Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Or is school out of order

247 replies

mazu · 02/12/2018 08:04

Dd8 (yr3) while sat at the table spied a box of Nestlé cereal on the table and announced she would not be touching any of it (it wasn't hers and wasn't offered to her). She then goes of to say she would not be buying anything from them as they are horrible people and goes on full blown attack on the brand and palm oil and orangutans. I'm sat there stunned at are very strong beliefs and thought perhaps she's seen an advert on YouTube kids about it.
On the contrary it turns out her at school they were taught about the evil that Nestlé is and that they were told to write letters to the president Mr Schneider to tell him they hate nestle because they damage forests and kill orangutans.

She then spent the entire weekend feeling guilty anytime she has eaten anything with palm oil chocolate, Nutella , bread, crisps I mean everything! She pretty much stopped eating by last night.

While I am up for teaching children about environmental and ethical responsibility at a young age AIBU to feel the school went too far? I made me feel quite angry that they could pretty much teach my child the politics that could shape her entire life and little ones are quite vulnerable and without a balanced view of the facts I do not want this to be the way my child is taught about issues. I want her to read and form her own opinions not spew garbage based on someone else's agenda. Bear in mind the issue here is now the Nestlé as I'm fully aware of the atrocities they have committed in the past.

OP posts:
Hopedieslast · 03/12/2018 18:07

No school can go far enough, the story needs to be told, and it isn't a pretty story. 20% of the world's oxygen is produced in the Amazon forest, which is being destroyed at a faster rate than we can blink. 20 football fields per minute. If nothing is done 28000 species will be extinct in the next 20 years due to deforestation. I think it is high time our kids learn the harsh facts, I applaud the school. And nothing wrong with addressing some of the culprits. After all Iceland will now ban palm oil in their products - somebody must have sent them a letter. :-)

ohreallyohreallyoh · 03/12/2018 18:10

20 football fields a minute is the figure that has been bandied around since the 1980s. I am pretty sure if that were the case, there would be nothing at all left by now.

Leapfrog44 · 03/12/2018 18:17

thank GOD your school seems to be taking the right approach and teaching kids to make ethical decisions.

My 8 year old is aware of palm oil issues, factory farming, pesticides, plastics, pollution and climate change. She's a happy, well adjusted kid and takes these things in her stride. She is old enough to think about these things and make good choices. Some information has come from the school and some from me.

If kids are oblivious these issues then humanity is fucking doomed.

Leapfrog44 · 03/12/2018 18:19

Ethics is actually the MOST important thing schools can teach and they're usually lacking in this area.

If our generation have been made aware of these things at age 8, maybe the world would be in less of a mess now?

user1468942365 · 03/12/2018 18:39

I despise Nestle but hear me out
Deforestation is so sad and incredibly awful, agreed and children should be aware of it.
Schools should be eco aware and educate on major issues BUT with all ethical and socio economic sides not just the sensationalized views of political organisations or supermarkets' adverts.

Lead them to make their own judgments, don't demonize businesses (Yes, this may be Nestle but in another school it might not be)

It's a school not an opinion factory. Many y3s will take a teacher's word as truth.
It needs doing properly, with factual back up, not on a whim. (Iceland making more money out of this and aren't entirely truthful either)
Talk about solutions and alternatives.

WordInYourShellLike · 03/12/2018 18:39

This is what Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, a former chairman and CEO of Nestlé (he also served as chairman of the board for a time and is now chairman emeritus) had to say on the subject of whether water should be a basic human right:

“Water is, of course, the most important raw material we have today in the world. It’s a question of whether we should privatize the normal water supply for the population. And there are two different opinions on the matter. The one opinion, which I think is extreme, is represented by the NGOs, who bang on about declaring water a public right. That means that as a human being you should have a right to water. That’s an extreme solution. The other view says that water is a foodstuff like any other, and like any other foodstuff it should have a market value. Personally, I believe it’s better to give a foodstuff a value so that we’re all aware it has its price, and then that one should take specific measures for the part of the population that has no access to this water, and there are many different possibilities there.”

I find that pretty despicable. I've been boycotting them since I was about 13 and first learned of their activities. I'm now 51. I applaud your DD's school for teaching the pupils about this Children are the future - why shouldn't they try to take a stand against the adults who are ruining it for them? All the products that Nestle sell can be found as supermarket own brands now, just as good for a fraction of the price, we're spoilt for choice! And actually Nutella use sustainable palm oil so you're ok with that! There are an increasing number of products now that use sustainable palm oil - Sainsbury's and Iceland are very good. Look into it - show your DD that you can take her very real concerns seriously.

mostdays · 03/12/2018 18:40

don't demonize businesses

Even businesses which engage in truly harmful, avoidable practices?

Grannyannex · 03/12/2018 18:47

palm oil chocolate, Nutella , bread, crisps = all processes crap which can be sourced more environmentally

user1468942365 · 03/12/2018 18:48

If they know it to be the case, then fine but generally I think it's slightly dodgy ground. Our school has had numerous incidents this last few weeks with children refusing to have even sustainable palm oil at home because of the haphazard way it's been taught. It needs to be done responsibly and age appropriately. (Like I said, I have no time for Nestle but it can't be on a teacher whim inspired by Iceland's marketing team!)

RabbityMcRabbit · 03/12/2018 18:50

SoyDora, knowing the chairman of Nestle is not something I'd be bragging about iykwim!Grin

WordInYourShellLike · 03/12/2018 18:51

This is a good place to start finding out more about palm oil and who is using a sustainable version. From the World Wildlife Fund website:

www.wwf.org.uk/updates/british-companies-have-led-way-palm-oil-sustainablity

Rudi44 · 03/12/2018 18:51

God I would be seriously proud of her if she were mine. It’s kids like yours who give me some hope that we aren’t totally buggered

paxillin · 03/12/2018 18:53

Year 3? Persuasive writing. Ours did a piece about Mattel and deforestation back then.

EdwardScissorskills · 03/12/2018 18:54

She obviously didn’t just take away the message that Nestle are bad if she was boycotting bread and Nutella. If she only started refusing those after you’d explained the palm oil issue... well, that’s on you surely? And if you agree it’s bad, surely you should be delighted?

DD’s class wrote persuasive letters to the Mayor of London about plastic recycling. The key is “persuasive”. I seriously doubt your DD’s class were writing abuse! A selection were sent and they got a nice reply back. Should we have gone ballistic in your view?

Beeziekn33ze · 03/12/2018 18:54

OP - re eye roll- is this what you're were looking for?🙄

I taught my primary class about deforestation in the Amazon and the need for recycling in the '80s. I wonder what they remember.
About the same time I taught a Y7 class about the European Grain Mountain. They (predictably) asked why it couldn't be used to alleviate famine in African countries. I started suggesting that their parents could write to politicians but was interrupted by a hand waving 11 year old girl saying enthusiastically Can't WE write?' Of course they could and they did and received replies. I told the girl I hoped to see her as a city councillor around the year 2000! I'm sure she's an influence for good wherever her life has taken her.

Avocado - yes, it seems to be South American drug gangs taking over. I breakfasted for many years without avocado and will do so again.

Jogonandshutup · 03/12/2018 18:59

Well done school - it’s about time schools started discussing REALLY important matters rather than why children should hate/not support certain MPs/people in other countries as we should not agree with their views ‘collectively’!

Rhiannon13 · 03/12/2018 19:10

That's great. Well done to her school. Nestle are a terrible company and children should be taught to question such bad practices.

genius1308 · 03/12/2018 19:11

A huge well done to your child's school. I'd be very happy about that. Real issues that your child's generation can have a massive impact on. I too have not touched anything made by Nestle for 12 years now. They are one of the most boycotted companies in the world (with very good reason).

genius1308 · 03/12/2018 19:21

Take a look at the Baby Milk Action website for more information about the Nestle boycott. And a list of products that Nestle actually make. I think you may be surprised at how many fingers they've got in many pies!
www.babymilkaction.org/nestlefree#overview
Every time I see George Clooney on the Nespresso advert I wonder if his wife was happy about it?

MinecraftHolmes · 03/12/2018 19:23

I'd want to find out how much nuance the school actually used in the discussion.

Why your palm oil boycott may not be the best way to save the environment

genius1308 · 03/12/2018 19:25

My children, aged 4 and 10, will both pick up items in the supermarket and then put them back down saying 'we can't buy that it's Nestle'. Rightly or wrongly I'm very happy about that. That's something, hopefully, they will carry on with throughout their life.

NotBeforeCoffee · 03/12/2018 19:26

She’s right though isnt she? Good on her for sticking up for her principles, you should support her in that.
I thought everyone with any moral fibre had already boycotted nestlé due to their baby milk practices. We should all be boycotting palm oil, it’s unhealthy to eat and environmentally devestating. Companies only use it because it’s cheap

bemusedmoose · 03/12/2018 19:32

To be fair - Nestle are evil (before palm oil they were forcing children into slave labour) palm oil is also evil, not just for orangutans and forests but it's really bad for humans and toxic for animals. I would say good on school! Though Nestle aren't likely to stop using it unless people actually do stop buying their products.

Yura · 03/12/2018 19:33

@bemusedmoose this is true for all big food businesses. some are just better at hiding than others/have better PR departments

Yura · 03/12/2018 19:35

If you boycot nestle, ylu should also boycot Unilever, kraft/mondelez, mars, danone and pepsico

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread