School students marching in support of Palestine

[Sausagenbacon]

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/palestine-march-tower-hamlets-east-london-israel-gaza-b1120876.html
Why are schools allowing/enabling students to do this?
Is it part of what schools should do, promoting frankly one-sided protest? And what will they decide to march about next? Just imagine being a Jewish student in the middle of this.
I find it sinister.

It's difficult with wars. On the one hand, I think children should be given strictly neutral information about them, because any political opinions should be formed when the brain is fully developed.

But by that logic, children in the 2nd WW would have been asked to consider the redeeming features of Hitler, and the pros and cons of Nazism?

@watcherintherye No, that would be bias!

Hmm the footage of the march is something I wouldn't want my kids part of, it feels like it's tipping away from "stop the killing" into anti Israel in general.

The tying of ribbons (for children killed on both sides) is a good idea. Or something a bit more specifically against the leaders (of both sides) rather than the countries in general. I felt this way about Russia/Ukraine too, leaders and some people do bad things but I don't like to villian-ise whole nations of people.

I don't think the schools organised it though?

Oh, you got me there. Well done.

Did you raise similar concerns when schools were 'politicising' children in relation to Ukraine?

@watcherintherye Well, it's only my approach. I will try to tell my kids (if they ask,) the established facts and actions that happened without my opinion, but in an age appropriate way. Teaching in schools is usually approached similarly, I think.

Of course not. Most Ukrainians are white. It's only us brown people that get the words 'hatred' and 'sinister' aimed at our protests.

Ok, fair enough, but I think you know what my point was. There are some situations where people don't need to be directed to form an opinion, or, horror of horrors, take a side. Especially when it's happening in real time, rather than a century ago. The facts can and do speak for themselves. What I don't understand is how people are finding it difficult to accept in this particular case.

I try to live by MLK's words and judge a person by the qualities of their character not the colour of their skin. Do you?

@watcherintherye Yes, of course you are right about that. The facts do speak for themselves. But which facts do you think people find it hard to accept?

No politics in school. No teacher’s political opinions being presented as The Right Side. The End.

Anyone defending this could stand to do a little reading themselves on how almost all radical political movements make use of the children/teens/students to get them young and cement their ideas into them for the future. Producing a generation of little activists for the preferred movement. It’s brainwashing. Cuba, Cambodia, China, Germany, Russia, child soldiers in various nations in Africa. Now happening here and the US. Wake up!

Is it only a safeguarding issue if the children are Muslim? The protests I go to are 99% white and many bring their dc, one I know is a child protection social worker. Are her dc at risk of radicalisation, or is that only for brown children?

I agree no politics in schools, but this is a humanitarian issue. My dc's school were having special assemblies, fundraisers and prayers for Ukraine, but no one cal acknowledge Palestine as its "political". Double standards for white, blued victims is sickening.

I think marching against genocide is admirable, personally. Genuinely can’t comprehend why some people think marches for Palestine are hateful.

@quantumbutterfly are you suggesting I'm racist, on a thread calling peaceful marches against a minority 'hatred' marches???

It is a safeguarding issue because of the issues I mentioned earlier. Plus a few more I have not mentioned. Nothing to do with skin colour or religion etc.

Please don't try to defend this using such things as an arguments. It is like crying wolf and you should never do that over these things. Schools have a duty towards their students to make sure this stuff is prevented where possible. The school now needs to be investigated plus ideally any adults leading this. If it was a pro Israel protest you would want that and I would say the same thing.

I'm asking this in general. If it's a safeguarding issue at school then it's a safeguarding issue at home. By this logic children under 18 should not attend protests as they are ALL at risk of radicalisation.

Exactly. Nobody blinked when it was Ukraine. Nobody was accused of 'hatred'. Nobody called it 'political' and said that kids should be kept in the dark or that it is 'radicalisation'. It's bollocks. Kids know that 1000s of kids being killed is wrong, kids know that purposefully starving other people is wrong. The fact that kids know this more than the British government and have to take to the streets about it is also wrong.

And you'd have to stop dc from watching the news too, the horrific images are much more likely to cause radicalisation than attending a protest.

Coming from someone who gets most sources from mainstream news I can tell you that there's no need for pro Palestinian propaganda. The IDF and the Israeli government are sufficient in exposing themselves and their intentions to the world. They do an excellent job all by themselves

So much blatant racism and Islamophobia on this thread. Would we be seeing language like sinister, hatred, indoctrination or brainwashing if not for the demography of the area? Of course not. It wasn't "sinister" when it was Ukraine, or Afghanistan.
Don't assume all kids are as apathetic and clueless as yours are.

I didn't see the same amount of concern when school children protest over Ukraine, BLM or the environment.
Children often have access to devices for information and while I accept that it is problematic that algorithms will feed viewers more of what they watch, it's very hard to remain neutral when you know people affected and can see that supposedly neutral sources like the BBC are anything but.