Mumsnet campaigns and alliances

[JustineMumsnet]

Morning Mumsnetters,
Following on from something someone suggested a while back, we want to think about how we might use our MN muscle to campaign on things that matter to us - like miscarriage, breastfeeding support, premature sexualisation of children (toddler thongs) etc and also how we go about building links with voluntary sector organisations to increase that muscle. Policywonk and Onebat, dynamic duo that they are - have rashly agreed to collect our thoughts/help out a bit with organisation - so we'd be very grateful if you could let us have your two penneth worth on any and all of this stuff.
Many thanks.

[pooches]

I would like to campaign for legislation to ensure more flexibility in moving between school years within local authorities. We have been forced to pay (and will have to do so pretty much for ever) for private education for my son- a left handed August-born six year old who is also a late developer because our local authority will not allow children to move down a year. In my view this 'well thats just unliky for summer born children' amounts to a form of institutionalised discrimination that if it were based on colour, gender or anythin else would cause a huge fuss. They say it is unfair on those taking grammar school exams- - so why tell me is it ok for him to be disadvantaged but not the September born ones? I could not feel more strongly about this and it must affect SO many Mumsnet members- it is also something which could be changed incredibly easily with legislation to force local authorities to be flexible.

Points to make include:

• allowing summer born kids to start school later- but in the same year- just compounds the problem
• this is particularly prejudicial against boys
• if all children had the flexibility to move up (say if born Sept- April) or down (April- August) then pretty much things would even out so there isn't even a capacity issue.

What do people think?

[pooches]

Er- how do I do that- is there a link? More flexibility would help kids at both ends of the school year then, yes?

[pooches]

Hang on a sec- why would only middle class families defer?

At the moment I am using money to address the problem, am fully aware this is not a luxury not available to disadvantaged kids. ALSO if you made it completely flexible either way (ie all year not judst either side of April) it would allow disadvantaged kids to drop down a year with no stigma if that would be helpul.

[nicnac73]

S.O.B

SAVE OUR BOOBS

I recently (in August) had a breast abscess (still recovering). It was the most horrendous experience. I only recently discovered MN and discovered that I am not alone in experiencing bungling incompetence, with few exceptions, from the NHS. Over a period of 2 weeks my initially untreated Mastitis progressed into an abscess which created a dirty great big hole in my boob! 3 operations later and its still not healed. Since, joining MN I have been saddened to hear that mine is not an isolated case. I won't bore you with the very gory details but if you are interested or have had an abscess and want some support here'sthe link

I would like to campaign to raise awareness about Breast abscesses amongst bf mums and HCPs.

-PROMPT ACTION IS ESSENTIAL. A breast Abscess is an NHS emergency and time is critical. Your breast tissue is being destroyed by pus.
-DON"T GET FOBBED OFF. Insist on an ultrasound and biopsy of the infection if you suspect an abscess or have had prolonged Mastitis. Emergency ultrasound should be avail. for all.
-Your options for feeding afterwards may vary. All should seek professional advice specific to their own case as abscesses can be the size of a pea or take over practically the whole breast so breast feeding may or may not be possible or advisable but there are many success stories. BLANKET ADVICE IS DANGEROUS but more support should be available for abscess sufferers as this is a confusing time.
-Insist on being put on a maternity ward for your recovery. NHS should not seperate mothers who are breast feeding from their babies as they did with me.
-DON"T PANIC. Breast abscesses are rare but should not be ignored.

Please help to save our boobs and our chances of successful breast feeding.

[inaiz]

Hi there mumsnet,just registered with mn,and must say nice to join a website with no strings attached!
I am campaigning against the council for my kids school,...for a rebuild on their school which is totaly disgusting,weve done the protest,had meetings with cncllr`s,hav a video clip on youtube of school,met with the mp,got interviews with bbc ect,wondering if anymore assertive sugestions can be made?....pls wink

[DensIdeasGroup]

So mumsnet has muscle. Is this muscle judged by "member numbers"? How do we judge the quality of members? By the quality of our ideas?

A campaign has elements of cameraderie and derring-do. The muscle is there so why not use it? Sound familiar?

Digging the same hole deeper is always easier than digging a new hole.

There are a huge number of assumptions on mn that are never questioned.

[sammy125]

I am a member of the John gulson parent action group.

The primary school that my children attend has been neglected for years and when the LEA had funding to rebuild schools it ignored this school totally.

Children are taught in tiny classrooms, the corridors and store rooms are being used as learning space.

Toilet facilities are inadequate and in an unacceptable condition, where the children are refusing to use them and getting urine infections due to holding on all day!!!!!

The drains are blocked and you can smell them around the school inside and out.

Now the LEA have proposed due to an increase in births in the area they want to place huts in the playground!!!!!

We are demanding a rebuild, so that not only can this school be bought out of the third world standards, but also accommodate the extra children!!!!

So please join our campaign, we have collected a petition against the proposed huts and we have held a demo outside the council house in coventry.

We have written to our local MP's and councillors for support. If you have any ideas how to keep up the campaign or any other support please let me now.

I have posted a very basic vid on youtube of the state of the school a few weeks ago 'john gulson parent action group' see for yourselves!!!

Thanks for reading this post

[mrsmincepiesharket]

i agree with carmensandiego's post about campaigning for better support with home birth, i too was told that 'we don't have the stff to help you with home birth, domino care would be better for you'. as it turned out, it was better for them, i rarely saw the same midwife for more than two appointments in a row, my favourite one then no longer worked at my surgery (the reason she left i don't know) adn i ended up having to travel to bristol, the mw on duty there when she exmained me upon arrival left me feeling sore and bruised and then left me in blood soaked bed ofr nearly two hours when i transferred to the ward! i think if more women had better support when they choose home births then things like this wouldn't happen.

[dysgran]

I campaign for Dyslexia friendly schools. If schools are dyslexia friendly and cater for the learning needs of dyslexics they cater for the needs of the other children. Benefits are that behaviour improves, results improve and parents are truly partners in their child's education as their input is valued. How do I change the font and background to make it dyslexia friendly?

[WindyWitch]

How about prosecuting boys and men who have sex with girls who are under 16 years old. This does not seem to happen at all and surely it would be a good deterrent to underage sex (which is legally defined as rape isn't it?) and unwanted pregnancies?

Maybe the law has changed relating to legal age of consent and I have missed it.

Accountability responsibility and respect both for others and one's self need to be promoted in my opinion.

Sorry if a bit ranty - I think I need to get out and have intelligent conversation a bit more often

[mamas12]

Aswell as the nuts mags I want so called newspapers behind the counters too.
Sunday Sport etc, Sun, anything with pornagraphic images shouldn't be on public display, no way.
I used to support the MP Clair (eek I'm so sorry I've forgotten her name) with her Top Shelf campaign. She found it exceedingly hard going with no large groundswell support so maybe we as mumsnet could galvanise her again.

[WreckOfTheHesperus]

Some very good ideas here.

I would also love to see a campaign which obliges food manufacturers to label whether or not their food is suitable for pregnant women.

[darcymum]

I would like to see a campaign (and have already started one) to stop private landlords being able to refuse to accept families in their properties. Adverts of the 'no children' kind. I have been doing some research and found that this would be illegal in other countries, in fact I have yet to find a country (apart from the UK) that it would be legal. It is also legal in the UK to evict a couple who then go on to have a baby and I know people this has happened to.

Have a look at the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Act.

Here is my petition

petitions.number10.gov.uk/Childlands/

And the Facebook group.

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=187567633950

Please help mumsnet

[messofthedurbervilles]

I'd like to campaign for the govt to take concerted action on booze - ie, introducing minimum pricing as recommended by the medical establishment but rejected by Gordon Brown. Booze has never been cheaper relative to wages and it's killing us!

Obviously this is an issue that affects everyone, but I reckon parents have a particular stake in this because we care more than anyone else about what happens to the next generation - that's our kids, that is.

Attitudes to booze have shifted radically over the last few decades as it has got cheaper. Cheap booze is now way way too accessible to teenagers and young adults who have no idea how dangerous their drinking habits are. Why would they? Alcohol is legal, sold and promoted everywhere, and most of their parents drink too much as well (myself included - no angel). We already have big problems with children drinking and it terrifies me that a new generation is growing up thinking that this is normal. It is not - twenty year olds with cirrhosis of the liver is not normal FGS.

I think, if we can take strong action now to reverse the trend, then maybe by the time my little DD is a teenager, boozing won't be seen as normal anymore and I won't have to worry about what might happen every time she goes out with her friends. But turning back the tide means we have to drop this complacency now and take some real action. Lecturing people doesn't work, all the research tells us that; lecturing kids is worse than useless. Price does work - we've just got to make booze expensive enough so its inaccessible to kids, and harder for us adults to abuse too.

[stormcat]

H1,
Can any of you mums offer me some help. I am conducting research for an MA on the hypersexualisation of childhood and its effects on children and their ability to understand themselves and to build healthy relationships in the future. I was thinking of putting out a short questionaire for mums to complete in order to put together a body of statistics. Would this be acceptable to the mums at mumsnet and if so, how do I do it? Should I just put some questions together and post them? Or is there a section or format I should use? Sorry if I sound bumb, but I havn't done this before.
Many thanks mums for any help that you can give me.

[BootyMum]

I had two ideas for Mumsnet campaigns -

1] I know a lot of fellow Mumsnetters were gripped by Criminal Justice last year [starring the amazing Maxine Peake] and felt gobsmacked at the lack of 'mother and baby' units in prison which meant Maxine's character had to give up her baby into care. I felt, and still feel, this is completely wrong and detrimental to separate mother and baby in situation where mother does not pose a risk to her child and could care for it appropriately. Maxine's character was I think expected to serve 18 months and surely should have had her baby with her for this length of time - apparently this conclusion was completely based on reality. Could Mumsnet make a difference here to mothers in prison system?
2] Secondly, the need for a designated midwife or small team of midwives to care for pregnant women. I have only given birth once to ds - I saw a different midwife at each antenatal visit and then had a completely different midwife at the birth whom I had never met. I feel this was really detrimental to my birth experience, perhaps particularly as a first-timer. Do any other mumsnetters feel similarly?

[HellieOldie]

I would like to campaign against the burgeoning power of OFSTED. It now seems schools are failed if the inspector deems their safeguarding is not sufficient. This has resulted in £25k being spent at my kids' school on an inner fence wirh self-closing gates, intercoms, key pads and the like. All the parents are against it but the head is powerless to resist as he cannot risk failing OFSTED. The school grounds resemble Colditz. It cannot be healthy for our kids to grow up in this culture of suspicion. My acquantainces involved in education take the view that if OFSTED say it, it must be right. I want all those outside the education industry to stand up and say that this is getting out of hand.

[Charly123]

CAMPAIGN TO CLOSE TWITTER - OR AT LEAST TO MAKE THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT ACCOUNTABLE. In my opinion it is only useful as a marketing tool and carries a real potential for bullying. I would be interested to know if any other mums of senior school age children have had problems with this (or indeed junior school). The mobile phone is now more of a threat than the PC.

[Charly123]

To illustrate my concerns and this also ties in with the early sexualisation of children campaign - a post on twitter today re The Sugababes new single (for all of you with children too young to be concerned about it - I urge you to get involved before it's too late)

Jade said on Twitter they are 10 copies behind no. 6...

& if they go top 5 she will take her top off & post it on Twitpic!

[newlife4us]

I would like to campaign for a change to the current process for assessing and determining levels of support for SEN children. If the role of the assessor was independent of LEAs then i think the children who require assessment would be and a reports would not play down/dismiss childrens needs.

The current system is stressful, expensive, time consuming and leaves many children without the help they need

[megfleet]

I work for the only campaign/charity that is actively fighting to get lads mags age restricted and out of sight from children. Go to our website www.thefrontpagecampaign.org.uk we would really appreciate being featured on here. We come from a childs point of view, and have alot of political backing.
Please also sign our petition which can be found on the website. Visit our facebook group: front page campaign

We'd love to hear your comments :-)
Thanks

[acorns2010]

Could mums help my campaign to get fathers to support their children instead of pretending they are unemployed please see what I am trying to do under...Relationships...child maintenance plea..had some really useful support but need all women to get behind our plea. It might not directly affect many of you now, but you never know what is round the corner and every tax payer is supporting children that the dads should be providing for. We are all working mums and just need the dads to be responsible for their children. Many thx :)

[jxx12]

I would like to know what everyone else thinks but I think 'the sun' newspaper should be banned from the work place. I work in an almost all male environment and there have been a number of times with male workers using the paper which has made me feel very uncomfortable.