On my Yahoo start page this morning the picture below stared back at me:
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An Indian girl holds a placard during a protest against President Bush in the southern Indian city of Bangalore March 1, 2006. REUTERS/Jagadeesh Nv |
I had two thoughts. First, isn’t it just precious how an Indian kid would attach the honorific “uncle” to even a protest sign? I had to laugh out loud at that. Second, I felt conflicted. I don’t approve of children at protests. I feel that taking a child to certain types of protests is like giving a child a gun without teaching them proper gun safety. I believe it is more important to properly educate a child in all aspects of an issue and encourage them to investigate it on their own, rather than take them along to mindlessly protest something. I think it is VERY important to teach a child about the realities and injustices in the world and when to stand up for a principle, but I often see images in the media that hint at the fact that the children holding signs are mostly a form of propaganda. Out of curiosity I did a quick search for some other recent protest pictures featuring young children.
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p> Here is another one from Bush’s visit to India:
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Would it have killed his parents to ask him to write out “You” and “are?” |
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That’s fierce. |
Abhi,
I agree. Kids should play.
Like, most of the protestors for cartoons have not seen the cartoons, and do not know where Denmark is?
Some of these kids will immigrate to US of A when they grow up – with their IIT/ IIM degrees in hand.
Well said Abhi.
Kids (and for that matter even adults) should be allowed to make up their own mind. This will come with age and experience. Until then let them run around and have some fun.
Ooh the uncle part made me laugh. I think it kinda goes with the “all Indians are my brothers and sisters” thing.
There was another story describing how, after setting alight a flag, protestors then got one of their young sons, I think less than 10 years of age, to urinate on it. I found that distasteful – both the act and making a young child, who has no clue what the commotion is about, do that.
Abhi, you missed pictures of the right-wing people using children for their protest during the whole Terry Schiavo fiasco.
During the most controversial anti-cartoon protests here in London a few weeks ago, someone had put a hat on their baby which said “I {heart} Al-Qaeda” on the front.
Were they South Asian children? I only searched in recent weeks.
Abhi, I love this post. And the pictures are precious. The fierce kid in the third picture reminds me of that cute-as-a-button little girl featured on WaPo’s front page (I think ANNA had posted on her) – so much conviction in a little one should be nurtured.
I have to respectfully disagree on this one. In circumstances where the kids aren’t being used as a gimmick to get coverage, I think that it’s very important, and empowering, to have kids involved in acts of civil society, civic engagement, and if needed, civil disobedience. They don’t seem to be at risk here, and far too often, “adult” concerns tend to ignore the future impact that these policies will have upon the future of children. Not to mention that children, when people take the time to explain to them what’s going on, really get it. So maybe globalization isn’t the best example, but the ban of religious gear in French schools is a good example.
And I think that there isn’t as big a gap between taking your child to the voting booth with you to show her how important voting is and taking her out on the street to participate in peaceful protest. I think that it’s a good way to make sure that she won’t sit back and watch the world go by, or feel powerless in the face of difficult odds.
My bad. I thought you were looking for children in general and not just South Asian children.
when i was a kid in india i wanted to protest against teachers and my school principal. We were once asked to lineup holding USSR flag and indian flag for a trip made by a russian politico. I liked it cause that meant not attending class for the 2nd half also my roll number meant that i would be in a line with girls. I wonder how many such kids were told to do so by their schools political orientation.
Would it have killed his parents to ask him to write out “You” and “are?”
You assumption is wrong. The kid or his parents wouldnt have made that sign. It must have come from the party organising the protest.
To me, the questions that arises from this topic: What age is ok for someone to start protesting? If teenagers (under 18) protest something is it a gimmick too? Is it ok to use children to protest in children specific issues like schools, child predators, etc, since it concerns them too? Besides, “Uncle” is an accepted (not official) form of salutation in the sub-continent for a gentleman who is older than you in age. Nothing wrong with using that.
In keeping with the theme of this site of course…
So what do you think of trying a minor as an adult in a felony? I see a parallel. Countless psycologists say that a child’s brain isn’t fully developed until their mid- to late-teens with girls more mature than boys. We both agree, it is important to teach a child about “civil society, civic engagement, and if needed, civil disobedience” but I disagree with putting them in such a chaotic and often times violent enviornment before they have the ability to process it all. I know of many people my age who are still too immature to be at protests. They go because they like the culture and smoking weed and not because they understand the issues. I just don’t believe that such an environment is positive for a child in most instances.
You can teach them all three things you mentioned from home or from just outside a protest. Let them feel injustice and fight against it on their own and not because they think doing so will impress you.
GGK, Looks like you got the political bug at that time 🙂
Kids should definitely play, I don’t think it helps to include them in protests, and I like the analogy with the weapon Abhi, makes sense
Let’s see – the law around liability even for children acting in different dangerous or felonious activities ranges from the same standard as adults to a standard that takes the kid’s age and what a reasonable child of that age should have known into account. If a kid knows that driving a tractor is an inherently dangerous activity, he’s going to be held liable for what happens next. I don’t quite see how it’s a parallel, but maybe you can clarify.
Sure we can “teach” children through discourse – I don’t disagree. But I also believe in experiential learning and teaching – and also have more faith in the ability of children to understand things that affect them in their lives. I don’t know if the examples you posted are the perfect example of this, but I’m engaging in this discourse only because you mentioned kids at protests in general.
For the hip and the comfortable, going to a protest is just something to do. Protests and direct action aren’t solely about being cool, seen, or in a dangerous setting. For many, they are a direct reaction to what they are actually dealing with in their lives.
Again, I don’t know if I agree with this characterization. Maybe we’re talking about different scenarios, but I believe that children have the ability to understand what’s happening – perhaps not fully, but at least enough to get something out of being present – so if there’s no imminent danger, I don’t see the issue. And I think that it’s very important for families to be able to come out together.
Conversely, it would be easier to teach a child gun safety by showing them the actual safety mechanism on a gun instead of sitting at home and drawing diagrams in plain air. If this protest involved holding a banner and standing on the roadside with proper parent supervision, it’s the same as educating the child on how to protest peacefully. I agree there may be unsavory elements involved here as in most cases in Indian politics. But without knowing that for sure I got no problem with it.
Or if someone has paid them to be there.
We seem to be talking past each other. I read your comment as instructing me as to why people protest. I am well aware of WHY people protest. That isn’t the issue I am trying to address. What I am saying is why take a child and have them mindlessly protest? It doesn’t teach them anything and I feel it harms them. I bet you that even if you polled children at clearly worthwhile protest (let’s say a migrant workers rights protest) few would REALLY understand what they were standing up for (although probably many more than at a “you suck Bush” protest). Can you honestly tell me that you believe that any of these children in the pictures above have any clue as to what they are protesting? If so either you are naive or I am a cynic or perhaps both. Yes, there are some instances where having children at a protest could be a good thing, but I believe that in most instances they are there as propoganda more than for instructional purposes.
bloody SMS-speak. y can’t ppl spell stf out n full?
I don’t know about the kids in the pictures that you got off the web. Who knows – maybe they’re even staged. Can’t trust everything you read on the internets, after all. But again, I’m only engaging if this is a general discussion about kids at protests.
I disagree that kids get nothing from it. I know too many people whose first memories of becoming active were from going out with their parents, whether during the Civil Rights era in the United States, or in peoples’ movements around the world.
So young… so angry… damn that rap music.
I don’t think you can place the anti-Bush kids in the same category as the Sikh kids. The anti-bush campaign is political whereas the France issue is about fighting for your religious right. I would definitely include my children in a protest if the U.S. government said they couldn’t practice their faith in a public school – I wouldn’t hesitate for a second. I would not, however, take them to a Khalistan protest or something to that effect.
Yes, but please note that the protest was in New Delhi and not in Paris.
Man, Manish drank the funny juice this morning.
It depends on how you define “kid”. I was a very political child, and I started reading the LA Times every day when I was 8, often cover to cover, and Time or Newsweek every week, depending on what he subscribed to. The only vaguely protest like thing I went to before high school I argued with my parents to let me go to. If kids want to be political, I think you should let them. The problem is, and this is always the problem, how do you know that kids are doing what they want to do and not what their parents are forcing them to do or even what they think their parents. And finally, I don’t think you can make any hard and fast rules for judging that. You have to query each case on its own, really.
Saheli,
I have followed every election since I was 7-8 years old, I have even campaigned at a very young age on my own volition and fun. Indian style campaigning has fascinated me. As a kid, I used to hang around the booths where counting of votes are done much to the anxiety of my parents. All it was fun.
I have switch political affinities both in India and US. I have never voted uptil now.
However, I do know how protests in India work. These kids in all probability were herded like cattle and put through an anger fest. That is why I agreed with Abhi. Why put them through unless they have a first order understanding of the issue at hand?
If it was due to deeper conviction and it affected their life at present in a direct way, then it is different. Let them play and have fun.
It’s not like the little girl’s sign read, “Uncle ji” 🙂
I agree with your sentiments about using children at protests. They do get the press coverage; however.
I agree with Saheli.
How do you know that they don’t know? To most kids in South Asia (me and everyone I knew growing up in SL at any rate) politics and news is as interesting and vital and anything about the latest pop stars. We did know, we did understand. Maybe not with all the complexity of an adult, but can you seriously tell me that all voting American adults understand any issues of complexity? We wouldn’t have gone from a surplus to raging deficit if they did.
The only kid who looks too young to understand, maybe, is the fiercest. Boy the boy is out at a protest about turbans in schools…something close to his very identity as a young sikh student. It’s not complicated politics. Why shouldn’t he be there?
One a more superficial note, the girl in the white wifebeater (vest, sorry) and black sunglasses is the sassiest thing i’ve seen in weeks! Every Williamsburg hipster should bite her nails with envy..
I still don’t see the problem. Indirectly, they’re still supporting the rights of other Sikhs to practice their faith. If there was an organized rally in New York regarding this issue, I would encourage kids to be there because this whole issue is about children in school – it’s not directly about the adults.
I think the assumption a lot of adults have that children can not have strong beliefs and ideas is quite wrong. I think it is wrong to make kids do it when they don’t actually understand what they’re doing however I would just like to remind everyone that we see this situation in a variety of areas. Kids do stuff just to impress us all the time. I think it is wrong to ban it just because some kids might get put up to it. We don’t ban soccer just because some kids might get put up to it. And we’re always complaining about how kids don’t get involved these days, well what do we expect if this is how we treat them when they do get up and voice their opinions. I think this should be encouraged not discouraged, we should explain the issues to them and let them make up their mind of course but once they’ve done that we should encourage them to be active in voicing and supporting that view.