobs that 'work-for-your-benefit' would replace.
• We want caring to be recognised as important work in society. Single parents are already working and benefits are their entitlement to a social wage.
• We want justice for people with severe or enduring illnesses. The drive to get people off incapacity benefits and Employment and Support Allowance and into work is making people more ill with stress. Only we know what we are capable of and it is wrong for conditions and sanctions to be imposed on us to force us into unsuitable work, unwanted “work-related activity”or “motivation sessions” which press us into their programmes of treatmentfor addictions and other conditions.
• We want the right not to work. People not in waged work contribute loads to their communities. We do not want to be forced into mind-numbing,insecure work that leaves us no better off, or worse off than on benefitsand definitely not at £1.27 an hour!
• We want free, high-quality, public services to support older people andpeople with impairments/disabilities. People should not have to become employers managing 'individual budgets' in order to access the care they need.
• We want to stand in solidarity with migrant workers. Just as unemployed people are pitted against people in work, so migrant workers are pittedagainst us. We believe that we must stand together and demand all of ourrights together.
• We want to fight privatisation of the Department for Work and Pensions.Attacks on DWP and Jobcentre Plus workers are attacks on our rights toaccess welfare. We will support the PCS' fight against cuts.
• We want an end to the apartheid system of benefits, healthcare and housing for asylum seekers. UK Border Agency support should be scrapped-- where people are forced to survive on incomes far below benefit levels– which are already set at subsistence level. No slum housing and dangerous and dirty hostels, dispersal, or vouchers.
After a day of info-sharing, outrage and scheming, we formed a few working groups. If you're able to help out with any of the projects, please email hackneyunemployedworkers@gmail.com
1. Media working group – monitor and respond to hostile articles in the media.
2. Our propaganda – creating posters, newsletters etc to get our messages out
3. Website – put together a website as a space to share resources, feedback and comment, get the word out about our campaign and publicise local and national action.
4. Our welfare rights – compiling information to help us access our rights now and creating 'Know your rights' leaflets.
5. Defeating the Work for your Benefits pilots – research to support the network to take action against the pilots.
If you want to stay in touch, please join our discussion list here:http://groups.google.com/group/no-to-welfare-abolition
If you agree with our demands above and would like to take part in ourcampaign, please ask your group to sign up to this statement and email hackneyunemployedworkers@gmail.com
And put the next national meeting in your diary now.... 17 April in Manchester!
The meeting had people in attendance from: South Manchester Community Union, London Anarcha-Feminist Kolektiv, London Coalition Against Poverty, Feminist Action, Defend Welfare Newcastle, Manchester Unemployed WorkersUnion, Cambridge Unemployed Workers' Union, PCS, Hackney UnemployedWorkers, Single Mothers' Self Defence, Winvisible, Alliance for Workers'Liberty, Disabled People's Direct Action Network, Southwark Mind, Women's Office Manchester Student Union, Riveters feminist group in Manchester,Feminist Fightback, Industrial Workers of the World, No Borders, StopDeportations, Anarchist Federation, Communist Students, SalfordUnemployed Workers' Union.
Friday, 11 December 2009
UK Government's Welfare Reform: Comments
Dear friends
We wanted you to see the letter from Single Mothers' Self-Defence and
WinVisible in
today’s Guardian (UK Newspaper), together with other letters. Below is what we were
responding to.
Please circulate widely.
Many thanks
_________________
Letters
Crackdown on fraud – and the vulnerable
The Guardian, Wednesday 9 December 2009
Minister Helen Goodman claims she agrees "that the early years of a
child's life are
so important" (Letters, 3 December). Yet Labour, with almost 100 women
MPs, many
calling themselves feminists, voted on 10 November for benefit sanctions
against
single parents of children aged three upwards, if they refused "work-related
activity". The "family-friendly" provisions Ms Goodman takes credit for
were won in
a knock-down fight in the Lords spearheaded by carers, including
breastfeeding
mothers, and women with disabilities. Labour already had in place that
mothers with
newborns had to report for "work-focused interviews". We won exemption from
interviews until the child is one; exemption from work-related activity,
if there is
no childcare; and for mothers of disabled children receiving any care
benefits,
among other concessions.
Better-off families can choose for one parent to stay at home, but
children from
low-income families are denied their right to care from someone who loves
them. Few
employers allow flexible working when teenage children need and deserve
attention.
At a recent single parents' conference, minister Yvette Cooper heard the
profound
problems mothers have of job insecurity, as well as discrimination against
part-time
workers. On top of coping alone with debt, high rents, stress, children's
behavioural problems, the enforced double day is a recipe for family
breakdown.
Professionals at the conference showed they know these problems inside
out, but they
do not protest publicly.
Kim Sparrow Single Mothers' Self-Defence
Claire Glasman WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities)
• It's ironic that the day the government announced a blitz on benefit
fraud, our
39-year-old severely disabled daughter who has very high support needs
received a
summons for fraud, with a substantial penalty charge levied, in threatening
language, from our local NHS Fraud Office for a prescription from April. The
prescription was ticked in the appropriate box as free, as she has always
been in
receipt of free medication, as disabled from birth. She has lived at the same
address for 13 years, has not changed her GP and, unfortunately, is
reliant on
several medications that require constant repeat prescriptions that are
ongoing.
Fortunately we, as parents, are able to challenge this inexcusable action,
that was
seemingly made without any checks on who she was or her status. Now the
"blitz" is
being rolled out, how many other of our most vulnerable and poorest
citizens are
going to be treated in such a way, and traumatised in the run up to
Christmas?
Name and address supplied
• How will Tory plans to slash already inadequate benefits support people
suffering
from depression?
H Powell
Alvechurch, Worcestershire
Letters
Lone parents
The Guardian, Thursday 3 December 2009
Our policy towards parents is based on what's best for them and their
children –
putting family first (Time to grow emotionally, 2 December). We agree with
Sue
Gerhardt that the early years of a child's life are so important – that's
why we
won't require parents to go back to work before their child is seven. And
government
financial support for families during a child's first year, including
statutory
maternity pay, the Sure Start maternity grant, and the child tax credit is
now worth
over £9,000.
For lone parent mothers of children aged seven to 12 we are introducing new
family-friendly regulations which will make clear that parents can look for
part-time work or jobs that fit with school hours. Paid work is the best
and most
sustainable route out of poverty for families and also good for people's
health and
wellbeing, and their self-esteem. It's far too simplistic to say we're
forcing
people back to work – any expectations fit round childcare and
flexibilities that
help to protect the work-family life balance.
Helen Goodman MP
Parliamentary undersecretary, Department for Work and Pensions
Time to grow emotionally
Chasing parents back to work just when children need them most will be
costly in the
long run
Sue Gerhardt
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 December 2009 22.00 GMT
Everywhere, cuts are on the agenda. And not even the youngest, it seems,
escape
their impact. With the pre-budget report looming, it is particularly
disturbing to
consider that the manifesto pledge to extend maternity leave was the first
big
casualty of the Treasury's spending squeeze – suggesting it is seen as
Labour's most
expendable commitment.
Yet other government departments have in recent years acknowledged how early
parenting is the key to laying down the foundations for emotional
wellbeing. The
first two or three years are the crucial window when various systems which
manage
emotions are put into place. In particular, it is when we learn to exercise
self-control and to be aware of other people's needs. Without these basic
emotional
skills children may not grow up emotionally competent.
But to achieve this basic emotional literacy, babies need to be with
people they are
attached to well beyond nine months. They need to be with people who are
safe and
familiar, who know them well, respond to them quickly and, above all, love
them. The
idea that their main caregiver should be forced by economic necessity to
take paid
employment – or encouraged to let someone else manage their baby's emotional
development – is ludicrous.
As "JH", a single parent opposing proposals in the new welfare reform act,
wrote: "I
have the love and the commitment – why is that not recognised? I don't see
how
paying a stranger to care for him, while I seek similarly underpaid
part-time work
(perhaps even caring for someone else's children) will benefit either of us,
financially or otherwise."
The evidence is that it is highly unlikely to benefit her child –
particularly if he
is put into low-quality nursery care – since the earlier babies are put into
nurseries, and the longer they are there, the more likely their emotional
distress
will result in them being aggressive and difficult at school. Recent
research by
Clancy Blair at Pennsylvania State University also suggests that
children's academic
achievement is highly dependent on the emotional foundations that are put
in place
in the first couple of years.
Yet instead of moving towards greater support for early parenting, the
government is
sending the message that this is a luxury we cannot afford. Mothers should
leave
their babies and get back to earning money. The worthy goal of lifting
children out
of poverty is invoked. Of course we don't want children to feel excluded from
society, to suffer from their parents' financial anxieties, or to live in
communities of workless, frustrated adults. Yet it is simple-minded of the
government to conclude that forcing parents into work is the most
effective way to
end child poverty. Many chronic welfare dependents have themselves
experienced
economic deprivation, social exclusion and emotional trauma as children
and, as a
result, have become the teenage parents, the substance abusers, the
aggressive,
unreliable, under-qualified, psychosomatically ill, emotionally unskilled,
unemployable people who are such a financial burden to us all. Their own
emotional
difficulties often make it hard for them to offer their children the
loving, firm
parenting that is so essential for psychological wellbeing. But where is
the support
for such parents in the form of psychotherapy and parent-skills training
so that we
can stop the cycle of disadvantage?
The men in the Treasury are casting around for easy targets to balance
their books
and meet their child poverty targets. But they have lost sight of what really
matters. Children's wellbeing starts with positive early relationships
from birth.
This is one investment we must make, however expensive it is. In the long
run, we
will even save money.
Sue Gerhardt is a British psychoanalytic psychotherapist and author of Why
Love
Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain
We wanted you to see the letter from Single Mothers' Self-Defence and
WinVisible in
today’s Guardian (UK Newspaper), together with other letters. Below is what we were
responding to.
Please circulate widely.
Many thanks
_________________
Letters
Crackdown on fraud – and the vulnerable
The Guardian, Wednesday 9 December 2009
Minister Helen Goodman claims she agrees "that the early years of a
child's life are
so important" (Letters, 3 December). Yet Labour, with almost 100 women
MPs, many
calling themselves feminists, voted on 10 November for benefit sanctions
against
single parents of children aged three upwards, if they refused "work-related
activity". The "family-friendly" provisions Ms Goodman takes credit for
were won in
a knock-down fight in the Lords spearheaded by carers, including
breastfeeding
mothers, and women with disabilities. Labour already had in place that
mothers with
newborns had to report for "work-focused interviews". We won exemption from
interviews until the child is one; exemption from work-related activity,
if there is
no childcare; and for mothers of disabled children receiving any care
benefits,
among other concessions.
Better-off families can choose for one parent to stay at home, but
children from
low-income families are denied their right to care from someone who loves
them. Few
employers allow flexible working when teenage children need and deserve
attention.
At a recent single parents' conference, minister Yvette Cooper heard the
profound
problems mothers have of job insecurity, as well as discrimination against
part-time
workers. On top of coping alone with debt, high rents, stress, children's
behavioural problems, the enforced double day is a recipe for family
breakdown.
Professionals at the conference showed they know these problems inside
out, but they
do not protest publicly.
Kim Sparrow Single Mothers' Self-Defence
Claire Glasman WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities)
• It's ironic that the day the government announced a blitz on benefit
fraud, our
39-year-old severely disabled daughter who has very high support needs
received a
summons for fraud, with a substantial penalty charge levied, in threatening
language, from our local NHS Fraud Office for a prescription from April. The
prescription was ticked in the appropriate box as free, as she has always
been in
receipt of free medication, as disabled from birth. She has lived at the same
address for 13 years, has not changed her GP and, unfortunately, is
reliant on
several medications that require constant repeat prescriptions that are
ongoing.
Fortunately we, as parents, are able to challenge this inexcusable action,
that was
seemingly made without any checks on who she was or her status. Now the
"blitz" is
being rolled out, how many other of our most vulnerable and poorest
citizens are
going to be treated in such a way, and traumatised in the run up to
Christmas?
Name and address supplied
• How will Tory plans to slash already inadequate benefits support people
suffering
from depression?
H Powell
Alvechurch, Worcestershire
Letters
Lone parents
The Guardian, Thursday 3 December 2009
Our policy towards parents is based on what's best for them and their
children –
putting family first (Time to grow emotionally, 2 December). We agree with
Sue
Gerhardt that the early years of a child's life are so important – that's
why we
won't require parents to go back to work before their child is seven. And
government
financial support for families during a child's first year, including
statutory
maternity pay, the Sure Start maternity grant, and the child tax credit is
now worth
over £9,000.
For lone parent mothers of children aged seven to 12 we are introducing new
family-friendly regulations which will make clear that parents can look for
part-time work or jobs that fit with school hours. Paid work is the best
and most
sustainable route out of poverty for families and also good for people's
health and
wellbeing, and their self-esteem. It's far too simplistic to say we're
forcing
people back to work – any expectations fit round childcare and
flexibilities that
help to protect the work-family life balance.
Helen Goodman MP
Parliamentary undersecretary, Department for Work and Pensions
Time to grow emotionally
Chasing parents back to work just when children need them most will be
costly in the
long run
Sue Gerhardt
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 December 2009 22.00 GMT
Everywhere, cuts are on the agenda. And not even the youngest, it seems,
escape
their impact. With the pre-budget report looming, it is particularly
disturbing to
consider that the manifesto pledge to extend maternity leave was the first
big
casualty of the Treasury's spending squeeze – suggesting it is seen as
Labour's most
expendable commitment.
Yet other government departments have in recent years acknowledged how early
parenting is the key to laying down the foundations for emotional
wellbeing. The
first two or three years are the crucial window when various systems which
manage
emotions are put into place. In particular, it is when we learn to exercise
self-control and to be aware of other people's needs. Without these basic
emotional
skills children may not grow up emotionally competent.
But to achieve this basic emotional literacy, babies need to be with
people they are
attached to well beyond nine months. They need to be with people who are
safe and
familiar, who know them well, respond to them quickly and, above all, love
them. The
idea that their main caregiver should be forced by economic necessity to
take paid
employment – or encouraged to let someone else manage their baby's emotional
development – is ludicrous.
As "JH", a single parent opposing proposals in the new welfare reform act,
wrote: "I
have the love and the commitment – why is that not recognised? I don't see
how
paying a stranger to care for him, while I seek similarly underpaid
part-time work
(perhaps even caring for someone else's children) will benefit either of us,
financially or otherwise."
The evidence is that it is highly unlikely to benefit her child –
particularly if he
is put into low-quality nursery care – since the earlier babies are put into
nurseries, and the longer they are there, the more likely their emotional
distress
will result in them being aggressive and difficult at school. Recent
research by
Clancy Blair at Pennsylvania State University also suggests that
children's academic
achievement is highly dependent on the emotional foundations that are put
in place
in the first couple of years.
Yet instead of moving towards greater support for early parenting, the
government is
sending the message that this is a luxury we cannot afford. Mothers should
leave
their babies and get back to earning money. The worthy goal of lifting
children out
of poverty is invoked. Of course we don't want children to feel excluded from
society, to suffer from their parents' financial anxieties, or to live in
communities of workless, frustrated adults. Yet it is simple-minded of the
government to conclude that forcing parents into work is the most
effective way to
end child poverty. Many chronic welfare dependents have themselves
experienced
economic deprivation, social exclusion and emotional trauma as children
and, as a
result, have become the teenage parents, the substance abusers, the
aggressive,
unreliable, under-qualified, psychosomatically ill, emotionally unskilled,
unemployable people who are such a financial burden to us all. Their own
emotional
difficulties often make it hard for them to offer their children the
loving, firm
parenting that is so essential for psychological wellbeing. But where is
the support
for such parents in the form of psychotherapy and parent-skills training
so that we
can stop the cycle of disadvantage?
The men in the Treasury are casting around for easy targets to balance
their books
and meet their child poverty targets. But they have lost sight of what really
matters. Children's wellbeing starts with positive early relationships
from birth.
This is one investment we must make, however expensive it is. In the long
run, we
will even save money.
Sue Gerhardt is a British psychoanalytic psychotherapist and author of Why
Love
Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Celebrity Culture Intruding on Children's Understanding and Exploration of Nature
[This article is from www.kidsloveearth.co.uk and research carried out by Robinsons be Natural products. Please contact them for more info if necessary]
"School children know less about nature and more about David Beckham
Research released today has found that British primary school children can list almost four times as many celebrities as they can wildflowers, birds and wild animals. The research, which sought to uncover how much children know about nature, also found that one in four children are not aware that a tadpole develops into a frog in later life.
When asked to identify celebrities, children aged 6-11 years could list on average 8 celebs with pop sensation, Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) as the number one pick, followed closely by David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Zach Efron from High School Musical. Other popular picks for girls included Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue, whilst boys reeled off famous faces such as Steven Gerrard, Simon Cowell and Michael Jackson.
Conversely, when asked to turn their focus to the British countryside, children could only name on average 2 wild flowers, 3 wild animals and 4 garden birds. Children were however able to spin off the names of 10 cartoon characters in addition to the 8 celebrities.
Interestingly, almost half of children surveyed (47%) said playing outside was their favourite playtime activity. Yet despite this passion for the outdoors, the research results showed that children know very little about the world around them.
The survey, undertaken by Robinsons be Natural involved more than 1,000 families across the UK. Other key findings from the research are listed below.
- 1/4 of children in the Midlands believe the dolphin is a common wild animal found in the UK
- 14% of children could not list any wild animals in the UK countryside. The figures were highest in Wales with 25% of Welsh children unable to list any wild animals
- 27% of children in Northern Ireland were not aware a caterpillar develops into a butterfly in later life
- Children in London listed the tomato as a common British wild flower, whilst children in the North West named the penguin as a garden bird residing in the UK
Top 5 Celebrities Named:
1. Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana)
2. David Beckham
3. Wayne Rooney
4. Zach Efron
5. Britney Spears
Top 5 Cartoon Characters Named:
1. Spongebob Squarepants
2. Simpsons Characters (Bart/Homer)
3. Tom and Jerry
4. Scooby Doo
5. Mickey Mouse
Top 5 Wild Flowers Named:
1. Daisy
2. Buttercup
3. Dandilion
4. Bluebell
5. Poppy
Top 5 Wild Animals Named:
1. Fox
2. Rabbit
3. Squirrel
4. Deer
5. Badger
Top 5 Garden Birds Named:
1. Robin
2. Blackbird
3. Pigeon
4. Blue Tit
5. Chaffinch
http://www.kidsloveearth.co.uk/downloads/School%20children%20know%20less%20about%20nature%20and%20more%20about%20David%20Beckham.doc "
Readers must bare in mind that this research has been carried out by a corporation (Robinsons be Natural) in pursuit of profit, but nevertheless its research results have been constantly replicated by many other studies and research in this field.
We are witnessing the first generations of children and young adults that understand and experience more from the media than the natural world, and whom are influenced more by celebrity culture than ever before. All at a time when the need for action to counteract climate change is long overdue, and many studies on the topic show what we already know: that the media perpetuates sexist, racist and homophobic influences within society, and therefore within the individual: especially the growing child.
Is this a harmless societal 'progression' (or 'regression') that we must accept? Or are we shamefully failing the next generation of young adults by not addressing these issues?
"School children know less about nature and more about David Beckham
Research released today has found that British primary school children can list almost four times as many celebrities as they can wildflowers, birds and wild animals. The research, which sought to uncover how much children know about nature, also found that one in four children are not aware that a tadpole develops into a frog in later life.
When asked to identify celebrities, children aged 6-11 years could list on average 8 celebs with pop sensation, Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) as the number one pick, followed closely by David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Zach Efron from High School Musical. Other popular picks for girls included Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue, whilst boys reeled off famous faces such as Steven Gerrard, Simon Cowell and Michael Jackson.
Conversely, when asked to turn their focus to the British countryside, children could only name on average 2 wild flowers, 3 wild animals and 4 garden birds. Children were however able to spin off the names of 10 cartoon characters in addition to the 8 celebrities.
Interestingly, almost half of children surveyed (47%) said playing outside was their favourite playtime activity. Yet despite this passion for the outdoors, the research results showed that children know very little about the world around them.
The survey, undertaken by Robinsons be Natural involved more than 1,000 families across the UK. Other key findings from the research are listed below.
- 1/4 of children in the Midlands believe the dolphin is a common wild animal found in the UK
- 14% of children could not list any wild animals in the UK countryside. The figures were highest in Wales with 25% of Welsh children unable to list any wild animals
- 27% of children in Northern Ireland were not aware a caterpillar develops into a butterfly in later life
- Children in London listed the tomato as a common British wild flower, whilst children in the North West named the penguin as a garden bird residing in the UK
Top 5 Celebrities Named:
1. Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana)
2. David Beckham
3. Wayne Rooney
4. Zach Efron
5. Britney Spears
Top 5 Cartoon Characters Named:
1. Spongebob Squarepants
2. Simpsons Characters (Bart/Homer)
3. Tom and Jerry
4. Scooby Doo
5. Mickey Mouse
Top 5 Wild Flowers Named:
1. Daisy
2. Buttercup
3. Dandilion
4. Bluebell
5. Poppy
Top 5 Wild Animals Named:
1. Fox
2. Rabbit
3. Squirrel
4. Deer
5. Badger
Top 5 Garden Birds Named:
1. Robin
2. Blackbird
3. Pigeon
4. Blue Tit
5. Chaffinch
http://www.kidsloveearth.co.uk/downloads/School%20children%20know%20less%20about%20nature%20and%20more%20about%20David%20Beckham.doc "
Readers must bare in mind that this research has been carried out by a corporation (Robinsons be Natural) in pursuit of profit, but nevertheless its research results have been constantly replicated by many other studies and research in this field.
We are witnessing the first generations of children and young adults that understand and experience more from the media than the natural world, and whom are influenced more by celebrity culture than ever before. All at a time when the need for action to counteract climate change is long overdue, and many studies on the topic show what we already know: that the media perpetuates sexist, racist and homophobic influences within society, and therefore within the individual: especially the growing child.
Is this a harmless societal 'progression' (or 'regression') that we must accept? Or are we shamefully failing the next generation of young adults by not addressing these issues?
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
UK Welfare Reform: Urgent Action Needed to Support Single Mothers
Dear friends,
URGENT -- please take action by the end of Wednesday
Welfare Reform Bill-- protection for children under five overturned by MPs
MPs supporting the government tonight brutally overturned the amendment won in the Lords, which protected single parents of children under five from losing benefit for not doing work-related activity.
Single parent families could have their benefit cut by 40%.
This is an outrageous attack on single mothers who are looking after
children full-time.
236 MPs voted against the government, and some made clear that mothers caring work is a vital contribution to society.
It should be recognised not penalised.
Please write to the Lords who backed the amendment to urge them to keep this important protection for children, and let them know the strength of feeling in the community on this issue. Personal statements from mothers, fathers and carers are most convincing.
Lord Freud, the Conservative Lord who led on this amendment, will raise it again when the Bill goes back to the Lords on Thursday at 11.30am. We have another chance of defeating the government on their uncaring policy.
Fax number for the Lords: 020 7219 5979 (mark for the attention of the Peer you are writing to.)
(As time is short, please send your letters direct, don't rely on us to forward them, but do send us a copy at womenstrike8m@server101.com Fax 020 7209 4761)
Please write to:
Conservatives
Chris Scott
scottcg@parliament.uk Conservative Office, House of Lords has undertaken to pass on emails received by end of Wednesday.
Lord Freud
freudd@parliament.uk
Fax: 020 7219 5979 mark attention Lord Freud
Tel: 020 7219 4907
Lord Taylor of Holbeach CBE
Tel: 020 7219 4051
taylorjl@parliament.uk
Baroness Morris of Bolton OBE
Tel: 020 7219 5353
whitbycollins@parliament.uk
Liberal Democrats
Baroness Celia Thomas
Tel: 020 7219 3586
thomascm@parliament.uk
Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
Fax: 020 7219 5979 mark Attention Lord Kirkwood (no email)
Crossbench
Lord Northbourne
Tel: 020 7219 3884
Fax: 020 7219 5933
northbournec@parliament.uk
URGENT -- please take action by the end of Wednesday
Welfare Reform Bill-- protection for children under five overturned by MPs
MPs supporting the government tonight brutally overturned the amendment won in the Lords, which protected single parents of children under five from losing benefit for not doing work-related activity.
Single parent families could have their benefit cut by 40%.
This is an outrageous attack on single mothers who are looking after
children full-time.
236 MPs voted against the government, and some made clear that mothers caring work is a vital contribution to society.
It should be recognised not penalised.
Please write to the Lords who backed the amendment to urge them to keep this important protection for children, and let them know the strength of feeling in the community on this issue. Personal statements from mothers, fathers and carers are most convincing.
Lord Freud, the Conservative Lord who led on this amendment, will raise it again when the Bill goes back to the Lords on Thursday at 11.30am. We have another chance of defeating the government on their uncaring policy.
Fax number for the Lords: 020 7219 5979 (mark for the attention of the Peer you are writing to.)
(As time is short, please send your letters direct, don't rely on us to forward them, but do send us a copy at womenstrike8m@server101.com Fax 020 7209 4761)
Please write to:
Conservatives
Chris Scott
scottcg@parliament.uk Conservative Office, House of Lords has undertaken to pass on emails received by end of Wednesday.
Lord Freud
freudd@parliament.uk
Fax: 020 7219 5979 mark attention Lord Freud
Tel: 020 7219 4907
Lord Taylor of Holbeach CBE
Tel: 020 7219 4051
taylorjl@parliament.uk
Baroness Morris of Bolton OBE
Tel: 020 7219 5353
whitbycollins@parliament.uk
Liberal Democrats
Baroness Celia Thomas
Tel: 020 7219 3586
thomascm@parliament.uk
Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope
Fax: 020 7219 5979 mark Attention Lord Kirkwood (no email)
Crossbench
Lord Northbourne
Tel: 020 7219 3884
Fax: 020 7219 5933
northbournec@parliament.uk
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Welfare Reform Bill: Update and Single Mothers
Mothers, carers, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence … win
important changes in the Lords.
But some may be overturned on Tuesday when the Bill returns to the Commons. Join us
to press MPs to keep them.
Many important concessions have been won. Testimonies from those affected, among a
wealth of letters and evidence from organisations, including ours, were taken up by
Peers and journalists, forcing the government to shift. The government has publicly
agreed to some of the changes, but some remain under threat.
The Bill is coming back to the Commons on Tuesday 10 November.
ACTION YOU CAN TAKE: Phone and/or email your MP to urge them to keep the concessions
and to condemn the worst measures in the Bill.
House of Commons tel: 020 7219 3000 Find your MP
Most under threat:
· Single parents of children under five are entitled to care for our children
full-time without losing benefit for not doing “work-related activity”. We need to
press MPs not to overturn this. No mother should be forced to go out to work if she
feels her pre-school age children need her.
Changes likely to be approved:
· Single mothers/parents of children aged three to six. Single parents on
Income Support will be able to keep £50 earnings, up from £20. No “work-related
activity” will be compulsory outside school hours, childcare or term-time. Mothers
won’t have their benefit cut for missing “job seekers” appointments due to family
responsibilities. Parents of children under 12 claiming Job Seekers Allowance will
not have to work full-time and can reject jobs that do not fit within school hours.
· Parents. Jobcentre advisers and “back to work” staff must have regard for
the welfare of the child in what they tell parents to do.
· Carers. Single parents will be exempt from job seeking if their disabled
child under 16 receives any rate of Disability Living Allowance for care.
Previously, the government said the parent must work if a child is on the low rate
for care.
· Women fleeing domestic violence. A three-month exemption from job seeking.
Though not enough for recovery and settling distressed children, it is an
improvement over the previous discretionary decision by Jobcentre staff.
· It is illegal for anyone to be pressured into medical treatment. Jobcentre
or “back to work” staff will not be able to tell disabled people claiming Employment
and Support Allowance (including people with mental health problems) that they have
to take their prescription or undergo surgery. The government previously claimed
that some people are “wilfully keeping themselves unfit for work”. People with drug
and alcohol problems can be required to attend assessments and “motivation”
sessions, but cannot lose benefit for refusing rehabilitation or treatment.
Despite these changes, the Bill takes away many of our rights:
It abolishes Income Support. This is the main benefit which acknowledges unwaged
caring work by single mothers and other carers.
It wipes out entitlement based on need and brings in US-style workfare. Couples
with young children must both seek work. Almost all claimants of working age must
look for a job or engage in a “work-related activity”. Those who cannot find a job
will have to “work for their benefits”, i.e. for £1.60 an hour. Forcing more people
to chase scarce jobs, while allowing employers to bypass the minimum wage, lowers
everyone’s wages. Councils looking to cut costs are already preparing for workfare
staff. Those of us who do not or cannot comply are threatened with destitution.
Asylum seekers were the first to be made destitute, and this inhuman standard is
being extended to others.
It introduces compulsory joint birth registration even where the father is violent.
If the mother has no official proof of his violence (a common situation) she will be
forced to give his name. Mothers of newborns should not have to worry about going
to court to stop the father abusing his parental rights to persecute her and the
child.
It expands charging for disability services which local authorities are allowed to
deduct at source from disabled people’s personal budgets. While many disability
groups welcome “the right to control” in the Welfare Reform Bill, the new percentage
charging system discriminates against those with severe disabilities, who pay more
from bigger budgets.
We are determined to defend our entitlement to benefits and free high-quality
services. Many people have signed up to a letter condemning the abolition of Income
Support. Add your name. LINK
Contact us for more info:
Single Mothers’ Self-Defence centre@crossroadswomen.net
WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities) winvisible@allwomencount.net
Global Women’s Strike womenstrike8m@server101.com
Legal Action for Women law@allwomencount.net
Tel: 020 7482 2496 www.allwomencount.net www.globalwomenstrike.net
important changes in the Lords.
But some may be overturned on Tuesday when the Bill returns to the Commons. Join us
to press MPs to keep them.
Many important concessions have been won. Testimonies from those affected, among a
wealth of letters and evidence from organisations, including ours, were taken up by
Peers and journalists, forcing the government to shift. The government has publicly
agreed to some of the changes, but some remain under threat.
The Bill is coming back to the Commons on Tuesday 10 November.
ACTION YOU CAN TAKE: Phone and/or email your MP to urge them to keep the concessions
and to condemn the worst measures in the Bill.
House of Commons tel: 020 7219 3000 Find your MP
Most under threat:
· Single parents of children under five are entitled to care for our children
full-time without losing benefit for not doing “work-related activity”. We need to
press MPs not to overturn this. No mother should be forced to go out to work if she
feels her pre-school age children need her.
Changes likely to be approved:
· Single mothers/parents of children aged three to six. Single parents on
Income Support will be able to keep £50 earnings, up from £20. No “work-related
activity” will be compulsory outside school hours, childcare or term-time. Mothers
won’t have their benefit cut for missing “job seekers” appointments due to family
responsibilities. Parents of children under 12 claiming Job Seekers Allowance will
not have to work full-time and can reject jobs that do not fit within school hours.
· Parents. Jobcentre advisers and “back to work” staff must have regard for
the welfare of the child in what they tell parents to do.
· Carers. Single parents will be exempt from job seeking if their disabled
child under 16 receives any rate of Disability Living Allowance for care.
Previously, the government said the parent must work if a child is on the low rate
for care.
· Women fleeing domestic violence. A three-month exemption from job seeking.
Though not enough for recovery and settling distressed children, it is an
improvement over the previous discretionary decision by Jobcentre staff.
· It is illegal for anyone to be pressured into medical treatment. Jobcentre
or “back to work” staff will not be able to tell disabled people claiming Employment
and Support Allowance (including people with mental health problems) that they have
to take their prescription or undergo surgery. The government previously claimed
that some people are “wilfully keeping themselves unfit for work”. People with drug
and alcohol problems can be required to attend assessments and “motivation”
sessions, but cannot lose benefit for refusing rehabilitation or treatment.
Despite these changes, the Bill takes away many of our rights:
It abolishes Income Support. This is the main benefit which acknowledges unwaged
caring work by single mothers and other carers.
It wipes out entitlement based on need and brings in US-style workfare. Couples
with young children must both seek work. Almost all claimants of working age must
look for a job or engage in a “work-related activity”. Those who cannot find a job
will have to “work for their benefits”, i.e. for £1.60 an hour. Forcing more people
to chase scarce jobs, while allowing employers to bypass the minimum wage, lowers
everyone’s wages. Councils looking to cut costs are already preparing for workfare
staff. Those of us who do not or cannot comply are threatened with destitution.
Asylum seekers were the first to be made destitute, and this inhuman standard is
being extended to others.
It introduces compulsory joint birth registration even where the father is violent.
If the mother has no official proof of his violence (a common situation) she will be
forced to give his name. Mothers of newborns should not have to worry about going
to court to stop the father abusing his parental rights to persecute her and the
child.
It expands charging for disability services which local authorities are allowed to
deduct at source from disabled people’s personal budgets. While many disability
groups welcome “the right to control” in the Welfare Reform Bill, the new percentage
charging system discriminates against those with severe disabilities, who pay more
from bigger budgets.
We are determined to defend our entitlement to benefits and free high-quality
services. Many people have signed up to a letter condemning the abolition of Income
Support. Add your name. LINK
Contact us for more info:
Single Mothers’ Self-Defence centre@crossroadswomen.net
WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities) winvisible@allwomencount.net
Global Women’s Strike womenstrike8m@server101.com
Legal Action for Women law@allwomencount.net
Tel: 020 7482 2496 www.allwomencount.net www.globalwomenstrike.net
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Petition for reuniting African mums and kids seeking asylum in UK
Dear Friends,
We are writing to introduce you to The Mothers’ Campaign of the All African Women’s
Group. We are mothers who have had to flee to the UK leaving our children behind in
our home country. We left our children when we saw they would be safer without us.
(We enclose our leaflet below.)
We are launching a petition with our demands for family reunion and invite you to sign it at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MumsKids/petition.html
We are gathering signatures between now and Mothers’ Day in March next year. We
would very much appreciate your support and hope you can initially help us by
circulating the petition amongst your friends, family and network.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require any further information.
Yours
Jeto Flaviah
The Mothers’ Campaign of the All African Women’s Group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mothers & children seeking asylum
We are mothers who have had to flee to the UK leaving our children behind in our
home country. Our lives were at risk – most of us have been through rape and other
torture; some of us have seen family members killed. We left our children when we
saw they would be safer without us. We didn’t know where we were going, or how, or
if we would survive.
When we claim asylum we are not recognised as mothers who are suffering separation
from their children. Even when we win the right to stay, we still face the pain of
being prevented from reuniting our family.
"We are consumed by guilt and worry. Every meal we eat we think of whether our
children have food. But our love for them is also what keeps us going. Sometimes you
feel so hopeless, you want to end your life but knowing your children need you is
what makes you keep fighting.”
We sometimes lose contact with children back home. Or we hear of them suffering
without our protection – living on the streets after caring relatives have died;
taken by the military; or even turning to pick-pocketing and prostitution to survive
and feed the younger ones.
We have hardly enough to feed ourselves but we do all we can to send money home for
them. And if we don’t know where they are, we raise money to search for them. We do
low-paid, illegal work or even sleep with men for money for them.
But if our kids turn 18 while we wait – often for years – for an asylum claim to be
settled, we lose the right for them to join us.
This government talks so much about the importance of families and claims that
“Every child matters”, yet our children are denied their mothers’ love and
protection. None of the media stories about missing children which highlight the
parents’ distress, even mention what we and our children are going through.
We are writing to introduce you to The Mothers’ Campaign of the All African Women’s
Group. We are mothers who have had to flee to the UK leaving our children behind in
our home country. We left our children when we saw they would be safer without us.
(We enclose our leaflet below.)
We are launching a petition with our demands for family reunion and invite you to sign it at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MumsKids/petition.html
We are gathering signatures between now and Mothers’ Day in March next year. We
would very much appreciate your support and hope you can initially help us by
circulating the petition amongst your friends, family and network.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require any further information.
Yours
Jeto Flaviah
The Mothers’ Campaign of the All African Women’s Group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mothers & children seeking asylum
We are mothers who have had to flee to the UK leaving our children behind in our
home country. Our lives were at risk – most of us have been through rape and other
torture; some of us have seen family members killed. We left our children when we
saw they would be safer without us. We didn’t know where we were going, or how, or
if we would survive.
When we claim asylum we are not recognised as mothers who are suffering separation
from their children. Even when we win the right to stay, we still face the pain of
being prevented from reuniting our family.
"We are consumed by guilt and worry. Every meal we eat we think of whether our
children have food. But our love for them is also what keeps us going. Sometimes you
feel so hopeless, you want to end your life but knowing your children need you is
what makes you keep fighting.”
We sometimes lose contact with children back home. Or we hear of them suffering
without our protection – living on the streets after caring relatives have died;
taken by the military; or even turning to pick-pocketing and prostitution to survive
and feed the younger ones.
We have hardly enough to feed ourselves but we do all we can to send money home for
them. And if we don’t know where they are, we raise money to search for them. We do
low-paid, illegal work or even sleep with men for money for them.
But if our kids turn 18 while we wait – often for years – for an asylum claim to be
settled, we lose the right for them to join us.
This government talks so much about the importance of families and claims that
“Every child matters”, yet our children are denied their mothers’ love and
protection. None of the media stories about missing children which highlight the
parents’ distress, even mention what we and our children are going through.
We demand...
- To be recognised as mothers, with dependent children
- That when the government grants amnesty to families with children here – their
right to stay without having to establish a fear of persecution – that we, together
with our children back home, must also have a right to family amnesty. Though we
are divided, we are a family.
When we win our right to stay we demand...
- Unconditional right to family reunion to everyone who wins the right to stay in the
UK (whether under the refugee convention, humanitarian protection, human rights act,
legacy process or other grounds). - The right of children to join their mother even if they turned 18 before her asylum
claim was settled.
We urge British embassies/high commissions in our home countries to show their
commitment to families by helping to find our missing children and reunite them with
their mothers.
"Mummy, you are the only person I have to save me from everything I’m going
through. Thomas screams every night. . . . I don’t even know what to say about
Michael but he’s a baby boy who needs his mummy right now.” (Letter from a teenage girl whose mother was forced to leave her four children behind).
For more information, including how you can help, contact:
All African Women’s Group, aawg02@googlemail.com
Crossroads Women’s Centre, 230a Kentish Town Rd
London NW5 2AB, Tel: 020 7482 2496
All African Women's Group<>
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Eco-Feminist Storytelling Workshop for Kids at Climate Camp 2009
On Tuesday 1st September 2009, members of the CRAP! Collective (Child Rearing Against Patriarchy) led an ‘Eco-Feminist Storytelling’ workshop, in the autonomous Kidspace at this year’s Climate Camp in London. The kids ranged in ages from 2-11 years.
The workshop began with introductions. There was a name go-around, and each person talked a little about their favourite book, and what they liked best about it. The adults from the Collective then introduced some of the stories they would be reading to the kids that day: ‘Rainforest’ by Helen Cowcher, ‘Dinosaurs- and all that rubbish’ by Michael Foreman, ‘Spacegirl Pukes’ by Katy Watson and Vanda Carter, and ‘Fantastic Daisy Artichoke’ by Quentin Blake. These books were chosen due to their ‘eco’ or ‘feminist’ credentials, and also because they suited the ages of the kids in the workshop that day.
After each book was read, there was a brief chat about what we liked best and what we liked worst about the book. What messages was it trying to give the reader? What was special about the characters in the book? Were there elements of the stories that seemed unusual to find in a kids storybook? Then there was chat about the lead characters in the stories- in the two ‘eco’ books there were no female characters, whereas the two other stories had either strong female characters or a gender-neutral balance. There was talk about why we may think many ‘eco’ stories have male lead characters, and the difficultly that the adults leading the workshop had, in finding books for young children that were both ‘eco’ and also ‘feminist’ with a strong female lead character, or even with just a non-sexist outlook.
A circle was formed by the workshop participants, ready to create their very own collective story! Now they were to play the ‘Circle Stories’ game: kids create a story together- one line at a time. Going round in a circle, each kid takes turns adding a line building up the story to an often crazy end! There was an improvised ‘Story-stick’ which was passed around from kid to kid so everybody knew whose turn it was to say their line. An adult was present to write down the finished story in the kids’ own words.
Thanks to the kids and their excellent imaginations, we all had great fun. And here is their story…
Once Upon a Tuesday, Climate Camp Saved the Trees
Written collectively by the kids at Climate Camp Kidspace 2009
Once upon a Tuesday, I was going to the park. There was a crash! I wondered, ‘What was that noise?’. There was a car crash. All the birds flew out of their trees. It was Karen. Then a bird landed on Karen’s shoulder, and Karen said ‘Hello!’ to an Anarchist. A Butterfly came past, and a Snail. All the animals and Karen had a picnic. At the end, there was a ginormous Tortoise, which suddenly started to fly. And then it landed, and it ‘pogged in a poggy dog’! In animal language that means, ‘A car is on fire!’.
The Tortoise went to Climate Camp. A Caterpillar walked past with boots on, and fired the boots off! All of a sudden it started to rain, and then the Tortoise sheltered everybody under its shell. The more it rained the more the Tortoise grew and grew, and his belly grew bigger and bigger. Then the Tortoise did the biggest wee in the world, and put the car out that was on fire! And then a big wave of wee fell over everyone.
There was a big Mirror with boots on going past. The Firemen came and cut some trees down. Everyone was sad. And then the Snail had an idea… ‘I know!’ she said, ‘Why don’t we dig underground to live?’. A little Mole came out, and the Mole said to a passing Punk, ‘Do you know where Climate Camp is?’. Then they soon got to Climate Camp and they stayed in a giant Snail tent! And where they were, a Superhero was putting all the trees back, by planting some new ones.
More fire came, and the trees fell back down. Then the Firemen came back. The Firemen were really sorry for taking the trees down before. The Firemen said, ‘I’m very sorry, I’ll help you plant some new ones’. The Punk popped up again and said ‘It’s true, Climate Camp isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life!’ And Gordon the Big Engine said ‘Where are all the Firewomen?’. Someone said they had all gone to space. The Mirror zoomed past and said ‘You’ve got no seeds to plant the trees, but with my Magic Mirror Spray- I can put the trees back, just like they were yesterday! Pazzeeee!’ The seeds that had been sprayed filled the Earth, and the Earth was re-tree’ed once again. And they all lived happily ever after.
The End!
The workshop began with introductions. There was a name go-around, and each person talked a little about their favourite book, and what they liked best about it. The adults from the Collective then introduced some of the stories they would be reading to the kids that day: ‘Rainforest’ by Helen Cowcher, ‘Dinosaurs- and all that rubbish’ by Michael Foreman, ‘Spacegirl Pukes’ by Katy Watson and Vanda Carter, and ‘Fantastic Daisy Artichoke’ by Quentin Blake. These books were chosen due to their ‘eco’ or ‘feminist’ credentials, and also because they suited the ages of the kids in the workshop that day.
After each book was read, there was a brief chat about what we liked best and what we liked worst about the book. What messages was it trying to give the reader? What was special about the characters in the book? Were there elements of the stories that seemed unusual to find in a kids storybook? Then there was chat about the lead characters in the stories- in the two ‘eco’ books there were no female characters, whereas the two other stories had either strong female characters or a gender-neutral balance. There was talk about why we may think many ‘eco’ stories have male lead characters, and the difficultly that the adults leading the workshop had, in finding books for young children that were both ‘eco’ and also ‘feminist’ with a strong female lead character, or even with just a non-sexist outlook.
A circle was formed by the workshop participants, ready to create their very own collective story! Now they were to play the ‘Circle Stories’ game: kids create a story together- one line at a time. Going round in a circle, each kid takes turns adding a line building up the story to an often crazy end! There was an improvised ‘Story-stick’ which was passed around from kid to kid so everybody knew whose turn it was to say their line. An adult was present to write down the finished story in the kids’ own words.
Thanks to the kids and their excellent imaginations, we all had great fun. And here is their story…
Once Upon a Tuesday, Climate Camp Saved the Trees
Written collectively by the kids at Climate Camp Kidspace 2009
Once upon a Tuesday, I was going to the park. There was a crash! I wondered, ‘What was that noise?’. There was a car crash. All the birds flew out of their trees. It was Karen. Then a bird landed on Karen’s shoulder, and Karen said ‘Hello!’ to an Anarchist. A Butterfly came past, and a Snail. All the animals and Karen had a picnic. At the end, there was a ginormous Tortoise, which suddenly started to fly. And then it landed, and it ‘pogged in a poggy dog’! In animal language that means, ‘A car is on fire!’.
The Tortoise went to Climate Camp. A Caterpillar walked past with boots on, and fired the boots off! All of a sudden it started to rain, and then the Tortoise sheltered everybody under its shell. The more it rained the more the Tortoise grew and grew, and his belly grew bigger and bigger. Then the Tortoise did the biggest wee in the world, and put the car out that was on fire! And then a big wave of wee fell over everyone.
There was a big Mirror with boots on going past. The Firemen came and cut some trees down. Everyone was sad. And then the Snail had an idea… ‘I know!’ she said, ‘Why don’t we dig underground to live?’. A little Mole came out, and the Mole said to a passing Punk, ‘Do you know where Climate Camp is?’. Then they soon got to Climate Camp and they stayed in a giant Snail tent! And where they were, a Superhero was putting all the trees back, by planting some new ones.
More fire came, and the trees fell back down. Then the Firemen came back. The Firemen were really sorry for taking the trees down before. The Firemen said, ‘I’m very sorry, I’ll help you plant some new ones’. The Punk popped up again and said ‘It’s true, Climate Camp isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life!’ And Gordon the Big Engine said ‘Where are all the Firewomen?’. Someone said they had all gone to space. The Mirror zoomed past and said ‘You’ve got no seeds to plant the trees, but with my Magic Mirror Spray- I can put the trees back, just like they were yesterday! Pazzeeee!’ The seeds that had been sprayed filled the Earth, and the Earth was re-tree’ed once again. And they all lived happily ever after.
The End!
Monday, 24 August 2009
London Radical Childcare Collective
Hello! From the Radical Childcare Collective.
We are an autonomous collective of anti-capitalist people (men, women, children, parents, educators and also including those who have no personal childcare responsibilities). We are dedicated activists in various fields (social and environmental justice groups, anarchist and feminist groups, anti-poverty and anti-deportation groups, radical education and home education groups, to name but a few). We meet regularly in a child-friendly space in Hackney, East London.
The group came together out of concern about the lack of enthusiasm in our activist scenes around providing space, resources, support and time for kids and their parents/carers to be involved in their scenes. The Radical Childcare Collective acknowledges the political importance of children, carers and childcare both in mainstream society, and in our own alternative movements.
We want to spread this movement of ours, yet we don’t make our activism accessible to parents, carers and children. Parents are often left out because of lack of childcare, meetings being held in inaccessible locations at inaccessible times and also because they can be devalued by members of our 'activist' communities. Many of the women in this country are mothers, yet groups don’t prioritise or always provide childcare at meetings. Maybe a meeting isn’t the most suitable place for children, but if parents are going to be there then we need to accept that children will be too, and sort out ways to deal with it, and there are many positive ways that this can be done.
We also believe that other parents shouldn’t be the only people interested in childcare- it should be an integral part of our community, as important as all the actions, as important as providing disabled access to events, and as important as banning other discriminatory behaviour (sexism, racism) from our groups.
Children should both be seen and heard! They have played a crucial role in social movements around the world from anti-apartheid to squatting and traveller movements, from environmental protests to Zapatista social justice resistances. Children can be vibrant, creative, inspiring and clever. They should be involved in decision-making and respected as part of this community, with valuable insights and energy. Children are a vital part of our movement, yet are often not included in our organising.
We need to consider the many benefits children gain from being involved with activism, and –in return- what we gain from them being involved. Why are we social, environmental, and political activists if not for future generations? Involve children in your activism! They are the future, you are their inspiration, and together we must fight for a better world.
Mainstream society and schooling does not provide our children with the education that they need or deserve. For kids to actually be involved in environmental groups/events/actions, to be organising alongside positive adult role-models, and to be understanding alternative ways of working and socialising together- it privileges and reaches them on a much deeper level. For example, much more than hearing mainstream adults or school geography classes that just pay lip service to ‘eco-living’.
The Radical Childcare Collective hopes to be one step towards the more child, parent and carer-friendly world that we all deserve to live in. We are interested in not only providing childcare for meetings and events, but more importantly we are dedicated to the process of actively including children in our social, political and environmental movements, and bringing awareness of these issues to other positive activist groups in these fields.
Please contact londonradicalkidscollective@aktivix.org for more information and for details of the next meeting.
We are an autonomous collective of anti-capitalist people (men, women, children, parents, educators and also including those who have no personal childcare responsibilities). We are dedicated activists in various fields (social and environmental justice groups, anarchist and feminist groups, anti-poverty and anti-deportation groups, radical education and home education groups, to name but a few). We meet regularly in a child-friendly space in Hackney, East London.
The group came together out of concern about the lack of enthusiasm in our activist scenes around providing space, resources, support and time for kids and their parents/carers to be involved in their scenes. The Radical Childcare Collective acknowledges the political importance of children, carers and childcare both in mainstream society, and in our own alternative movements.
We want to spread this movement of ours, yet we don’t make our activism accessible to parents, carers and children. Parents are often left out because of lack of childcare, meetings being held in inaccessible locations at inaccessible times and also because they can be devalued by members of our 'activist' communities. Many of the women in this country are mothers, yet groups don’t prioritise or always provide childcare at meetings. Maybe a meeting isn’t the most suitable place for children, but if parents are going to be there then we need to accept that children will be too, and sort out ways to deal with it, and there are many positive ways that this can be done.
We also believe that other parents shouldn’t be the only people interested in childcare- it should be an integral part of our community, as important as all the actions, as important as providing disabled access to events, and as important as banning other discriminatory behaviour (sexism, racism) from our groups.
Children should both be seen and heard! They have played a crucial role in social movements around the world from anti-apartheid to squatting and traveller movements, from environmental protests to Zapatista social justice resistances. Children can be vibrant, creative, inspiring and clever. They should be involved in decision-making and respected as part of this community, with valuable insights and energy. Children are a vital part of our movement, yet are often not included in our organising.
We need to consider the many benefits children gain from being involved with activism, and –in return- what we gain from them being involved. Why are we social, environmental, and political activists if not for future generations? Involve children in your activism! They are the future, you are their inspiration, and together we must fight for a better world.
Mainstream society and schooling does not provide our children with the education that they need or deserve. For kids to actually be involved in environmental groups/events/actions, to be organising alongside positive adult role-models, and to be understanding alternative ways of working and socialising together- it privileges and reaches them on a much deeper level. For example, much more than hearing mainstream adults or school geography classes that just pay lip service to ‘eco-living’.
The Radical Childcare Collective hopes to be one step towards the more child, parent and carer-friendly world that we all deserve to live in. We are interested in not only providing childcare for meetings and events, but more importantly we are dedicated to the process of actively including children in our social, political and environmental movements, and bringing awareness of these issues to other positive activist groups in these fields.
Please contact londonradicalkidscollective@aktivix.org for more information and for details of the next meeting.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Home Educators: we're part of your community!
The government wants to give local council officers the right to enter our home and question children alone, just because we home educate.
There is no evidence that home educated children are more at risk than children educated at school.
The new proposals are disproportionate and unnecessary. They infringe our, and our children's, rights.
Please sign the petition at
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/EHEreview/
If you have friends, neighbours, colleagues or customers who educate their children outside the school system, please send a card to your MP to reassure them that
home educated children are not hidden- they are part of your community
[by home educators in Brighton. Please see our other blogposts with the label 'home education' for more information]
There is no evidence that home educated children are more at risk than children educated at school.
The new proposals are disproportionate and unnecessary. They infringe our, and our children's, rights.
Please sign the petition at
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/EHEreview/
If you have friends, neighbours, colleagues or customers who educate their children outside the school system, please send a card to your MP to reassure them that
home educated children are not hidden- they are part of your community
[by home educators in Brighton. Please see our other blogposts with the label 'home education' for more information]
Monday, 29 June 2009
New Book Extract: 'Turning Children into Consumers' by Sharon Beder
[This book report is from Media Lens- "Correcting for the Distorted Vision of the Corporate Media" www.medialens.org, please sign up to their emailed 'media alerts' to receive more info about media-related books like this one]
Introduction
Sharon Beder, visiting professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia, is one of our favourite political analysts. Her book ‘Global Spin’ (Green Books, 1997), is a devastating exposé of corporate, including corporate media, manipulation of politics and culture. Like Mark Curtis’s ‘The Ambiguities of Power,’ it is a book that defies attempts to underline the interesting bits - it’s all interesting! The title of Beder’s new book is self-explanatory: ‘This Little Kiddy Went To Market- The Corporate Capture Of Childhood.’ (Pluto Press, 2009)
Once again, this is a must-read analysis explaining how people and planet are being systematically subordinated to profit. We were so impressed by the second chapter, ‘Turning Children Into Consumers,’ that even before finishing the book we wrote to Beder asking if we could use some of it in a guest media alert. She has very kindly agreed. You can order a copy of ‘This Little Kiddy Went To Market’ at a specially discounted price from Pluto Press here: http://www.plutobooks.com/beder/ Sincere thanks to Sharon Beder and Pluto Press for letting us publish this tremendous material.
We invite you to imagine a world in which Beder’s work was “on every school curriculum”, as John Pilger recommends. Imagine if children were provided with tools of intellectual self-defence to counter the relentless campaigns of corporate manipulation. It is simultaneously depressing and heartening to consider how much happier, healthier, more compassionate our society would be as a result.
David Edwards and David Cromwell
Media Lens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TURNING CHILDREN INTO CONSUMERS
Sharon Beder
Extracted from “This Little Kiddy Went to Market: The Corporate Capture of Childhood”, Pluto Press, London, 2009.
Children are naïve about advertising and can easily be manipulated and exploited by marketers to want and demand their products. Corporate marketers believe that overtime they can be shaped into lifelong consumers with brand loyalties and that can be profitable for decades to come. What is more, children influence family spending decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars on household items like furniture, electrical appliances and computers, vacations, and even the family car.
Corporations began targeting their marketing messages directly to children during the 1980s, as affluent adult markets became saturated with consumer goods. Large firms established ‘kids’ departments and smaller firms specialised in marketing to children. A number of advertising industry publications were created such as Selling to Kids and Marketing to Kids Report. The academic literature began to feature studies of children as consumers. In the US the amount corporations spent marketing to children under twelve increased by five times between 1980 and 1990 and ten times more during the 1990s. In 2004 around $15 billion was being spent marketing to children.
Conferences on the best ways to market to children are held all over the world. There are also awards for the best advertisements and marketing campaigns with hundreds of entries. Much marketing to children now consists of sales promotions such as direct coupons, free gifts and samples, contests and sweepstakes, and public relations exercises such as using celebrities and licensed characters to visit shopping centres and schools. These additional forms of marketing have supplemented rather than replaced advertising as the importance of the children’s market has grown. Their aim however is the same as advertising.
The international children’s market is increasingly attractive to transnational corporations who seek to make their brands and products popular in different cultural milieus. The food industry was a pioneer in these efforts. In 1997 Brandweek magazine noted that McDonald’s was the favourite fast food all over the world and Coca-Cola the favourite drink.
To read the rest of this media alert, please go to: http://www.medialens.org/alerts/index.php
Introduction
Sharon Beder, visiting professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia, is one of our favourite political analysts. Her book ‘Global Spin’ (Green Books, 1997), is a devastating exposé of corporate, including corporate media, manipulation of politics and culture. Like Mark Curtis’s ‘The Ambiguities of Power,’ it is a book that defies attempts to underline the interesting bits - it’s all interesting! The title of Beder’s new book is self-explanatory: ‘This Little Kiddy Went To Market- The Corporate Capture Of Childhood.’ (Pluto Press, 2009)
Once again, this is a must-read analysis explaining how people and planet are being systematically subordinated to profit. We were so impressed by the second chapter, ‘Turning Children Into Consumers,’ that even before finishing the book we wrote to Beder asking if we could use some of it in a guest media alert. She has very kindly agreed. You can order a copy of ‘This Little Kiddy Went To Market’ at a specially discounted price from Pluto Press here: http://www.plutobooks.com/beder/ Sincere thanks to Sharon Beder and Pluto Press for letting us publish this tremendous material.
We invite you to imagine a world in which Beder’s work was “on every school curriculum”, as John Pilger recommends. Imagine if children were provided with tools of intellectual self-defence to counter the relentless campaigns of corporate manipulation. It is simultaneously depressing and heartening to consider how much happier, healthier, more compassionate our society would be as a result.
David Edwards and David Cromwell
Media Lens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TURNING CHILDREN INTO CONSUMERS
Sharon Beder
Extracted from “This Little Kiddy Went to Market: The Corporate Capture of Childhood”, Pluto Press, London, 2009.
Children are naïve about advertising and can easily be manipulated and exploited by marketers to want and demand their products. Corporate marketers believe that overtime they can be shaped into lifelong consumers with brand loyalties and that can be profitable for decades to come. What is more, children influence family spending decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars on household items like furniture, electrical appliances and computers, vacations, and even the family car.
Corporations began targeting their marketing messages directly to children during the 1980s, as affluent adult markets became saturated with consumer goods. Large firms established ‘kids’ departments and smaller firms specialised in marketing to children. A number of advertising industry publications were created such as Selling to Kids and Marketing to Kids Report. The academic literature began to feature studies of children as consumers. In the US the amount corporations spent marketing to children under twelve increased by five times between 1980 and 1990 and ten times more during the 1990s. In 2004 around $15 billion was being spent marketing to children.
Conferences on the best ways to market to children are held all over the world. There are also awards for the best advertisements and marketing campaigns with hundreds of entries. Much marketing to children now consists of sales promotions such as direct coupons, free gifts and samples, contests and sweepstakes, and public relations exercises such as using celebrities and licensed characters to visit shopping centres and schools. These additional forms of marketing have supplemented rather than replaced advertising as the importance of the children’s market has grown. Their aim however is the same as advertising.
The international children’s market is increasingly attractive to transnational corporations who seek to make their brands and products popular in different cultural milieus. The food industry was a pioneer in these efforts. In 1997 Brandweek magazine noted that McDonald’s was the favourite fast food all over the world and Coca-Cola the favourite drink.
To read the rest of this media alert, please go to: http://www.medialens.org/alerts/index.php
Thursday, 25 June 2009
'Fallen Princesses': Anti-Disney Art
Disney.
What images and emotions does this word conjure up for you?
For years now, I've been wanting to create a visual image- a piece of artwork- that sums up how I feel about the sexist, racist, capitalist, (add your own 'ist' here), Nazi-funding empire that is 'Disney'.
Finally the life-long dream was fulfilled when, thanks to a photoshop-savvy friend (view her online news and culture mag here: http://www.labouchemag.com/), the image of TinkeREBEL burning down the pink Disney princess castle appeared within the CRAP! Collective's 'Raise Some Hell!' zine (see PDF in sidebar, or email the Collective for a copy of the zine). The Collective is planning to create a series of these images- probably as more of a cathartic remedy for ourselves, rather than a political statement! (Get in touch with us for collaborative possibilites, or if you know of any great anti-Disney art out there that would satisfy our bloodlust)...
Anyway, when reading the blog 'blue milk' (http://www.bluemilk.wordpress.com/), I saw this series of wickedly stunning photographs entitled 'Fallen Princesses' by Dina Goldstein (See 'Cinderella' photo opposite; more photos from the project here: http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/11918), and they totally hit the spot! Although they're not anti-Disney, and also aren't empowering images of the women, they are certainly thought-provoking, and it's refreshing to see the Disney facade stripped away. As Dina describes them: "These works place Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the Princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict. The '...happily ever after' is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues...such as illness, addiction and self-image issues".
Have you created feminist anti-Disney art? Send us a photo here!
What images and emotions does this word conjure up for you?
For years now, I've been wanting to create a visual image- a piece of artwork- that sums up how I feel about the sexist, racist, capitalist, (add your own 'ist' here), Nazi-funding empire that is 'Disney'.
Finally the life-long dream was fulfilled when, thanks to a photoshop-savvy friend (view her online news and culture mag here: http://www.labouchemag.com/), the image of TinkeREBEL burning down the pink Disney princess castle appeared within the CRAP! Collective's 'Raise Some Hell!' zine (see PDF in sidebar, or email the Collective for a copy of the zine). The Collective is planning to create a series of these images- probably as more of a cathartic remedy for ourselves, rather than a political statement! (Get in touch with us for collaborative possibilites, or if you know of any great anti-Disney art out there that would satisfy our bloodlust)...
Anyway, when reading the blog 'blue milk' (http://www.bluemilk.wordpress.com/), I saw this series of wickedly stunning photographs entitled 'Fallen Princesses' by Dina Goldstein (See 'Cinderella' photo opposite; more photos from the project here: http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/11918), and they totally hit the spot! Although they're not anti-Disney, and also aren't empowering images of the women, they are certainly thought-provoking, and it's refreshing to see the Disney facade stripped away. As Dina describes them: "These works place Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the Princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict. The '...happily ever after' is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues...such as illness, addiction and self-image issues". Have you created feminist anti-Disney art? Send us a photo here!
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
URGENT: Lewisham School Eviction Order Tommorrow!
Parents in London have been occupying their children's empty primary school in protest at Lewisham councils plans to demolish the (now grade 2 listed building) school to make way for an exclusive school run by the ancient society of Leathersellers (the society sounds more akin to the Illuminati and their secret handshakes, than those selling tanned hydes...)An eviction order has been served for tommorrow wednesday 24th june at 10.30am.
They need as much support as possible to resist eviction: please head down there tommorrow in support of the parents, kids and their community campaign.
Lewisham is in South-East London. See this link for more info: http://london.indymedia.org.uk/events/1670
This link is to their blog: http://defendeducationlewisham.wordpress.com/
In support and solidarity.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Home Education after the recent Badman Report
Hi all
I just wanted to let people know about the changes to Home Education after the Graham Badman Report came out this week and how it compromises the rights of all children in the UK.
Ed Ball wants to go ahead and implement changes immediately... this means we have got very little time to stand up against this.
I have put together the website to be user friendly and specially aimed at anyone that has missed the report or thinks that because their child is not home educated this does not effect them, it actually has serious implications for all children in the UK and their right to privacy and their life decisions.
This is the link to the website: Home Education after the Badman Report.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Article 16: Children have the right to privacy. The law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their families and their homes.
Graham Badman report on Elective Home Education.
Reccommendation 7: that designated Local Authority officers should have the right to access the home and to speak with the child alone without parents present and without their consent...
There has been a lot of bad press lately about home educated children being at risk of abuse, but as there is no evidence or any cases of this Graham Badman has had to state this in his report, however he still went on to change the law as if this was the case.
The NSPCC apologised publically recently about associating abuse with home education, you can find a link to this on the webpage.
Please try and consider Graham Badman's proposals and the wider implications and the loss of rights due to this report, if you feel strongly enough then please do write to your MP's, fill in the survey, write to Ed Ball or reply to the consultation. (links can be found on the website.)
Thank you for taking the time to read this and please do forward this information, so many bills are passed these days without people being aware of the changes in their rights.
Peace and Love
Christine, Jonathan and Cherry.
I just wanted to let people know about the changes to Home Education after the Graham Badman Report came out this week and how it compromises the rights of all children in the UK.
Ed Ball wants to go ahead and implement changes immediately... this means we have got very little time to stand up against this.
I have put together the website to be user friendly and specially aimed at anyone that has missed the report or thinks that because their child is not home educated this does not effect them, it actually has serious implications for all children in the UK and their right to privacy and their life decisions.
This is the link to the website: Home Education after the Badman Report.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Article 16: Children have the right to privacy. The law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their families and their homes.
Graham Badman report on Elective Home Education.
Reccommendation 7: that designated Local Authority officers should have the right to access the home and to speak with the child alone without parents present and without their consent...
There has been a lot of bad press lately about home educated children being at risk of abuse, but as there is no evidence or any cases of this Graham Badman has had to state this in his report, however he still went on to change the law as if this was the case.
The NSPCC apologised publically recently about associating abuse with home education, you can find a link to this on the webpage.
Please try and consider Graham Badman's proposals and the wider implications and the loss of rights due to this report, if you feel strongly enough then please do write to your MP's, fill in the survey, write to Ed Ball or reply to the consultation. (links can be found on the website.)
Thank you for taking the time to read this and please do forward this information, so many bills are passed these days without people being aware of the changes in their rights.
Peace and Love
Christine, Jonathan and Cherry.
Friday, 12 June 2009
Carnival of Feminist Parenting
This Sunday 14th June sees the first online blog-carnival of feminist parenting!
The blog hosting this carnival is Mothers for Womens Lib (http://feministmums.wordpress.com/carnival-of-feminist-parenting/ ), so log on this Sunday to read fab posts, and link with other like-minded people, blogging about many different issues related to feminist parenting.
The carnival will take place every month, and anyone is welcome to submit a post related to the topic. See http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_7216.html for more details about this and other carnivals.
The blog hosting this carnival is Mothers for Womens Lib (http://feministmums.wordpress.com/carnival-of-feminist-parenting/ ), so log on this Sunday to read fab posts, and link with other like-minded people, blogging about many different issues related to feminist parenting.
The carnival will take place every month, and anyone is welcome to submit a post related to the topic. See http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_7216.html for more details about this and other carnivals.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
URGENT: Early Day Motion to keep Income Support
Dear friends,
John McDonnell MP has put an Early Day Motion (EDM) to keep Income Support, which the Welfare Reform Bill would abolish. Please ask your MP to sign the EDM and circulate this EDM to your friends and colleagues suggesting that they also urge their MPs to sign. You can find out who your MP is here (http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/). The more MPs who sign from every party, the more seriously it will be taken. Many in the House of Lords oppose the harsh measures in the Bill which would make many destitute and first of all women and children, and they have put down amendments to change or delete the worst clauses. They are discussing these in Grand Committee, starting today. One amendment is to leave out Clause 7, which would abolish Income Support. See briefing on the amendments.
Kim Sparrow
EDM 1609 INCOME SUPPORT 08.06.2009 McDonnell, John
That this House condemns the proposed abolition of income support which is a crucial lifeline against destitution and poverty for parents, carers, those they care for and other vulnerable people; further condemns the requirement contained in the Welfare Reform Bill that claimants with children over seven years old must find a job or work for their benefits for £1.73 an hour if they are unsuccessful in finding work after two years; notes that unemployment has risen to over two million and that many parents cannot access affordable childcare in their area; deplores this erosion of the principles of the welfare state and the minimum wage, and regrets the hardship that many families will now face; and calls on the Government to maintain income support in recognition of society's collective responsibility for childrearing and the important work of carers and parents for society.
PLEASE PASS ON.
John McDonnell MP has put an Early Day Motion (EDM) to keep Income Support, which the Welfare Reform Bill would abolish. Please ask your MP to sign the EDM and circulate this EDM to your friends and colleagues suggesting that they also urge their MPs to sign. You can find out who your MP is here (http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/). The more MPs who sign from every party, the more seriously it will be taken. Many in the House of Lords oppose the harsh measures in the Bill which would make many destitute and first of all women and children, and they have put down amendments to change or delete the worst clauses. They are discussing these in Grand Committee, starting today. One amendment is to leave out Clause 7, which would abolish Income Support. See briefing on the amendments.
Kim Sparrow
EDM 1609 INCOME SUPPORT 08.06.2009 McDonnell, John
That this House condemns the proposed abolition of income support which is a crucial lifeline against destitution and poverty for parents, carers, those they care for and other vulnerable people; further condemns the requirement contained in the Welfare Reform Bill that claimants with children over seven years old must find a job or work for their benefits for £1.73 an hour if they are unsuccessful in finding work after two years; notes that unemployment has risen to over two million and that many parents cannot access affordable childcare in their area; deplores this erosion of the principles of the welfare state and the minimum wage, and regrets the hardship that many families will now face; and calls on the Government to maintain income support in recognition of society's collective responsibility for childrearing and the important work of carers and parents for society.
PLEASE PASS ON.
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Welfare Reform and Home Education
Campaigners in London have been exposing and protesting against the government's shameful pushing through of their 'welfare reform bill'- otherwise known as their welfare ABOLITION bill. please see www.lcap.org.uk for more info (london coalition against poverty).The government has been wanting to push through these changes for a long time, and is using the excuse of the economic crises as a cover. The bill will adversely affect those in the most vulnerable groups, and those on benefit eg. single parents on income support, are being scapegoated for cash grabbing, all the while that the government is bailing out the greedy bankers and politicians are claiming tax payers money for moat-cleaning!
The bill will mean eg. single mothers on income support will be forced back to work when their child is still very young.
I’ve been wondering what this bill will mean to those of us home educating/planning to.
Thankfully this issue has not gone unnoticed, and the home ed charity ‘Education Otherwise’ (www.education-otherwise.org) have been looking into this issue also and are lobbying parliament etc. Please see the website below for more info on what this bill will mean for home education in the future: http://www.freedomforchildrentogrow.org/welfarereform.htm
It is really important that we all inform ourselves and keep up-to-date on issues relating to the freedom and autonomy of educating our children, otherwise legislation will be against us before we know it. Even if we have chosen to send our children to school or do not have kids at all, we still must recognize that this is a CHOICE, and Home Ed is legal (despite what some may think), and respect other parents’ decisions to provide independent education for their kids outside out the mainstream system. Obviously the 'choice' to home educate is made more difficult for those with less money, less support, less time etc. But everyone who wants to home educate should be facilitated to do so, and it is discriminatory not to support this. However, the implementation of the Welfare Reform Bill will do exactly that- not only discriminate against the less privileged in this society, but force upon them a system of education that they do not agree with, and will make it even more difficult for them to home educate their kids.
We must also dispel the common myth that Home Educating means keeping your kids at home with no friends for company! There are many Home Ed community groups, so kids have continuous 'class' mates, and an amazingly varied and rich education. It can be really empowering and an educational experience for the parents too, by being involved in their children's 'curriculum'. Children can also opt to take GCSEs, A-Levels, and progress to University if they wish. There are many support groups out there, and even a Home Ed Camp once a year in the UK, to get together and have fun with other like-minded people from all across the UK (see http://www.home-education.org.uk/ and (http://www.hesfes.co.uk/).
And finally.... a brief thought for those who accuse single parents on income support of being daytime-telly-watching money grabbers: if those of us on income support all home educate, just imagine all the money we are saving the government on school fees! Surely then, it is THEM who should be paying US for home educating? Home Educators would like a 30grand salary too cheers!
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Mayday Kidsbloc: Kids and Adults Unite Against the Arms Trade
On 4th May 2009, groups of parents and kids came together to form a ‘peace garden’ themed kidsbloc as part of the ‘Smash EDO’ Brighton street party (May the Fourth be with you!) against capitalism, war and the arms trade.
For the past five years, ‘Smash EDO’ has been a relentless and successful campaign against Brighton’s local arms manufacturers (EDO MBM/ITT make bomb components used against people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine): “Every bomb that is dropped, every bullet that is fired in the name of this War Of Terror has to be made somewhere. And wherever that is, it can be resisted” (http://www.smashedo.org.uk/). A film has also been made of the campaign: ‘On the Verge’, despite many failed attempts at banning its’ realise. The truth will out, as they say…
The Mayday! Mayday! Street party saw around 2,000 people from all over the country come together to protest not just about the bomb manufacturers, but also other war profiteers such as Barclays bank, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds, and McDonalds (see http://www.indymedia.org.uk/ for more info).
The main demo started at 12 noon in front of Brighton Pier, with protestors dressed mainly in red on foot and also bikes, sporting banners, sound-systems and a massive red carnival dragon, which the kids loved. The atmosphere was calm but excited. The autonomous Kidsbloc (which probably consisted of over 35 adults and children) had met up beforehand, for dressing up, face painting, meeting each other, checking food drink and kiddie supplies, and preparing the ‘peace garden’ theme. Children were dressed and face-painted as flowers, bees, butterflies (including the obligatory tiger and dinosaur, but veggie anti-militarist ones, of course!), and adults were also dressed up for the occasion. Huge colourful crepe-paper flowers and bees were held up, along with more specific anti-war banners: “War is not healthy for children and other living things” and “War is very, very naughty”. Drums, horns, bells and all types of instruments were used to make noise, and a continuous stream of bubbles were floating peacefully in the air. The kidsbloc even had an in-buggy soundsystem (patent pending!) which blared out Smash EDO radio (on pirate Radio 4A 101.4fm) throughout the demo to energise and update the kidsbloc crew!
As the march moved off towards town, the kidsbloc hung back and formed a visible family-friendly section. Adults without kids also came to support the kidsbloc on the day, and it is important that this is acknowledged and kidsblocs aren’t always left to parents to arrange. Any event can be easily made more parent-and-kid-friendly, and children shouldn’t be excluded from going to events that matter to them, or from showing solidarity with other children in war-torn countries throughout the world. After all, it’s often women and innocent children that suffer the most from war and poverty.
Despite a heavy police presence, the cops operated a relatively stand-offish approach, probably still smarting from the G20 in London a few weeks before, and bad press they got surrounding the murder of Ian Tomlinson and manhandling of peaceful protestors. Prior to the Mayday streetparty, people thought long and hard about whether children should be a part of this demo. Would an off-site kidspace be a better option? Many decided that they wanted a visual kids-and-parents presence on this demo, and that this demo was likely to be relatively relaxed as opposed to previous Smash EDO events (see Carnival Against the Arms Trade last summer). Once this decision was made, the main emphasis was on how they could make the kidsbloc as safe as possible and kid-friendly, as well as making an impact. Legal Observers and First Aiders were called upon, and tactics for supporting others within the kidsbloc were discussed.
The first half of the march was relatively peaceful and uneventful (being at the rear of the streetparty, the kidsbloc didn’t realise there were banner drops and actions all along the way!) and as it wound down underneath Brighton station, shouts of “Whose streets? Our Streets!” reverberated through the Brighton station underpass. The first kick-off point was when the march reached McDonalds on London Road. Here, protestors and riot cops started their first major scuffles. Being on high alert, the adults in the kidsbloc saw the riot cops preparing to move in from afar, and so they all moved swiftly and easily out of the way.
However, it was at this point that the kidsbloc, as well as other protestors from elsewhere in the demo, seemed to disperse in different directions. The kidsbloc in particular seemed to split in two directions, as well as some parents deciding, understandably, that it had been fun so far, but it was now time to take the kids home. A group of the kidsbloc crew never managed to regroup with the main demo, mainly because it was moving so fast that little legs and buggy wheels just couldn’t keep up! Instead a refreshment break was called for- strawberries, grapes, juice, milk, nappy changing, and a sit down on picnic tables outside a local pub. When everyone had re-energised, the decision was made to head straight to Preston Park to see if the march had ended up there and find out more info about what was still happening.
Once arriving in Preston Park, people settled down for a picnic on the grass, more face-painting (kids can never get enough!), and playing games in the playground. Others had already settled there with soundsystems and a band was playing an acoustic set. The demo seemed to have split up quite rapidly into many affinity groups. Those with kids decided to call it a day (it was around 4pm by this point) and just happily chill, and it was only fair on the kids to do this.
The kidsbloc would probably have benefited from more planning/meetings prior to and on the day, which, in this case, was not possible due to other commitments from people and general other mini-crisis’s of parenthood (those with kids know what they're talking about)! Would a kidsbloc that had greater cohesion within its members would have regrouped more easily after dispersing? Or have all taken the same route away from the action? However, this issue seems to be more general of how the whole demo ended up on the day, rather than specific to the kidsbloc. Other ideas and points were raised and discussed. It’s all a learning experience, and one that’s relatively unpredictable due to the nature of protest and the police. However, it was great to see such a positive turn out for a kidsbloc, and it all went really well- they all stayed safe, had fun, and had their say against war and greed. It would have been more satisfying to have regrouped with everyone that had been on the kidsbloc at the end of the day to discuss how they felt it all went, and how it could be improved next time, but unfortunately this wasn’t possible as people were spread across Brighton by this point and the kids were getting tired.
Well done everyone, kids and adults, who participated autonomously on the kidsbloc!
“We can bomb the world to pieces, we can’t bomb it into peace”
For the past five years, ‘Smash EDO’ has been a relentless and successful campaign against Brighton’s local arms manufacturers (EDO MBM/ITT make bomb components used against people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine): “Every bomb that is dropped, every bullet that is fired in the name of this War Of Terror has to be made somewhere. And wherever that is, it can be resisted” (http://www.smashedo.org.uk/). A film has also been made of the campaign: ‘On the Verge’, despite many failed attempts at banning its’ realise. The truth will out, as they say…The Mayday! Mayday! Street party saw around 2,000 people from all over the country come together to protest not just about the bomb manufacturers, but also other war profiteers such as Barclays bank, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds, and McDonalds (see http://www.indymedia.org.uk/ for more info).
The main demo started at 12 noon in front of Brighton Pier, with protestors dressed mainly in red on foot and also bikes, sporting banners, sound-systems and a massive red carnival dragon, which the kids loved. The atmosphere was calm but excited. The autonomous Kidsbloc (which probably consisted of over 35 adults and children) had met up beforehand, for dressing up, face painting, meeting each other, checking food drink and kiddie supplies, and preparing the ‘peace garden’ theme. Children were dressed and face-painted as flowers, bees, butterflies (including the obligatory tiger and dinosaur, but veggie anti-militarist ones, of course!), and adults were also dressed up for the occasion. Huge colourful crepe-paper flowers and bees were held up, along with more specific anti-war banners: “War is not healthy for children and other living things” and “War is very, very naughty”. Drums, horns, bells and all types of instruments were used to make noise, and a continuous stream of bubbles were floating peacefully in the air. The kidsbloc even had an in-buggy soundsystem (patent pending!) which blared out Smash EDO radio (on pirate Radio 4A 101.4fm) throughout the demo to energise and update the kidsbloc crew!
As the march moved off towards town, the kidsbloc hung back and formed a visible family-friendly section. Adults without kids also came to support the kidsbloc on the day, and it is important that this is acknowledged and kidsblocs aren’t always left to parents to arrange. Any event can be easily made more parent-and-kid-friendly, and children shouldn’t be excluded from going to events that matter to them, or from showing solidarity with other children in war-torn countries throughout the world. After all, it’s often women and innocent children that suffer the most from war and poverty.
Despite a heavy police presence, the cops operated a relatively stand-offish approach, probably still smarting from the G20 in London a few weeks before, and bad press they got surrounding the murder of Ian Tomlinson and manhandling of peaceful protestors. Prior to the Mayday streetparty, people thought long and hard about whether children should be a part of this demo. Would an off-site kidspace be a better option? Many decided that they wanted a visual kids-and-parents presence on this demo, and that this demo was likely to be relatively relaxed as opposed to previous Smash EDO events (see Carnival Against the Arms Trade last summer). Once this decision was made, the main emphasis was on how they could make the kidsbloc as safe as possible and kid-friendly, as well as making an impact. Legal Observers and First Aiders were called upon, and tactics for supporting others within the kidsbloc were discussed.
The first half of the march was relatively peaceful and uneventful (being at the rear of the streetparty, the kidsbloc didn’t realise there were banner drops and actions all along the way!) and as it wound down underneath Brighton station, shouts of “Whose streets? Our Streets!” reverberated through the Brighton station underpass. The first kick-off point was when the march reached McDonalds on London Road. Here, protestors and riot cops started their first major scuffles. Being on high alert, the adults in the kidsbloc saw the riot cops preparing to move in from afar, and so they all moved swiftly and easily out of the way.
However, it was at this point that the kidsbloc, as well as other protestors from elsewhere in the demo, seemed to disperse in different directions. The kidsbloc in particular seemed to split in two directions, as well as some parents deciding, understandably, that it had been fun so far, but it was now time to take the kids home. A group of the kidsbloc crew never managed to regroup with the main demo, mainly because it was moving so fast that little legs and buggy wheels just couldn’t keep up! Instead a refreshment break was called for- strawberries, grapes, juice, milk, nappy changing, and a sit down on picnic tables outside a local pub. When everyone had re-energised, the decision was made to head straight to Preston Park to see if the march had ended up there and find out more info about what was still happening.
Once arriving in Preston Park, people settled down for a picnic on the grass, more face-painting (kids can never get enough!), and playing games in the playground. Others had already settled there with soundsystems and a band was playing an acoustic set. The demo seemed to have split up quite rapidly into many affinity groups. Those with kids decided to call it a day (it was around 4pm by this point) and just happily chill, and it was only fair on the kids to do this.
The kidsbloc would probably have benefited from more planning/meetings prior to and on the day, which, in this case, was not possible due to other commitments from people and general other mini-crisis’s of parenthood (those with kids know what they're talking about)! Would a kidsbloc that had greater cohesion within its members would have regrouped more easily after dispersing? Or have all taken the same route away from the action? However, this issue seems to be more general of how the whole demo ended up on the day, rather than specific to the kidsbloc. Other ideas and points were raised and discussed. It’s all a learning experience, and one that’s relatively unpredictable due to the nature of protest and the police. However, it was great to see such a positive turn out for a kidsbloc, and it all went really well- they all stayed safe, had fun, and had their say against war and greed. It would have been more satisfying to have regrouped with everyone that had been on the kidsbloc at the end of the day to discuss how they felt it all went, and how it could be improved next time, but unfortunately this wasn’t possible as people were spread across Brighton by this point and the kids were getting tired.Well done everyone, kids and adults, who participated autonomously on the kidsbloc!
“We can bomb the world to pieces, we can’t bomb it into peace”
Anti-copyright: Text and Photos by Tracy Beaker (interviewed by Tumbleweed)
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Children and Parents in Feminist Activism
“We expect to struggle against the world; we don't expect to struggle in our own community.” Radical Anarchist Mom and Baby League
In this vast metropolis that is London, it is sometimes hard to feel a sense of community. Caught up in the rat race that is survival in this city, we can sometimes feel isolated from our near neighbours and may not feel a sense of belonging to the area in which we live.
Fortunately there is a strong feminist community in London. We share some common values, we struggle together, we socialise together, we look out for each other, we care for each other and it is a community that I feel privileged to be part of.
However as a mother of young children I’ve got to say that I do feel that just like I struggle in the wider community, I also struggle in this community of ours.
I don’t know how many times I’ve raised the issue of childcare when we organise, I don’t know how many emails I’ve sent asking whether there will be childcare available or whether children are welcome at certain meetings and events, I don’t know how many meetings or actions I’ve just not gone to because I feel that I cant bring my children, I don’t know how many workshops I’ve walked out of coz my children start getting loud and I can see that it’s just not appreciated. But the thing I notice most is that, unlike most other communities, within the feminist community there just aren’t many children around.
Maybe it’s just I’m going to the wrong meetings, but I don’t think so because I speak to other mothers and they seem to feel the same way too.
We want to spread this movement of ours yet we don’t make our activism accessible to parents. Many of the women in this country are mothers yet we don’t provide childcare at our meetings. Is feminism for everyone or just for a small clique of childless women?
We rally en masse for abortions rights (rightly so!) but where are the rallies to protest against single-parents being forced back to work, for better childcare for working parents, for better maternity services, for recognition of the unpaid work parents do raising children and what exactly are we doing in our activism to facilitate parents attending?
Sometimes I feel like we’ve fallen for the idea that mothers should be home, tied to the kitchen sink, cooking and changing nappies, voiceless and uncomplaining and that children should be seen and not heard. I suppose it’s so ingrained in all of us that there is a time and place for children that meetings aren’t seen as one of those times or places. I think like that too sometimes, but its ageist against children and sexist against mothers and we all need to address and confront it within ourselves and as a group. Maybe a meeting isn’t the most suitable place for young children but if parents are going to be there we need to accept that children will be too and sort out ways to deal with it.
Everyday as mothers we challenge patriarchy; a system, society and culture that sees us as just women with children, needing and worthy of little space besides the home, school and playground. We’re not welcome in the workplace, in education, on public transport, in the pub, yet we still go there. Capitalism places no value on our work, but we know the true value of what we do, and as such we see the fallacy of capitalism, we feel its injustice in our bones. Even though its difficult we leave our homes to work, we educate ourselves, we realise the value of the work we do raising children and we celebrate it, thus challenging false notions of true fulfilment through career, we find ways to support each other, we find solidarity through motherhood, we know in a very real way the strength of women and we know true exhaustion yet keep on going. Many of us became feminists at the same time as we became mothers, because it was then that we truly collided with patriarchy. Feminist parenting is a truly political, radical and effective form of direct action and is an everyday form of feminist activism.
That’s why I find it so weird that feminism in London does not seem to be welcoming parents with children or addressing our needs or campaigning for our wants. Parents are political, passionate, caring, strong, organised people, used to working for free and dealing with frustration, we are an asset to any movement.
Mainstream feminism like mainstream society and culture is (I think) hierarchical, with value, respect and power being given to those who are the most “active”, the most educated, with the best jobs, the loudest voices, the most money, and unfortunately mothers are near the bottom of this hierarchy. Sexism isn’t just something that exists out there in the big bad world; it also exists in each one of us. It isn’t our fault but it is something we must accept and try to unlearn and dealing with sexism in activism in this context means recognising the value and needs of parents and children.
We also need to think about children and the benefits they gain from being involved with feminism and what we gain from them being involved. Personally I am so glad that my children know feminism and feminists. It’s all very well me talking to them about gender roles, stereotypes and sexism but for them to actually see feminism in action, positive female role models and alternative ways of working and being together privileges them and reaches them on a much deeper level. I want my children to understand feminism on a day-to-day level, so that for them it is the norm.
Feminism has so much to gain from children being involved. Children can bring creativity, imagination and freshness to activism and a definite impetus to dissent, protest and organise against the status quo. Why are we feminists if not for future generations! At the end of the day if we really want to end the cycle of sexism and sexist oppression then socialising our children in a non-sexist way, as well as educating them about feminism and showing them how it can work is the only way.
Butterflea 2009
Copyleft (original article published in Raise Some Hell - A Feminist Childrearing Zine for Everyone)
In this vast metropolis that is London, it is sometimes hard to feel a sense of community. Caught up in the rat race that is survival in this city, we can sometimes feel isolated from our near neighbours and may not feel a sense of belonging to the area in which we live.
Fortunately there is a strong feminist community in London. We share some common values, we struggle together, we socialise together, we look out for each other, we care for each other and it is a community that I feel privileged to be part of.
However as a mother of young children I’ve got to say that I do feel that just like I struggle in the wider community, I also struggle in this community of ours.
I don’t know how many times I’ve raised the issue of childcare when we organise, I don’t know how many emails I’ve sent asking whether there will be childcare available or whether children are welcome at certain meetings and events, I don’t know how many meetings or actions I’ve just not gone to because I feel that I cant bring my children, I don’t know how many workshops I’ve walked out of coz my children start getting loud and I can see that it’s just not appreciated. But the thing I notice most is that, unlike most other communities, within the feminist community there just aren’t many children around.
Maybe it’s just I’m going to the wrong meetings, but I don’t think so because I speak to other mothers and they seem to feel the same way too.
We want to spread this movement of ours yet we don’t make our activism accessible to parents. Many of the women in this country are mothers yet we don’t provide childcare at our meetings. Is feminism for everyone or just for a small clique of childless women?
We rally en masse for abortions rights (rightly so!) but where are the rallies to protest against single-parents being forced back to work, for better childcare for working parents, for better maternity services, for recognition of the unpaid work parents do raising children and what exactly are we doing in our activism to facilitate parents attending?
Sometimes I feel like we’ve fallen for the idea that mothers should be home, tied to the kitchen sink, cooking and changing nappies, voiceless and uncomplaining and that children should be seen and not heard. I suppose it’s so ingrained in all of us that there is a time and place for children that meetings aren’t seen as one of those times or places. I think like that too sometimes, but its ageist against children and sexist against mothers and we all need to address and confront it within ourselves and as a group. Maybe a meeting isn’t the most suitable place for young children but if parents are going to be there we need to accept that children will be too and sort out ways to deal with it.
Everyday as mothers we challenge patriarchy; a system, society and culture that sees us as just women with children, needing and worthy of little space besides the home, school and playground. We’re not welcome in the workplace, in education, on public transport, in the pub, yet we still go there. Capitalism places no value on our work, but we know the true value of what we do, and as such we see the fallacy of capitalism, we feel its injustice in our bones. Even though its difficult we leave our homes to work, we educate ourselves, we realise the value of the work we do raising children and we celebrate it, thus challenging false notions of true fulfilment through career, we find ways to support each other, we find solidarity through motherhood, we know in a very real way the strength of women and we know true exhaustion yet keep on going. Many of us became feminists at the same time as we became mothers, because it was then that we truly collided with patriarchy. Feminist parenting is a truly political, radical and effective form of direct action and is an everyday form of feminist activism.
That’s why I find it so weird that feminism in London does not seem to be welcoming parents with children or addressing our needs or campaigning for our wants. Parents are political, passionate, caring, strong, organised people, used to working for free and dealing with frustration, we are an asset to any movement.
Mainstream feminism like mainstream society and culture is (I think) hierarchical, with value, respect and power being given to those who are the most “active”, the most educated, with the best jobs, the loudest voices, the most money, and unfortunately mothers are near the bottom of this hierarchy. Sexism isn’t just something that exists out there in the big bad world; it also exists in each one of us. It isn’t our fault but it is something we must accept and try to unlearn and dealing with sexism in activism in this context means recognising the value and needs of parents and children.
We also need to think about children and the benefits they gain from being involved with feminism and what we gain from them being involved. Personally I am so glad that my children know feminism and feminists. It’s all very well me talking to them about gender roles, stereotypes and sexism but for them to actually see feminism in action, positive female role models and alternative ways of working and being together privileges them and reaches them on a much deeper level. I want my children to understand feminism on a day-to-day level, so that for them it is the norm.
Feminism has so much to gain from children being involved. Children can bring creativity, imagination and freshness to activism and a definite impetus to dissent, protest and organise against the status quo. Why are we feminists if not for future generations! At the end of the day if we really want to end the cycle of sexism and sexist oppression then socialising our children in a non-sexist way, as well as educating them about feminism and showing them how it can work is the only way.
Butterflea 2009
Copyleft (original article published in Raise Some Hell - A Feminist Childrearing Zine for Everyone)
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
We will not be Sassified! a poem for grrls
We are Girls.
We are Sassy Girls.
Are we Sassy, Girls?
We are wild!
We love rainbow colours!
We wear dungarees and get all muddy!
We ride bikes- faster than the boys!
We play pirates, spaceships and pretend to be dinostegleosauroctopusses!
Girls, we aren’t Sassy.
Sassy is Silly!
We are …
Smart
Strong
Successful
Scary
Skateboarders
Sorcerers
Special
Solar-powered
Super
Splendid
Subversive
Supportive
Survivors
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
We are Sweet Sea-faring Songstresses Sizzling Soya Sausages for Sunday Supper with our Sisters.
Sorcerers
Special
Solar-powered
Super
Splendid
Subversive
Supportive
Survivors
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
We are Sweet Sea-faring Songstresses Sizzling Soya Sausages for Sunday Supper with our Sisters.
But…
We will Slingshot you into Space with our Self-made Scuzzle-guns if you dare Step aboard our Ship!
So.
Screw you!
We ain’t Sassy, Sir.
So.
Screw you!
We ain’t Sassy, Sir.
anti-copyright (taken from Spratz! a feminist kidzine. For those of you that haven't heard of 'Sassy Girls', they are a cheaper Bratz doll substitute. But they sting just as bad)
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
QUIZ for KIDZ!
1 - How many of the 646 mps (members of parliament) in the British house of commons are female?
a) 323, b) 200 or c)125
2 – How many mps in the UK are from an ethnic minority?
a) – 15, b) 119, c) 35.
3 – In what year were women first allowed the vote in the UK?
a) 1850, b) 1918 or c) 1925
4 - What date is International Women’s Day?
a) 25 December, b) 15 January, c) 8 March
5 – Who in June 1963 became the first woman to go to space?
a) Margaret Thatcher, b) Valentina Tereshkova, c) Mary Flybot
6 – What act made it illegal for a woman to be excluded from a job because of her sex?
a) Sex Discrimination Act, b) Sex Disqualification Removal Act, c) Equal Franchise Act
7 – In the UK, Women working full-time earn on average how much less than men?
a) – 17%, b) – 5%, c) – 33%
8 – How many of the world’s poor are women and girls?
a) 3 out of 10, b) 7 out of 10, c) 10 out of 10
9 – Of the 800 million people in the world who can’t read or write, how many are women?
a) one third, b) two thirds, c) all 800 million
10 – Who were the real ‘witches’, and what did they do?
a) women who used herbs to heal the sick, b) black-hatted women who invented the flying broomstick, c) men who sang karaoke
11 – How many women and children were murdered in total as part of the ‘witch hunts’ between the 14-17th century in Europe?
a) over 700 b) over 7000 C) over 7 million
12 – Which of these statements is in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights?
a) “All human beings should be judged by the United Nations and given rights accordingly, b) “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”, c) “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, unless they have committed a crime”.
Answers: 1- c)125, 2 –a)15 (there are only 2 black female mps, there has never been an asian woman mp), 3 – b)1918 (although this was only for women over 30 who owned houses. It was only in 1928 that all women over the age of 21 were allowed to vote)., 4 – c)8 March., 5 – b) Valentina Tereshkova, 6 – b) Sex Disqualification Removal Act which was passed in 1919, 7- a) 17% (women working part-time earn on average 36% less than men), 8- b) 7 out of 10 (study by World food programme), 9 – b) over two thirds. 10 – a) witches were real women who healed people in villages using herbs and other natural medicinal practises. 11 – c) a shocking 9 million people (85% women and kids) were probably burned at the stake for ‘witchcraft’. 12 – b) although this statement is ideological, and in real life not everybody is treated with dignity and have rights, especially women and kids.
a) 323, b) 200 or c)125
2 – How many mps in the UK are from an ethnic minority?
a) – 15, b) 119, c) 35.
3 – In what year were women first allowed the vote in the UK?
a) 1850, b) 1918 or c) 1925
4 - What date is International Women’s Day?
a) 25 December, b) 15 January, c) 8 March
5 – Who in June 1963 became the first woman to go to space?
a) Margaret Thatcher, b) Valentina Tereshkova, c) Mary Flybot
6 – What act made it illegal for a woman to be excluded from a job because of her sex?
a) Sex Discrimination Act, b) Sex Disqualification Removal Act, c) Equal Franchise Act
7 – In the UK, Women working full-time earn on average how much less than men?
a) – 17%, b) – 5%, c) – 33%
8 – How many of the world’s poor are women and girls?
a) 3 out of 10, b) 7 out of 10, c) 10 out of 10
9 – Of the 800 million people in the world who can’t read or write, how many are women?
a) one third, b) two thirds, c) all 800 million
10 – Who were the real ‘witches’, and what did they do?
a) women who used herbs to heal the sick, b) black-hatted women who invented the flying broomstick, c) men who sang karaoke
11 – How many women and children were murdered in total as part of the ‘witch hunts’ between the 14-17th century in Europe?
a) over 700 b) over 7000 C) over 7 million
12 – Which of these statements is in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights?
a) “All human beings should be judged by the United Nations and given rights accordingly, b) “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”, c) “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, unless they have committed a crime”.
Answers: 1- c)125, 2 –a)15 (there are only 2 black female mps, there has never been an asian woman mp), 3 – b)1918 (although this was only for women over 30 who owned houses. It was only in 1928 that all women over the age of 21 were allowed to vote)., 4 – c)8 March., 5 – b) Valentina Tereshkova, 6 – b) Sex Disqualification Removal Act which was passed in 1919, 7- a) 17% (women working part-time earn on average 36% less than men), 8- b) 7 out of 10 (study by World food programme), 9 – b) over two thirds. 10 – a) witches were real women who healed people in villages using herbs and other natural medicinal practises. 11 – c) a shocking 9 million people (85% women and kids) were probably burned at the stake for ‘witchcraft’. 12 – b) although this statement is ideological, and in real life not everybody is treated with dignity and have rights, especially women and kids.
Herstory of Witches for Kids: Re-writing, Re-learning, Re-membering
Who were the real witches? Traditionally witches were ‘wise women’, poor women in the village that knew how to use herbs and other healing practises. So witches were real women who healed real people: they were ‘doctors without degrees’, passing down their knowledge by word-of-mouth from grandmother to mother to daughter. Instead of the ‘Devil worship’ they were accused of, they mostly were Pagans, and had a much more indepth understanding of nature and the human body than we could ever dream of.
If they were so good, then why does everyone think witches are bad? The very idea that, with some knowledge, you could heal your own illnesses with herbs growing wild or in your own garden, annoyed a lot of people. In the middle ages, no money was to be made from witches and their craft, and a new invention called ‘science’ was intended to take over, with professional male doctors charging for new medicines in central hospitals. This made more money for the rich in power, whilst the poor suffered. Witches were demonised as being evil, so they could be gotten rid of, and so that the new scientific medicine could take its place. Whilst the women healers were still around, people wouldn’t want to pay for the new medicines from the professional doctors.
What does ‘witchcraft’ mean? It’s the use of supernatural or magical powers. Witches were blamed for many things: disagreeing with the Government, disobeying the Church, for being sexually-aware women, for organizing amongst themselves, and for using magic powers both to harm and to heal. The Church and the State (those in power) saw their attack as being upon pagan magic: to them herbalism was not medicine, it was magic. Although many of the modern medicines we take today were derived from herbs and their healing uses- probably discovered by witches! The equivalent of the Church’s prayers, were the witches charms, and so the beginnings of modern medicine had more similarity with the witches crafts than with science as we see it today, and many doctors actually learnt about the body parts from witches.
What were the witch-hunts? They were the pre-planned hunting down, torture and murder of people accused of ‘witchcraft’, by those in favour of a new political, medical, and scientific system. Namely, the rich men in power within the Government and The Church. It is thought that, in Europe over 9 million people were killed, often burnt alive at the stake, for ‘witchcraft’. Over 85% of these deaths were of women and even children. They occurred in Europe between 400 and 700 years ago. In the witch trials, Women were accused of practising ‘witchcraft’ (healing the sick, of being ‘witches’, for unexplainable events like the death of cattle) and the professional ‘doctors’ would decide if the action was ‘witchcraft’, or natural body illnesses. The witch-hunts did not totally wipe out the poor women healers, but it labelled them as magical and possibly bad, and they have been demonised ever since.
Is this a Feminist issue? Yes! The main crime that the witches were accused of committing is that of being a woman! And a woman with healing knowledge, at that! Herbalism meant that poorer people could heal themselves for free, and meant that women (who were banned from studying/working as doctors) could also be involved. When learning about the herstory of witches, you are learning about the beginnings of institutional sexism itself. The beginnings of capitalism. The beginnings of the patriarchal system that governs us today. Over 7 million women and children are estimated to have been murdered in Europe alone, in the most horrible way, over a period of hundreds of years! This is an important part of women’s history, and essential to understand how we live today. The witch-hunts were deeply political, religious and- of course- sexist to the core.
Why weren’t we taught this in school? Good question. The History you are taught in school is only a small selection of the major events that have happened. In a nutshell, rich men in charge of popular education narrowed the History that THEY see as important down, and sexism is still affecting History education today. Feminist Herstory should be part of school History lessons. You have a right to question the education you receive in school, and to learn about topics that were essential to our lives then, as they are today. Many topics that are taught do not include enough work, history, thought, on by or about, women- especially poor women This is sexist. Both boys and girls will miss out on the knowledge that women’s herstory could bring. Don’t accept what they tell you- ask the questions they don’t want you to ask! Ask about the witch-hunts.
Anti-copyright: article taken from 'Spratz! a feminist kidzine'. Most of this info was adapted from ‘Witches, Midwives and Nurses’ zine and http://www.suppressedhistories.net/
Which Witch? a herstorical poem for kids
I am a witch.
A which?
A witch! A witch with an itch.
Yes. There’s something bothering me just a titch.
Y’see, I don’t have a black cat.
Or a tall pointy hat.
Or long ginger hair that I wear in a plait.
Fancy that!
I AM a witch…
But I don’t dress in black.
And a steel cauldron I lack.
And legs of a frog?! Well, you can put them RIGHT back!
Yet, I am a witch.
A which?
A witch! Are you thick?!
A witch who’s never even SEEN a broom-stick!
Don’t you understand?
We’re not like Dorothy’s witches in OZ-land!
Real witches aren’t like those for Hallowe’en,
We’re not scary with faces all green.
In fact, we’re not like any good or bad witch in a book.
So forget what you’ve learnt, and take another look!
Put those useless stories back on the shelf,
Learn something new- become a witch yourself!
Witches are wise women,
Wiccans, Pagans, Herbalists too.
Healing the sick and cheering up the blue:
Those old wives tales were true!
So. I am a witch.
Ahh a WITCH? So am I!
I never knew it ‘til now, and now I know why...
I thought witches flew in the sky!
Relearn the history!
Rewrite the books!
Ask teacher about the Witch-hunts,
And the true numbers THEY took.
Millions of women and children,
Killed by Church and State.
For crimes of ‘witchcraft’: burnt at the stake.
Learn about THIS- for goodness sake.
So next Hallowe’en- dress up and have fun.
But understand that real witches aren’t like those ones.
And if you understand that, then ask yourself this:
Whose truth are you believing?
Are the textbooks really teaching…or ARE they deceiving?
I am a WITCH! Shout it out loud.
I’m a witch too! And PROUD!
We both are witches. It’s great and it’s true.
But the big question is…
Which witch are YOU?
Anti-copyright Tumbleweed 2009 (Taken from Spratz! a feminist kidzine)
If they were so good, then why does everyone think witches are bad? The very idea that, with some knowledge, you could heal your own illnesses with herbs growing wild or in your own garden, annoyed a lot of people. In the middle ages, no money was to be made from witches and their craft, and a new invention called ‘science’ was intended to take over, with professional male doctors charging for new medicines in central hospitals. This made more money for the rich in power, whilst the poor suffered. Witches were demonised as being evil, so they could be gotten rid of, and so that the new scientific medicine could take its place. Whilst the women healers were still around, people wouldn’t want to pay for the new medicines from the professional doctors.
What does ‘witchcraft’ mean? It’s the use of supernatural or magical powers. Witches were blamed for many things: disagreeing with the Government, disobeying the Church, for being sexually-aware women, for organizing amongst themselves, and for using magic powers both to harm and to heal. The Church and the State (those in power) saw their attack as being upon pagan magic: to them herbalism was not medicine, it was magic. Although many of the modern medicines we take today were derived from herbs and their healing uses- probably discovered by witches! The equivalent of the Church’s prayers, were the witches charms, and so the beginnings of modern medicine had more similarity with the witches crafts than with science as we see it today, and many doctors actually learnt about the body parts from witches.
What were the witch-hunts? They were the pre-planned hunting down, torture and murder of people accused of ‘witchcraft’, by those in favour of a new political, medical, and scientific system. Namely, the rich men in power within the Government and The Church. It is thought that, in Europe over 9 million people were killed, often burnt alive at the stake, for ‘witchcraft’. Over 85% of these deaths were of women and even children. They occurred in Europe between 400 and 700 years ago. In the witch trials, Women were accused of practising ‘witchcraft’ (healing the sick, of being ‘witches’, for unexplainable events like the death of cattle) and the professional ‘doctors’ would decide if the action was ‘witchcraft’, or natural body illnesses. The witch-hunts did not totally wipe out the poor women healers, but it labelled them as magical and possibly bad, and they have been demonised ever since.
Is this a Feminist issue? Yes! The main crime that the witches were accused of committing is that of being a woman! And a woman with healing knowledge, at that! Herbalism meant that poorer people could heal themselves for free, and meant that women (who were banned from studying/working as doctors) could also be involved. When learning about the herstory of witches, you are learning about the beginnings of institutional sexism itself. The beginnings of capitalism. The beginnings of the patriarchal system that governs us today. Over 7 million women and children are estimated to have been murdered in Europe alone, in the most horrible way, over a period of hundreds of years! This is an important part of women’s history, and essential to understand how we live today. The witch-hunts were deeply political, religious and- of course- sexist to the core.
Why weren’t we taught this in school? Good question. The History you are taught in school is only a small selection of the major events that have happened. In a nutshell, rich men in charge of popular education narrowed the History that THEY see as important down, and sexism is still affecting History education today. Feminist Herstory should be part of school History lessons. You have a right to question the education you receive in school, and to learn about topics that were essential to our lives then, as they are today. Many topics that are taught do not include enough work, history, thought, on by or about, women- especially poor women This is sexist. Both boys and girls will miss out on the knowledge that women’s herstory could bring. Don’t accept what they tell you- ask the questions they don’t want you to ask! Ask about the witch-hunts.
Anti-copyright: article taken from 'Spratz! a feminist kidzine'. Most of this info was adapted from ‘Witches, Midwives and Nurses’ zine and http://www.suppressedhistories.net/
Which Witch? a herstorical poem for kids
I am a witch.
A which?
A witch! A witch with an itch.
Yes. There’s something bothering me just a titch.
Y’see, I don’t have a black cat.
Or a tall pointy hat.
Or long ginger hair that I wear in a plait.
Fancy that!
I AM a witch…
But I don’t dress in black.
And a steel cauldron I lack.
And legs of a frog?! Well, you can put them RIGHT back!
Yet, I am a witch.
A which?
A witch! Are you thick?!
A witch who’s never even SEEN a broom-stick!
Don’t you understand?
We’re not like Dorothy’s witches in OZ-land!
Real witches aren’t like those for Hallowe’en,
We’re not scary with faces all green.
In fact, we’re not like any good or bad witch in a book.
So forget what you’ve learnt, and take another look!
Put those useless stories back on the shelf,
Learn something new- become a witch yourself!
Witches are wise women,
Wiccans, Pagans, Herbalists too.
Healing the sick and cheering up the blue:
Those old wives tales were true!
So. I am a witch.
Ahh a WITCH? So am I!
I never knew it ‘til now, and now I know why...
I thought witches flew in the sky!
Relearn the history!
Rewrite the books!
Ask teacher about the Witch-hunts,
And the true numbers THEY took.
Millions of women and children,
Killed by Church and State.
For crimes of ‘witchcraft’: burnt at the stake.
Learn about THIS- for goodness sake.
So next Hallowe’en- dress up and have fun.
But understand that real witches aren’t like those ones.
And if you understand that, then ask yourself this:
Whose truth are you believing?
Are the textbooks really teaching…or ARE they deceiving?
I am a WITCH! Shout it out loud.
I’m a witch too! And PROUD!
We both are witches. It’s great and it’s true.
But the big question is…
Which witch are YOU?
Anti-copyright Tumbleweed 2009 (Taken from Spratz! a feminist kidzine)
Call to Boycott Popular Eco-Nappies
To all (and not just parents),'Nature Babycare' disposable nappies, made by Naty, have been a popular choice amongst eco-conscious and ethical parents who have chosen not to use washable cloth nappies, or use the eco-disposables alongside their cloth nappies. This is due to the fact that they are biodegradable and mostly non-chemical/plastic, and also priced competively in relation to other throwaway nappies.
However, despite being promoted as the ethical choice, and promoted as a 'Swedish' nappy, the (very) small print reads: 'Made in Israel'. Goods marked as 'made in Israel' have been subject to many boycott campaigns by those in support of Palestinian solidarity, due to the Israeli govenment's long-term inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people, and also the more recent attrocities committed in Gaza.
Boycotting goods campaigns have had a long and often successful history, from Nestle boycotts (due to babies milk products sold to African countries)to Coca-Cola (due to suppression of trade union activists in South America), and is one way in which we all can express our political choices in the consumer products that we buy. In addition to boycotting Israeli goods, there are Palestinian traders that you can support (www.zaytoun.org).
Please join us in contacting Naty (the company responsible for the nappies) to demand further information and explanation, and show that we, the consumer, will not be misled.
: info@naty.seSee the example email to the company below:
EXAMPLE EMAIL:
To Naty,
I was shocked and saddened to see that your Nature Babycare nappies are made in Israel. As I'm sure you are aware, the plight of the Palestinians has been going on for the past 61 years. That the Palestinians are subject not only to disproportionate attack from the Israeli Government, but also the use of illegal weapons (e.g. white phosphorous) and that due to the blockades imposed, have limited to no access to food and medical supplies.Whilst your nappies may be environmentally-friendly, they are most certainly not ethical, and I cannot see how you can think that climate justice can occur without social justice. I'd also like to point out how misleading your packaging is: I initially thought the nappies were made in Sweden: your packet even has the Swedish flag depicted, and it is only when the packet is studied carefully that the tiny print stating Made In Israel is noted. In solidarity with the Palestinian people, I will not be buying Nature Babycare nappies again, and will be encouraging other parents to do likewise.
Yours sincerely,
PLEASE FORWARD THIS INFORMATION ON.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Children's Television - Sexist media representing a sexist world.
I’m the first to admit that I am at times a slack mum. What with two children, two jobs, a partner, activism, a social life, a flat and garden and the rest, I wasn’t going to beat myself up for leaving my daughter in front of the telly, sometimes for hours at a time so that I could just get on with it. However it wasn’t something I often admitted to others and I did used to feel guilty. I knew it was bad parenting but the quiet time it gave me was precious and necessary, I thought. Molly loved tv, and could literally watch it for hours, leaving me time to have a cigarette, send some emails, tidy the house, sit and chill for five minutes, whatever!
It did however come as a shock when, surprise surprise, despite all my best efforts at feminist parenting, age four my daughter transformed from a happy-go-lucky confident unselfconscious grubby child into a pristine pink princess with a “passion for fashion”. Her sexist utterances were even more surprising, “girls can’t have short hair”, “boys can’t play fairies” and her refusal to wear anything that wasn’t a dress and pink or sparkly ensured mornings were traumatic for all involved.
Although I tried to deny it for a while, I knew it was my fault, after all mothers are the primary passeroners of patriarchal values. My slackness, my desire for a few quiet moments, had left my daughter vulnerable to the brainwashing. I knew the risks, I knew the danger of the mainstream media, its power to corrupt, and I deliberateraly sat her down in front of it. I thought I could beat it. I couldn’t!
Its sexist, its racist, its homophobic, its classist, it twists reality, it makes us feel insecure, its pushes consumerism down our throats, it promotes violence, competition, vanity, selfishness, and that’s just the children’s programmes, never mind all the rest.
Bob the Builder, Postman Pat, Underground Ernie, Lunar Jim, Gordon the Gnome, Bottletop Bill, Mr. Men Show, Thomas the Tankengine, Roary the Racingcar, eh hello, say no bloody more! Its obvious what the problem is, isn’t it? The whole plotline is based around boys and men, the main character is male. There are sometimes female characters but they’re always the sidekick. Even when the main character is an inanimate object, like a train or car or robot, or an animal, its still blatantly a male character. Even if I had a son I would find these characters deeply sexist, they’re so 2d, strong, clever, they work hard in traditional male roles, they don’t show emotion, etc.
Where are the programmes with girls or women as the stars, where are the female role models? Although few and far between there are programmes where girls and women star such as Peppa Pig, the Little Princess, Bratz, Fifi and the Flowertots. But then these types of programmes are even more disturbing than the overtly sexist ones mentioned above. The female characters in them are kind, caring, passive, spoilt, and immature, they love cooking and ballet and very little more, and they’re all bloody pink!
And it’s not just me with my “warped” feminist mind making problems where there’s none, last year a comprehensive study of children’s television was done and it proved rather conclusively that it is a biased media representing a biased world.
The International Central Institute for Youth Educational Television (better known by its German acronym IZI) released findings on gender representation in 19,664 programmes from 24 countries in what was according to them “the worlds large quantitive media analysis of children’s television so far”. The survey showed very clearly that there IS a gender imbalance in favour of male characters in television programming for children in public and private programmes, domestic and international programmes and in animated and real life formats and that this is the trend all over the world. Surprisingly, to them perhaps, public and state broadcasters have a worse gender balance ratio (31%:69% female to male representation) than their private counterparts who stand at 33%:67%. The reports authors consider this a remarkable result “since public broadcasters – with the public mandate – have the responsibility for representing reality in a balanced way. The reality of human life is 51% female to 49% male (unfortunately the report does not consider those people who are trans, intersex or do not identify as male or female), which could not be found in children’s TV anywhere”.
The researchers found that girls and women account for only 32% of lead characters compared to 68% for boys and men. In some series girls and women are almost absent. Animation programmes have 87% male characters as compared to 13% female and this leads the researchers to conclude that “the reality of children’s television proves. that today gender equality is still a long way off”, but hey we already knew that.
And this is just the gender bias, children’s tv is also racist. 72% of all main characters in children programmers around the world are white. I would also like to know what the figures are in relation to representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in children’s programming, as well as people with disabilities and I don’t think that I have ever seen any representation of any other family structures other than that of the traditional nuclear family.
Basically this report backs up what many of us have observed, the media, in this case children’s media, as a cultural vehicle only presents an extremely limited, sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist view of society where women and girls are portrayed as beautiful, underweight, sexualised, modest, tidy and moral beings who are motivated by a romantic interest and are dependant on males who, in their turn are leaders, heterosexual, able-bodied and white!
What are we saying to our children? In particular what are we saying to our daughters? We’re saying to them that they can’t be builders, or postmen, or astronauts, or whatever they want, that they can merely aim to being feisty yet fashionable. Little girls are presented as only valid as princesses, pretty in pink, secondary to males. Our daughters are not secondary, they are the primary characters in their own lives, and so should be represented as such.
I hate it on so many levels, for what it does to me, my children, women, and the world. I got so fed up of shouting at the telly, of trying to critique the propaganda with my daughter, of seeing little fairy princess dvds, of seeing advertisements aimed at parents through their children, where girls wear pink and play with dolls and boys wear blue and like transformers. I was going to try to write a letter to the heads of broadcasting for children at the various tv channels, but I reckoned we’re too far gone for that. This rubbish has become an institutional part of our life and we just accept it. Even if I did complain, nothing would change.
Then about six months ago sister fate played her hand and provided a solution for my family that was so simple yet so effective. One night, thank the goddesses, our tv died. It choked, it spluttered and before our very eyes, it passed away. I admit at first I was gutted, what would I do without my almost daily dose of Eastenders, and Neighbours, and Home and Away, but then almost immediately I felt better. Molly cried for a while, but she quickly got over it, after all there are so many things for a five year old to do. She still loves pink, and dresses, and glitter and all that, but maybe that’s just what she likes. But instead of sitting in front of the tv, she spends hours drawing, or reading, or just playing. I have no more or no less time than I had before, but we are all a lot happier doing the things we want to do.
For a practical and immediate solution to the nightmare that is the television just throw the bloody thing out, after all the television will not be revolutionised!
The full report can be found at http://www.br-online.de/jugend/izi/english/publication/televizion/21_2008_E/21_2008_E.htm.
Butterflea, 2008
butterflea@riseup.net
Anticopyright
It did however come as a shock when, surprise surprise, despite all my best efforts at feminist parenting, age four my daughter transformed from a happy-go-lucky confident unselfconscious grubby child into a pristine pink princess with a “passion for fashion”. Her sexist utterances were even more surprising, “girls can’t have short hair”, “boys can’t play fairies” and her refusal to wear anything that wasn’t a dress and pink or sparkly ensured mornings were traumatic for all involved.
Although I tried to deny it for a while, I knew it was my fault, after all mothers are the primary passeroners of patriarchal values. My slackness, my desire for a few quiet moments, had left my daughter vulnerable to the brainwashing. I knew the risks, I knew the danger of the mainstream media, its power to corrupt, and I deliberateraly sat her down in front of it. I thought I could beat it. I couldn’t!
Its sexist, its racist, its homophobic, its classist, it twists reality, it makes us feel insecure, its pushes consumerism down our throats, it promotes violence, competition, vanity, selfishness, and that’s just the children’s programmes, never mind all the rest.
Bob the Builder, Postman Pat, Underground Ernie, Lunar Jim, Gordon the Gnome, Bottletop Bill, Mr. Men Show, Thomas the Tankengine, Roary the Racingcar, eh hello, say no bloody more! Its obvious what the problem is, isn’t it? The whole plotline is based around boys and men, the main character is male. There are sometimes female characters but they’re always the sidekick. Even when the main character is an inanimate object, like a train or car or robot, or an animal, its still blatantly a male character. Even if I had a son I would find these characters deeply sexist, they’re so 2d, strong, clever, they work hard in traditional male roles, they don’t show emotion, etc.
Where are the programmes with girls or women as the stars, where are the female role models? Although few and far between there are programmes where girls and women star such as Peppa Pig, the Little Princess, Bratz, Fifi and the Flowertots. But then these types of programmes are even more disturbing than the overtly sexist ones mentioned above. The female characters in them are kind, caring, passive, spoilt, and immature, they love cooking and ballet and very little more, and they’re all bloody pink!
And it’s not just me with my “warped” feminist mind making problems where there’s none, last year a comprehensive study of children’s television was done and it proved rather conclusively that it is a biased media representing a biased world.
The International Central Institute for Youth Educational Television (better known by its German acronym IZI) released findings on gender representation in 19,664 programmes from 24 countries in what was according to them “the worlds large quantitive media analysis of children’s television so far”. The survey showed very clearly that there IS a gender imbalance in favour of male characters in television programming for children in public and private programmes, domestic and international programmes and in animated and real life formats and that this is the trend all over the world. Surprisingly, to them perhaps, public and state broadcasters have a worse gender balance ratio (31%:69% female to male representation) than their private counterparts who stand at 33%:67%. The reports authors consider this a remarkable result “since public broadcasters – with the public mandate – have the responsibility for representing reality in a balanced way. The reality of human life is 51% female to 49% male (unfortunately the report does not consider those people who are trans, intersex or do not identify as male or female), which could not be found in children’s TV anywhere”.
The researchers found that girls and women account for only 32% of lead characters compared to 68% for boys and men. In some series girls and women are almost absent. Animation programmes have 87% male characters as compared to 13% female and this leads the researchers to conclude that “the reality of children’s television proves. that today gender equality is still a long way off”, but hey we already knew that.
And this is just the gender bias, children’s tv is also racist. 72% of all main characters in children programmers around the world are white. I would also like to know what the figures are in relation to representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in children’s programming, as well as people with disabilities and I don’t think that I have ever seen any representation of any other family structures other than that of the traditional nuclear family.
Basically this report backs up what many of us have observed, the media, in this case children’s media, as a cultural vehicle only presents an extremely limited, sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist view of society where women and girls are portrayed as beautiful, underweight, sexualised, modest, tidy and moral beings who are motivated by a romantic interest and are dependant on males who, in their turn are leaders, heterosexual, able-bodied and white!
What are we saying to our children? In particular what are we saying to our daughters? We’re saying to them that they can’t be builders, or postmen, or astronauts, or whatever they want, that they can merely aim to being feisty yet fashionable. Little girls are presented as only valid as princesses, pretty in pink, secondary to males. Our daughters are not secondary, they are the primary characters in their own lives, and so should be represented as such.
I hate it on so many levels, for what it does to me, my children, women, and the world. I got so fed up of shouting at the telly, of trying to critique the propaganda with my daughter, of seeing little fairy princess dvds, of seeing advertisements aimed at parents through their children, where girls wear pink and play with dolls and boys wear blue and like transformers. I was going to try to write a letter to the heads of broadcasting for children at the various tv channels, but I reckoned we’re too far gone for that. This rubbish has become an institutional part of our life and we just accept it. Even if I did complain, nothing would change.
Then about six months ago sister fate played her hand and provided a solution for my family that was so simple yet so effective. One night, thank the goddesses, our tv died. It choked, it spluttered and before our very eyes, it passed away. I admit at first I was gutted, what would I do without my almost daily dose of Eastenders, and Neighbours, and Home and Away, but then almost immediately I felt better. Molly cried for a while, but she quickly got over it, after all there are so many things for a five year old to do. She still loves pink, and dresses, and glitter and all that, but maybe that’s just what she likes. But instead of sitting in front of the tv, she spends hours drawing, or reading, or just playing. I have no more or no less time than I had before, but we are all a lot happier doing the things we want to do.
For a practical and immediate solution to the nightmare that is the television just throw the bloody thing out, after all the television will not be revolutionised!
The full report can be found at http://www.br-online.de/jugend/izi/english/publication/televizion/21_2008_E/21_2008_E.htm.
Butterflea, 2008
butterflea@riseup.net
Anticopyright
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