To think this is not an activity in primary school

Talk to the teacher to get some clarification maybe? I'd be incredibly surprised if the school was organising a protest especially without parents knowledge! He may have worded it badly. How old is your son?

Personally I would have used it to talk to him and ask him what his views are.

And... we DO live in a defintiely more unpleasant climate than in the 80s. So they were not wrong.

have they booked a coach to disrupt a WE play and throw soup at a painting in National gallery?
if not, I think you need to brew youself camomille tea and chill, as you dont seem to understand what political activism even means.

Surely all they are doing is being made aware of the dangers of climate change, and being made to think about it in a creative way. I think it's a very reasonable use of time combining geography with art and design, and awareness of current issues.

I would imagine it was used as something different yo get the children enthusiastic about and probably presented to the rest of the school in an assembly. My daughter took part in a 'peaceful protest' about therapy dogs in school around school in yr5 and loved it said it made it more "real' and understood more about the suffragettes. Teachers are always so tied to school/DofE rules that when they think outside the box they get moaned at🤬

Completely agree with this.

Yabu

So is the teacher buying a load of those special pens to draw on t shirts? Or are they designing graphics on a computer to be printed on special iron/heat press on paper?

More likely they won't give a damn and I it's not chucked away it still will never be worn again

I'm pretty sure we were told that in the early 80s

Why make parents buy t shirts that aren’t wanted or needed though?

I was a pretty sharp snarky kid and that is the first thing I'd have asked the teacher.

It’s not about the parents though is it? It’s for the children. The shirts will only “get chucked in the bin” if the parents insist on doing so and what message does that give to your child?The children will learn a lot while doing this project and why shouldn’t they be allowed to keep their shirts afterwards? They’ll probably enjoy the process and want to keep it.

Upcycling an old, used t-shirt, fine. Buying a new one is ironically wasteful of the planets resources and parent's money.

I like a pp's suggestion of upcycling card to make banners as that's not generating additional waste or costs.

Climate change is an appropriate part of Geography and Science to learn about.
Protest is an appropriate part of Citizenship/ PSHE/ "British Values" to learn about. This is a good topic for these concepts because it's about a scientific fact.
There are a lot of strands of the curriculum including Art being brought together.

The line into being political would be crossed if the "protest" was affiliated with a group such as Just Stop Oil.

What do you think getting parents to buy tshirts that will just get chucked in the bin, and painting them will actually do for climate change?

They’ll have been learning about climate change activism which is entirely reasonable and through this, the teacher thought it would be fun to design a protest tshirt. I have no idea what your gripe is but it’s silly and you need to get out more.

Can assure you many if not most children are very aware of the issues. To.the point of anxiety.

I do wonder if there's much point given how little action most governments (and people, really) are willing to take. A hard balance to strike.

Sounds like a great exercise. A good teacher should encourage exactly that kind of debate and criticsl thinking.

YABU and ridiculous.

If we don't do something about climate change, those children in primary school now will be living in a very different and unpleasant world by the time they reach old age.

Just by the way, cotton is an environmental disaster.

I agree mostly. Worth noting though that it’s quite hard to fit the curriculum in as it is. Any teacher will tell you that they need to catch up on lots of lessons because of all the extra curricular events that happen. I don’t think this would be a hill to die on but I do think OP is correct to be a little skeptical and keep a close eye on what is being taught.

Have you ever volunteered at a charity shop? I run a charity clothing exchange, loads of clothes are perfectly clean but are frayed, a little bobbled or just a bit wash faded that go for rags. There are also loads of old fashion curtains, table clothes etc donated that go to rags. There is no reason that these can’t be cut into strips of fabric for reuse in a banner.

Schools forever ask for small boxes or plastic containers for craft projects, collages can be recycled and no additional waste is produced.

Upcycling outgrown or damaged clothes is a perfectly normal project for a design class.

All are actually supporting the curriculum regarding reuse and global warming rather that actively harming the environment because it’s easier.

Ask a charity shop to give them unwashed clothing that is given to the ragman because it's too poor quality, dirty and damaged to be anything but shredded? Or find a mythical item of damaged but not too damaged and won't get a kid teased for having tatty clothing to repair, miraculously happen to use up boxes of food (got to check no nuts or other major allergens were stored in them) or cleaning products (but watch out for allergies), don't forget to tip away the last of the contents so they're wasted, and then produce another collage of rubbish that will definitely go straight in the bin?

Inspired.

Yes I agree that protest implies politics but I I’m pretty sure it won’t be a protest. I think the OP’s Dc has got the wrong end of the stick.