Social Justice For Children

How exceptionally fabulous is this website???!!!!

http://www.parentingforsocialchange.com/index.html

This is just exactly what I've been wanting to say, or wanted to say some time ago, to an old friend who has always been on the front lines of the fight for social justice but felt it was good for her daughter to learn to suck it up when she didn't like her mother's choices. I know my friend loves her daughter and believes in her choices as much as I belive in mine, and I don't fault her for making them, but the irony of it drove me mad. I couldn't quite think how to put it into words, except to say that I now believe I understand why the revolution always seems to fail. Or that is, to succeed, because it's just a revolving power play, over and over and over (and therefore a revolution, rather than an evolution), the oppressed rise up, defeat the oppressor, become the oppressor. Because no matter how many NVC classes we take or how many collectives we participate in or consensus decisions we make with adults, we are raising our children to expect, to pariticipate in, to see as normal the oppresser/oppressed relationship because that is what they experienced with their own parents, no matter how well meaning or loving we may be.

Every time we say 'because I said so', every time we discount our children's voices, every time we insist that we know better, every time we leave them crying, or worse tell them to stop crying, every time we punish them in whatever way, 'gentle' or not so gentle, we demostrate to them that this is how the world works--oppressor and oppressed--I know what's right and you don't, I know what's good for you, I have the power so we will do it my way. How COULD we ever hope to break that cycle on a global, social level if we can not do it in our own homes?

Anyway, I love this website. She says it all so much better than I could!