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How to teach children that lots of goods are made with forced and child labour?

5 replies

Rosepetalgeranium · 26/12/2018 09:57

And encourage them to live sustainability without thinking they are missing out?

I really struggle with the extravagance of Christmas and really want to scale it down but still make it special.

Anyone else feel like this?

www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods

OP posts:
rockofages · 26/12/2018 10:14

I don’t know how old your children are, but if they are younger than teenagers it is our job as adults to source sustainable gifts etc. They are children for such a short time that I feel they should enjoy their gifts etc without worrying about their provenance. Christmas should be guilt free for young children. As they grow up discussions about buying clothing, food, toiletries from ethical retailers can be had. They will soon start to ask questions and will learn from school, tv, online about ethical dilemmas. In my experience it can be problematic to raise some of these issues too early. My own child was scarred from seeing news footage about “mad cow disease” before she was ready to understand and it adversely affected her approach to food for years. If their home is one in which they see free range eggs, reusable bags, ethical clothing etc being chosen purposefully these discussions will arise naturally when they are ready. Until then as parents we are making choices for them giving them security and allowing them to imbibe our values.

AdultHumanFemale · 26/12/2018 10:55

My kids (5 and 8) know that we avoid single use plastic, and that plastic is generally non-biodegradable, and so should only be bought if no other alternative is available. We've driven past landfill sites on the motorway and they've seen what happens to our waste. For this reason, they don't want any plastic stuff.

Rosepetalgeranium · 26/12/2018 10:55

The problem is they get loads of unsustainable gifts from DHS family who don't ask and just want to give what they give. Huge amounts of plastic that does get used but it's something id rather not have.

I would quite like to do charity work on Christmas day, but feel like I would be blamed for running Christmas.

OP posts:
Jellycatspyjamas · 26/12/2018 11:44

I think it’s about balance, my kids have a tonne of plastic toys that bring them joy and which they play with a lot. I try not to get faddy, disposable toys (LOL dolls, I’m looking at you...) but sometimes other people will buy them. I try to avoid fast fashion and recycle clothes they’ve grown out of.

In terms of Christmas, we keep things as low key because my two get completely overwhelmed very easily. So no multiple visits to Santa, picking up cheap plastic and chocolate en route, we avoid special Christmas pjs that they’ll get one season out of, Christmas jumpers are bought big enough to get a couple of years out of etc.

I won’t be teaching mine about forced labour etc for some time to come, it’s my job to source things for them and to support ethical living as far as is practical. They’ll learn through example. I also think it’s a tall ask to expect children to have empathy for other, unknown children to the point of feeling that they aren’t missing out. You can not buy or let them have, explain why and deal with them feeling like they’re missing out but expecting them not to get caught up in the next big craze because of others misfortune is a bit of a stretch I think.

Do charity work at Christmas if you want, though I’d rather set that example but doing something all year round. People aren’t just poor and exploited at Christmas!

DaisyDreaming · 26/12/2018 13:26

How old are they? I would let them still believe in elves and magic and just try your best to guide them to better choices

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