AIBU to think that this is political and should not be supported by a state school

[FlamingoCroquet]

(I have name-changed as this is very identifiying to any other parents or teachers from the same school. But I've been on here for 8 years)

DC's primary school informed us in the newsletter that the school is supporting a scheme to provide aid - specifically a backpack of items - to unaccompanied boys age 11-17 at the Jungle camp at Calais, in partnership with an organisation called Calais Action. They are asking parents/children to donate. This is to coincide with Refugee Week.

I'm very uneasy about this. I don't want to get into an argument about the whole migrant/refugee debate, but I feel that this is a political action and should not be supported by a state school. I am not against helping refugees in general, and would not complain if they were raising money for the Red Cross or Medicins Sans Frontieres. But I have major misgivings about supporting a group called Calais Action.

I'm thinking about emailing the school governors to raise my complaint, but I'm reluctant to be seen as that person who is anti-charity, when my DD has several years left at this school. What do you think?

I would be fully supportive of this - it is a humanitarian cause.

There are very few girls because those that do try to come across get siphoned off into the sex trade.

Families will pay the traffickers to take the person most likely to survive and least likely to be sold into sexual slavery.

Liner, the traffickers turn up in their fancy cars promising to bring families here but the risk from paedophiles is huge. The refugee and trafficked children I know are usually enslaved over here - in pros tuition, nail bars and cannabis farms. So they may be here, being exploited and abused.

YNBU

And that's what you'll be doing by not sending anything in then.

And I think you are confusing party political, and political. Whilst I do have very strong party politics, I would be appalled if the headmaster of my children school told them all to vote the way that I do. That is not his job. Opening their eyes to the way the world works (or doesn't work), encouraging political debate and interesting things outside your own sphere of experience is most definitely his job, even at primary age. If more headmasters encouraged political debate amongst the children they teach we may not have such low turnouts in elections in this country

OP, YABU to think this charity is political. They are helping children who are without the very basics. You are the one who is making it political. And I think that this is the very thing that schools should be doing, encouraging their pupils to look at the plight of their peers and give them the chance to make a difference.

But thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'm happy to bung them a couple of quid.

The boys in this situation are under extreme stress and therefore can hit puberty earlier than is usual. They are in dire straights there.

I dont think primary schools should support activities as a whole which have a political bias. The kids in primary schools are children too and should be treated as such - exposing children as young as 4/5 to the grim facts of the migrant / refuge situation is just unfair

Yes this too. Its an emotive, complex and controversial issue. How it got into a primary school I don't know. But I am sure they are not beyond the simplistic gesture politics that are so prevalent now, mostly it seems to make people feel good about themselves.

[Another point, my 12 year old had to do a drama class on 9/11 which they had to create and act out , which also seemed very odd] but thats another thread I won't be starting.

*I'm very uneasy about this. I don't want to get into an argument about the whole migrant/refugee debate, but I feel that this is a political action and should not be supported by a state school. I am not against helping refugees in general, and would not complain if they were raising money for the Red Cross or Medicins Sans Frontieres. But I have major misgivings about supporting a group called Calais Action.

I'm thinking about emailing the school governors to raise my complaint, but I'm reluctant to be seen as that person who is anti-charity, when my DD has several years left at this school. What do you think?*

You really want to know what I think?

Well I can't express what I think for fear of being banned/reprimanded.

Those 'political' issues you talk about concern PEOPLE. Think about that for a second. People who suffered in a country where death was an every day fear. Some of those people tried to escape that terror with their familes, others could only send their children.

And that is what we are talking about here - CHILDREN!

Children who are alone and know no one, don't know the language, don't know the culture, don't know anyone they can go to for help. They are fucking REFUGEES! They are just looking for somewhere, anywhere, safe.

Helping those kids by providing essentials is not a 'political' thing it's an humanitarian thing.

I actually can't believe that you are even asking this question. You are fortunate enough by the lottery of birth to come from a country where you will never starve, where there are options for housing and a free healthcare system, food banks and benefits and support for the most vulnerable and where bombs are not fropping on the streets 24/7, where you kids are safe in their beds and not abducted, where you have a job and stability.

Those people don't have that. Helping, even in a small way, can make all the difference.

I can't actually believe that you have an objection to this? Are you always this stupid and narrow minded?

But by all means, write you pissy letter of objection that shows what an ignorant and privileged ass you are and go back to worrying about whether Waitrose have your favourite hummus in stock.

Why do schools have a duty to be non political and who defines what is 'political' anyway? That seems a very nebulous definition - isn't supporting Cancer Research political (animal testing) or Salvation Army (equal marriage)?

You seem to be manufacturing a reason to make your objection. Either support the cause or don't but you don't have any grounds to object and you will come across badly,

I Chair an inner city primary school, if the Head wanted to choose this as our charity, it would be discussed at a GB mtg. Once agreed it would have my whole hearted support, actually it would have my personal support on humanitarian grounds. If you don't like it OP, then don't give.

TJEckleburg
Nowhere have I said that my children shouldn't know about this. Of course they know about it. I've tried to explain to them about the civil war in Syria, but it's quite a complex situation for an 8-yr-old to understand.

Yes, some of the children who have gone missing will have come here. They will probably be with the relatives who are very willing to work hard to support them. But many will fall into the hands of traffickers and be forced into criminality, slavery and male prostitution or will be exploited in Europe's black economy. And many of those children will have died. It's a horrible reality that the right wing closes its eyes to, day after day after day.

Think about it a moment. Do you have a son or nephew? Do you know how vulnerable 11 year old boys are? Can you envisage being forced to send your son away to save his life but, maybe, knowing that the reality is that he is destitute and alone in the squalor of those camps? Might you hope that some well-fed, comfortable schoolchildren and their families could spare a little time and trouble to reach out a helping hand to your son?

Oh yes and everything that Clarrp said.

Actually, chair of inner london primary school, the OP does have a right to complain to the governors about this, as in any matter where she feels the school is over-extending their power. If you want to give a chairty "your personal support on humanitarian grounds" then you can do that personally, you don't have to try and push others esp children into this when their parents feel uneasy ...

What clarrrp said..

You are being asked to help children.
What kind of person stops to asks first where are they from,why do they need help,how did they get here?
Does it really matter?

I'm having a bit of difficulty thinking of a charity that isn't, in some way, political, even if they're not campaigning.

Our school's harvest festival donations go to the local food bank - would you see that as political OP?

By the way, despite all the assumptions many people have made about me, I'm not right-wing in my political beliefs.

I was just reading an article today in the iweekend newspaper, about the philosopher Peter Singer. He has urged a rethink of global refugee policy. But I'm obviously not allowed to agree with him on mumsnet or think we should help the people who are stuck in the war-torn countries ahead of the people who are more able to leave.

Of course she has a right to complain because she doesn't agree with something. But she can't make up a rule (schools must be politically neutral) and object to it on that basis.

Our school's harvest festival donations go to the local food bank - would you see that as political OP?
No

But she can't make up a rule (schools must be politically neutral) and object to it on that basis.

I'd genuinely be interested to know what the rules are on this.

Flamingo, I agree there needs to be a different strategy, but there are children in great distress just a few miles away, who have no control over their situation. I think it's possible to address both issues without it being a conflict.
An alternative might be to ask if you could support a British children's charity, though these could potentially have political issues too - Young carers for instance are doing work that should be paid by SS or the NHS, children with life limiting illnesses could be saved if they had access to expensive treatment or drugs. Sadly, the world is an unjust and unfair place for many children.

I got to about page two of this thread and my blood began to boil. Yes of course YABvvvvvU. I will never understand the lack of humanity displayed by some people towards those in direst need. You need to educate yourself on the many many reasons there are more of certain groups at Calais than others.

You also need to educate yourself on why the UK is such a desirable destination. We are one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. We have many languages here. If -god forbid- you and your family were uprooted through war and had lost everything, wouldn't you want to go to where you had family members or at least people from your culture?

Our local school did something similar. I was disgusted by some attitudes. "Why only men's trousers in such and such a size?" ....errrr because the charities on the ground KNOW what is needed and don't have the time or resources to sort through fur coats and high heels and woollen blankets.

Seriously, children are dying and you're hesitating to help? Shame shame shame on you.