in thinking that this has been blown out of proportion?

[Anymouse]

Harvest Festival at local school is collecting coins to give to the UNICEF Flood Disaster Fund for the devastating floods in Pakistan earlier this year.

I should point out that the majority of families at this school have a connection with the military.

Several parents have refused to give money to this charity as it is helping Pakistan and understandably (I suppose) feel that Pakistan is involved with the Taliban and the war in Afghanistan.

It has become apparent that several parents were even refusing to send their child to school on the day of the Harvest Festival in protest.

The school has become aware of this and changed the donation to half to UNICEF Flood Fund and half to another charity.

So was the school unreasonable in choosing such a charity knowing that the majority of its pupils had children whose parents had been in Afghanistan, or are the parents over-reacting as essentially the poor children of Pakistan having nothing to do with the war in Afghanistan.

I'm not going to give my opinion and I will admit to name-changing, as I really don't want any chance that I'm found out raising this question, but I'm interested in knowing a wider view.

I'm pretty sure UNICEF don't fund the Taliban, so the parents should just put up with it.

no they weren't.

the people caught in the floods were not taliban. they weren't government policy makers, they were ordinary working people. some of whom were already leading very difficult lives.

The floods were not caused by a covert malitia.
it was a natural disaster in which thousands have been killed.

the mothers at your school should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

The parents at the school sound a bit thick. Who makes the decision about the charity?

Surely classes normally vote for which charity to support.

The fact that it was UNICEF and a collection for a terrible natural disaster then the mothers at the school were being unreasonable - big time.

I think that, rightly or wrongly, there are always charities people don't want to give to for various
reasons.

If the school had wanted to raise money for Help for Heros or something, they probably would have had people who didn't want to give to that on the basis of disagreeing with the war.

Personally, I understand that everyone has charities that are close to their heart, but giving to another one for an occasion such as this can only be a good thing surely?

I'm actually shocked at the attitude that helping Pakistani flood victims is funding the Taliban.

These people have lost lives, homes; everything. It has nothing to do with the Taliban.

What a bizarre attitude!? Refuse to help starving, suffering victims of a natural disaster because a small minority of their countryman may be involved in terrorism? You would probably never help anyone with anything if you took that to it's illogical extreme.

That has really surprised me.

Sounds to me a bit as though the head is playing personal politics here. Is she a bit "right on" and disapproving of armed forces? In practical terms when ours were at primary school the parents got a bit cheesed off about all the donations to overseas charities or to charities with which the vicar or husband of the chair of governors were involved. Eventually group pressure was exerted at the PTA and via the governors and system developed which involved parents proposing various charities for the big fundraisers and generally two charities were selected fairly transparently and one had always to be a relatively local charity.

I think there is a lot of over reaction from the parents. If they are from miliatary backgrounds quite frankly, they should be ashamed of their behaviour imo. The people suffering in Pakistan have nothing to do with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Anyone who has served out in those countries would have seen first hand the devastation the war brought to those countries (not they weren't a mess already) and many have helped to rebuild Iraq the best they can.

I would no problem with donating a couple of quid to the flood relief fund. I always allow DD to take part in the charity events at her nursery (pay a pound and show up in fancy dress usually) it's never a bad thing to encourage your DC to think of others.

The parents are unreasonable, in my opinion.

This is the worst disaster for some considerable time, and the majority of the INNOCENT victims have nothing to do with the Taliban.

Its not the fault of homeless Pakistanis that the Bristish army has invaded their neighbour, and might occasionally sustain casualties and deaths resulting from the invasion.

The families of the Afghan dead and British dead are in the same shit situation as each other - placed there by circumstances manipulated for the benefit of others. British service families probably have more in common with the common Afghans than the people who decide to send them to war. Tragic.

FGS, I don't think money for Pakistan flood victims would be going to the Taliban!!
Parents just sound thick, racist and ignorant tbh. The school was not unreasonable, they should not have to expect that kind of reaction from parents. They sound v reasonable actually changing it half half just to keep these people happy so they have taken on board their concerns even though concerns are a bit ridiculous but seems a fair comprimise to placate them. I just wonder though are people not embarassed to air such ignorant kind of views to their school??
Also if those are the people in the army its a shame to know they have such ignorant people going over there who seem to be presuming any asian person will be connected to the taliban, including just normal innocent civilians who have been struck by disaster. Does not give a lot of confidence if that's a prevailing attitude

Oh dear, seems a massive overreaction by the parents who might well be military (as our family are) but sadly do not seem very well informed.

Do these people also object to the aid work that the Royal Navy sailors do when their ship visits disadvantaged ports as was recently done in Nigeria?

The myth that everyone in Pakistan or Afganistan is Taliban or has Taliban sympathies is ridiculous and these wierdies make us sensible, educated military families appear to be raving right-wing loons.

The families at this school are BU and how sad that the Head didn't feel able to use this as a tool to educate the whole school.

massive overreaction. if tehy don't agree they shouldn't donate, simple as. but keeping tehir dcs off school???

Poverty is a great breeding ground for extremism.

Helping people tends to make them less likely to harbour hostility.

Giving aid to the people of Pakistan is enlightened self-interest.

As far as the school is concerned though I dare say they thought it simply comparable to the Haiti appeal, not any political axe-grinding.

I think the issue is not with helping the flood victims or any perceived involvement of the victims with what is happening in Afghanistan, but that so much of the 'aid' money is not going where it is needed but is being sidelined elsewhere (including indirectly supporting the Taliban)

Penguin73 - I think you've hit the nail on the head, as that is almost word for word (slightly more eloquently by you!), what I heard the other day.

But surely UNICEF is a big charity and they control where the money goes?

I think the school did think about the charity, but felt it was their place to encourage an understanding of the whole world and different cultures within it.

Is UNICEF money being sidelined then?

agree with everyone that thinks the parents are being ureasonable. And ignorant.

The parents are very unreasonable here. Ignorant to the point of racist.

At least you wern't asked to donate money to help those returning from ...our war with Afganistan