To think protesters shouting"stop killing children"should have thought twice about doing it outside the only two kids shoe shops in town?

[PolkadotCircus]

Trying to get my head round this so advice please.

I have a lot of sympathy re the Palestine situation however today I just had to get ds 9 new shoes.Soooo I dragged the 3 dc(9,9and7) to the only two kids shoe shops in town outside of which was a protest re the current situation in Palestine.The above slogan was pretty much the only thing being shouted.

One of my dc is very sensitive.Whilst we try and explain world events there are things we have to shield him from as he worries,gets scared and can think too much.The other 2 are fine.

Soooo this protest was literally below the window of said shoe shop.Ds froze and bombarded me with questions which I tried to answer.He has since been asking a lot this afternoon re "where do they kill children,why" etc.You couldn't really escape it in town as it was up and down the same street(to be fair the only place to protest).

Now I know my dc are lucky enough to live in a safe country and I know kids shouldn't be sheltered forever from nasty world events(I've explained the crux of the 2nd WW,Afganistan etc)however surely it's up to a parent as to how much you expose kids to and kids differ.

Maybe the phrasing should have been changed?

I'm very pro the right to protest though so can't quite get my head round whether I was right to be annoyed.

Maybe I wasn't,thoughts please.

[NoraGainesborough]

What other buildings were around, why was the protest there in first place?

But i do agree that its not the best place for shouting about killing kids. Many kids may become scared or distressed and may not understand.

I also think about the right to protest is good. Its weird one.

[FromEsme]

I think the right to free speech and the right to protest trumps your child's right not to be scared.

[NoraGainesborough]

See i am not convinced.

i think a child should be able to go shoe shopping without being scared.

I am really on the fence with this one.

Will wait and see how this thread develops

[WilsonFrickett]

I do sympathise because my DS would have reacted the same way. But children are being killed, aren't they? The point of a protest is to provoke a reaction. And I think there's also a different cultural tradition at play too, where protesters are generally more vociferous. So I don't think anyone is being U in this situation.

[quoteunquote]

At 9,9 and seven you can talk to them about what is happening in the world, if you explain that these adults protesting are very upset because children are being hurt in Palestine, your children won't be frightened of them, they clearly care about children.

Mine all watch newsround from an early age, if you go iplayer you will find a newsround episodes coving the issue, watch it with them and they will understand why the people were shouting today.

[SamSmalaidh]

The situation in Palestine is pretty scary, do you really want no one to talk about anything unpleasant in an area where children might be present?

If they had photos of murdered children then fair enough.

[lastSplash]

I can see why you were annoyed, but it is a wee bit unreasonable to expect the demonstration to tone down what they're saying because kids might be around and upset. Children are being killed horrifically in Gaza and it needs to be shouted about. It is up to you to comfort your DS and explain as much as you think appropriate to him, so that he isn't confused, scared and upset (and maybe to get him out of the situation quickly and leave shoe buying until another day).

I took my then 7 year old DS to protests every day outside the Israeli embassy during the last all out assault on Gaza in 2008 and there were younger kids there today - all ages. I realise that all kids are different though and lots would totally not cope with that. I'm not sure if there are kids shoe shops opposite the embassy, will have to check on google maps...

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I'm going to be brutal. There are children dying in the ME and their right to have their story told trumps your DS's right to shoe shop in peace. I DO sympathise but these protesters are trying to stop someone else's child being killed. We are very lucky to live somewhere safe.

[MikeOxard]

So, some people's children are being killed, but the thing that upset you the most was that it would have been awkward for you to shop for shoes at another time or have your child hear a protest? You are being unbelievably unreasonable. Have some perspective, and a heart ffs!

[PolkadotCircus]

Mike don't think you read my op.

I certainly do have a heart however I do think pretty much only shouting "stop killing children" outside 2 well known kids shoe shops was perhaps slightly unnecessary.There were plenty of other things that could have been shouted.We weren't the only ones trying to stop our kids from hearing it.

We're pretty good re telling our dc about things that are happening in the world.With dtwin 1 however we have to be careful as he worries a lot.If I wanted him to be exposed to such graphic thoughts I'd let him watch News 24 but I don't I filter Newsround etc.

I guess I'm wondering what the cut off is re exposing kids to the evils of the world-so no need for the histrionics Mike.

[MikeOxard]

I did read it, and what it amounts to is "I understand people's children are dying, but for God's sake don't these people realise I needed to buy some shoes?". Yabu.

[MulledWineOnTheBusLady]

They ANBU to frame their protest how they want, but YANBU to find their chosen methods offputting. Free speech in action. If people want their protests to draw support/raise funds/spread awareness or whatever their aim they need to think hard about their message, time and place, likely audience etc. They didn't in this case, result you are slightly pissed off rather than informed/enthused to contribute etc.

Not much help for your DS I know.

[PolkadotCircus]

Wasn't what I was saying at all.

What I was saying was I understand the need for free speech but there are plenty of other things to yell in order to argue the cause for Palestine when going past a kid's shoe shop.Wouldn't have been that difficult to tone it down a bit.

The vast majority of 7 and 9 year olds in this country know nothing about "killing children"-not sure they have to to be frank.

[squeakytoy]

I think your children are old enough to start learning that there is a big world out there and some of it isnt very nice in other places, and that they can then learn to appreciate how bloody lucky we are in this country..

[PolkadotCircus]

They know all that and do-however hearing "stop killing children" shouted over and over again simply wasn't needed.

[SamSmalaidh]

You do sound very precious.

[missymoomoomee]

Count your blessings that you only have to hear some shouting about it, the kids out there are living it and have no respite or way to get away, they aren't getting shielded and gently eased into the fact there are these horrific things happening in the world.

Kids get exposed to the evils of the world when they do, its your job as a parent to explain it, but to a certain extent you can't control it.

[girlsyearapart]

I think yanbu and can completely see where you're coming from op.

I called the police to complain the other day when a group of anti abortionist protesters were protesting on a busy high street at a time where many schools and nurseries were turning out for the afternoon.

They had placards which came just under their chins with photos of dead foetuses on.

I personally don't think you should have pictures like that literally in children's faces as they walk past.

The police did go down but they had gone by then- unless they are breaching the peace there's nothing to stop it

[BarryShitpeas]

Yabu

[PolkadotCircus]

Yes we're lucky we're not living with however I'm not entirely sure of the benefit of scaring kids that aren't living with it.

I'm precious as it shook up my son.I wasn't the only parent trying to shelter their kids from it.There were several others with many a lot younger.

There are many,many other slogans they could have shouted.We may have hung around to listen if there were.As it was we hustled the kids into the shop asap.

I don't generally take to scaring my dc as a way of educating.

[wewereherefirst]

I wouldn't want my child to hear 'stop killing children' repeatedly, maybe 'Stop children dying in Palestine' would be more appropriate to get the message across.

I know my 6 year old would have thought that there were people in those shops that were killing children and that would have scared the shit out of him, and not making anyone sympathetic of the situation.

And before anyone asks, he does know what is happening in the middle east and across the world.

[PolkadotCircus]

On a Saturday morning on a crowded high street outside 2 kids shoe shops I think it could have been toned down.On a week day somewhere else then perhaps it could be more graphic.

It's a shame as I don't think it helped their cause.

[PolkadotCircus]

Exactly wewere if I didn't water down major news events this particular son wouldn't leave the house.

As it is we've had to get loads of books out to explain and show that the whole of America(and the rest of the world)isn't continually devastated by hurricanes,earthquakes and tsunamies.

Kids(some more than others)take things very literally as they're young and can't put things into perspective not having life experience or adult years.

[apostropheuse]

YABU

For all of the reasons listed above.

The children in Palestine aren't just scared because of something they've heard on a Saturday afternoon shopping expedition. They are being killed. They are watching their peers being killed. Someone is trying to raise awareness to help these poor little children.

[differentnameforthis]

I think the right to free speech and the right to protest trumps your child's right not to be scared

Disagree! Children don't need to know about a lot of the issues in this world at 7 & 9. Every child should be able to go shopping without being scared. My 9yr would have been quite upset at this. We do discuss issues like this, but it is important that it is discussed in the right way & bombarding children with these issues is wrong.