to copy in the other parents on an email about Operation Christmas Child

[MrTumblesBavarianFanbase]

DD and DS1's school have decided to do Operation Christmas Child this year for the first time, and have sent a long, gushy letter home with a slip which we have to sign to acknowledge we have read, and return to the class teacher.

I am putting together an email response which I will send to the head and my children's teachers, explaining that it is not as innocent as it appears, pointing out the racist, Islamaphobic elements and the evangelism, and also pointing out that it is a very inefficient way of giving that does not support the communities receiving the boxes. I am asking that they re-consider and perhaps direct the children towards a more ethical and useful way of giving to people in poorer countries. I will include a link to an online article.

WIBU to cc the other parents in on an email like this, given they have all had a letter home from school gushing about the chance for the children to to think about those less fortunate and making it almost compulsory to take part? I am pretty sure most people will take the letter, and the project, at face value and fill the boxes with a warm cosy feeling, (or slightly grudgingly but feeling they sort of have to) not knowing how they are used etc.

You misunderstand me Mr, I didn't say you said that about all Christians, I made the point to show that not all Christians are the same as this group. It is something I feel is very relevant to my culture and community actually.

If you know the parents reasonably well or well enough to send an email to, why not send a separate email to them to say that you were surprised to get the OCC letter home as it portrays OCC in a very different light from many other articles that you have seen about it, and that their own website in the US is very much more upfront about the radical evangelising that it does and what the shoe boxes are used for (ie they're not given out as no-strings-attached gifts in the spirit of Christianity, they're bribes for converting to their evangelical church and you're paying for this!).

I'm sure that I've read that in the UK they are having to be more hardline about stamping down on people saying anything about them (hence the legal threats to MN) as lots of people have stopped donating to them - not just individuals, but groups like schools and church groups (please note Marmite that if christian churches and dioceses in this country are saying to avoid this charity, then they can hardly be accused of being anti christian!).

If you just send out an email letting people know that there is another side to the organisation, that the info if they want to find out more can be found at xxx and that you've contacted the head teacher and teacher to let them know about this. And that you're still going to go ahead and create a shoe box / some other donation (if that's what the homework was!) but that you're going to ask that yours gets sent to [whichever charity you want to substitute it with] to show that you are happy to do something but you don't want to do it for this particular charity. And blame it on being English/reading articles about OCC in English papers/friends in England that have stopped doing it because of the problems that are coming to light about the organisation/etc if anybody gets upset

That way they can look into it themselves if they want to, and email the head/teacher if they want to too - but if not then that's fine too.

Please may I be a bit cheeky and ask for a ready-to-send email for our school. I've been meaning to contact them for years with my objections to OOC but when I draft it in my head, I get too ranty

Thanks.

Zipzap I may send out a separate email - the local Catholic Diocese have actually urged Kindergartens and schools in the area NOT to support this charity, and have said so on their website, and as 80% or more of people locally are Catholic this should carry more weight than anything else.

ItsNot I'm afraid my email is too locally specific - I could PM you it, but it would need editing unless you want to reference The Bistum Münster among other not relevant to the UK stuff...

Its - what kind of school? Church or community? State or private? Primary or secondary?

In that case, I'd definitely send out a simple email, drawing people's attention to the diocese's advice about not supporting the charity, letting them know that you've asked the head and teacher for clarification as to why they are doing something that goes against the diocese's advice and suggest that they do the same if they are also concerned...

I'd also love to know what the school's reaction to your email is because I'm nosey like that and if they do decide to hold up their hands, admit they made a mistake, didn't research it fully enough and find something different to support instead!

I'd keep it between you and the school.

Whilst I totally agree with you, some of the parents will blame you for being a big old meany. Make your arguments to the school and hope, and expect they will make the rational response

On. a different not, I'd say it is more respectful to the school to give them a chance to respond before copying in other parents. It make you appear more professional to everyone.

As a parent, I don't appreciate being copied in to private communications between a parent and the school.

Apols for short message : secondary state. Am happy to edit and use as a template rather than finished item. Thanks.

Have had a rather disappointing response from the school:

essentially the teacher who is co-ordinating the project said that most charities are a bit dodgy anyway, but its nice for the kids at school to do something nice and think of others at Christmas He also said that as a German subsidiary co-ordinate the project here he's sure it can't be as bad as the American version (but offered no evidence or grounds for this) and that although the Catholic Church have recommended not supporting the project, they haven't actually forbidden it, so school can collect for them if they want to.

On the positive side he did say they will support a different shoe box appeal next year instead - the way he brushed the issues off was to me. The head didn't even ackowledge the email beyond re-directing it to the teacher who co-ordinates religious education for our school and its larger sister school (where the head teacher is based - I've only met him briefly, to say good morning to, twice in the 3 years 2 months I've had kids at his schools). The class teachers didn't acknowledge the emails either, though they both reply on the same day to emails asking for apts about homework, so I assume they don't have any interest/ opinion on the matter.

DD (9) understands why we won't be supporting the project and was fully behind not joining in -(despite initially coming home excited about the project and willing to put her pocket money towards the compulsory donation to cover shipping costs) and she chose to try to explain to her friends - she is very articulate (she speaks German as well as she does English) and her friends are mostly intelligent 9 and 10 year olds, but nevertheless her friends apparently just shrugged and said that all that matters is that the kids get the presents anyway, who cares about the rest of it?

Am having mutinous thoughts about the fact children here may be vastly more self reliant than your average same age British kid, and almost always have beautiful hand writing :o , but they are not taught to question things and think for themselves, and that is a huge failing of both the education system and maybe the culture :(

Christian, Christmas charity event to do with religion. Well I never. Don't be such a bigot OP and let other people make up their minds. Otherwise you would be guilty of what you accuse the charity of.

UNless the OP is forcing children to join her religion and using their own poverty against them while simultaneously making homophobic anti abortion statements... I think it would be difficult for her to be guilty of that.

Oh damn my school are doing this... They didn't last year and the head is not really approachable

On the positive side he did say they will support a different shoe box appeal next year instead

Sounds like saving face. At least you've made a difference.

Its - have PMed.

Haven't had time to RTT, but I went to see my Head when this appeared last year. She was quite surprised and had no idea. Really, really hoping that it doesn't appear this year but I'm ready with alternatives should it happen.

Maybe just a quiet word, then? All private and that, only getting everyone else involved if nothing transpires?

I agree Mrshathaway, the head doesn't want to admit that they are supporting a dodgy charity and made no effort to research them before going along with it. At least they will be doing something different next year. But it would be nice if they just let the children make up their shoeboxes and gave them to local charities where they would be most needed

Hopefully you are right that the metaphorical shrug that the email represents is just face saving. As you say it is a good result really that they will do something else next year. Response made me grumpy about how reluctant people are to research and think about stuff, and how they shrug off anything unpleasant that doesn't directly impact them, mumble mumble, grumble and grump :o

I think you should copy in the other parents, yes, being very sure that you're not being libellous (though the likelihood of them suing you must be tiny).

I felt similarly about our school's involvement in Operation Child, when I found out about what it was up to, having previously assumed the shoebox appeal was all nice and innocent. I wrote to the school, who said that they would consider the evidence. Next thing I heard, they were running the Shoebox appeal again and the person organising it had no idea that I had raised a concern. Particularly inappropriate for that school, as a third of their children are Muslims. But the school is very very Church of England and the leadership were probably quite happy with the hidden agenda. Parents are being misled, and in many cases probably deliberately. Why not put that right?

Can someone point me to the evidence of bad practice please...genuinely.

I see on their site (and their literature) that they invite people to meetings and that gifts are given regardless of religion or whether they go to the meetings at all. They state the gift is not dependent on anything else. They also state the book is given alongside the gift and absolutely not inside. In fact they are apparently not opened once they've been through customs here.

From my own point of view, my only interest is in the gift arrangements. In terms of their belief in homosexuality etc, whilst possibly poor form (if true) it is no different to any other religion such as RC etc. I remember similar shocking teachings in school!

I'm genuinely interested where people are getting the info about gifts only being given to those who sign up to preachings etc. I've researched a lot and can't find any evidence of it.

The main issue in criticism of Operation Christmas Child is that they rarely make it clear to schools and parents in the UK (and apparently also in Germany, according to this thread) that the overriding aim of the whole programme is not to 'bring joy' to children at Christmas, but to use the shoeboxes as a tool for evangelism - effectively as a way to entice children to come to a meeting where they will be given the shoeboxes, but also the (highly evangelically biased) booklet of bible stories, and where they will be encouraged/pressured to sign up for the discipleship course 'The Greatest Journey'.

I am sure that technically the gift is not dependent on taking the booklet or signing up for the course, but promoting the course is very much the aim of Operation Christmas Child as far as Samaritan's Purse is concerned, as you can see from this page on their website, and these videos: Operation Christmas Child touches Nepal and India: from the box to the bible.

So the main two points of bad practice, as far as I am concerned, are 1) not being honest with schools and parents about the main purpose of the scheme when asking for donations, and 2) using gifts as a way of evangelising to poor and vulnerable children.

I think they have updated their literature. I got the info pack last year when dds school did it and it was printed quite clearly in the leaflet all about the greatest journey etc and about it being so many steps and that people are invited to take part. (My understanding is that it didn't previously state this but it def does now). Thus I think the argument about parents not being informed is possibly outdated now.

I think the information is improving (it only took a decade or so of the same criticisms every year…) but it is still very patchy, judging by some of the responses on a thread I posted a few days ago - OCC - what information has your school given you? and on some other threads, like this one.

Also - read the book, it's available in full on their website.

Re their views on homosexuality, condoms, Islam it absolutely does matter if OCC is being used as a recruitment tactic.