[email protected]

In a message dated 7/3/2003 8:00:29 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
ynxn96@... writes:

> If we should discuss these things in all their variables with our
> children, why shouldn't we be able to with each other?

I don't want to think that anyone here is passing on e-mail chain letter
reports to their kids without checking to see whether they're true.

It looked like propaganda and it was propaganda.

-=- I was pretty sure that unschooling = life-learning, (well, just
plain living) and pretty much included all topics even pregnancy,
surgery, media interpretation, religious beliefs, abortion opinions,
etc.-=-

It wasn't the personal opinion or experience of anyone here, and ulimately
wasn't the experience or opinion of ANYONE in the real world, but was propaganda
intended to sway people with false information wrapped in emotional
information.

I'm sure there are e-mail lists for which it might have seemed appropriate,
but I'm certain, as listowner, that this isn't one of them.

I don't want this list used for people to tell me who to vote for to preserve
homeschooling freedoms when election time comes, either. That's another
irritation about homeschoolers. We have people here from at least three different
countries, and natural learning works the same way in all of them, so
political discussions are not useful or fun.

Sandra


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BADOLBILZ

I apologize for forwarding the article, but if the only things we should
be sharing must directly involve unschooling then I think about 75% of
my alwayslearning e-mail doesn't fit the bill...but I enjoy reading them
anyway as I learn new things about all of you and what you're interested
in. I was pretty sure that unschooling = life-learning, (well, just
plain living) and pretty much included all topics even pregnancy,
surgery, media interpretation, religious beliefs, abortion opinions,
etc. If we should discuss these things in all their variables with our
children, why shouldn't we be able to with each other? I know I've
learned a lot from reading what all of you have to say...things like
braiding and coloring hair, lots of travel stories, etc. It's all
interesting and fun to read.

But I really don't think it's that big of a deal and again, I apologize.
Heidi

Nanci Kuykendall

>I don't want to think that anyone here is passing on
>e-mail chain letter reports to their kids without
>checking to see whether they're true.

>It looked like propaganda and it was propaganda.
....(snip).....
Sandra

Hi Folks. I have not posted in ages and ages, but I
am still here. I just wanted to say that I agree with
Sandra that politics and propaganda, (and the schisms
which therein lie) get really tiresome in the
homeschooling community. I realize that was not the
intent of the poster here, who inadveretantly
championed a political message, so don't anybody get
your panties in a bunch or think I am pointing
fingers.

There are some things we can take beneficially from
this conversation, and some homeschooling/unschooling
points to consider, as I see it. "Don't believe
everything the media feeds you" is a very good rule of
thumb, even with major news services (especially with
major news services?) Most news is presented with a
"spin" or an "angle", or given a human interest facet.
Most news services must answer to higher political
and financial powers through the corporations which
own them, and through the government itself. What's
the filtering process? How reliable is the source,
given the incumbent pressures upon it?

As far as our own families go, how do we talk to our
kids about political propaganda in general? Does
anyone have any personal stories to tell about how
politics or urban legends impacted your kids or your
family in their use of the internet or elsewhere? My
kids are not really old enough to understand more than
playground politics, but I would be interested in
hearing how some of you brilliant folks have tackled
these issues.

Nanci K.

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/7/03 12:16:57 PM, aisliin@... writes:

<< Does
anyone have any personal stories to tell about how
politics or urban legends impacted your kids or your
family in their use of the internet or elsewhere? >>

The irrational fear of the internet is known to us because people have many
times said "You let your kids have E-MAIL?"
or
You let your kids go on the internet?
or
You publish your children's NAMES?

The paranoia that has people hiding in their homes using anonymous names and
picking their mail up at the post office instead of at their house has pretty
good reason behind it for some people. Drug dealers. Schizophrenics.
People wanted for terrorist acts involving filing cabinets in the 1960's (or
worse). Illegal aliens.

If we hide, the world is smaller.
If I treat my children like little children who should be afraid, THEY are
smaller.

Why make children small in a small world when I'm right there with them?
They can be big in a bigger world.

Sandra

Paula Sjogerman

on 7/7/03 1:15 PM, Nanci Kuykendall at aisliin@... wrote:

> As far as our own families go, how do we talk to our
> kids about political propaganda in general?


I have some stories just like Sandra's.

But as to the above, we talk about that just like we talk talk talk about
everything else. Both my kids, 9 and 13, are really interested in politics,
especially the 9 yr old who is into reading and creating political cartoons.
I think it's imperative for us to help our kids with their decoding skills
about propaganda, just like product advertising (and aren't they one and the
same now these days anyway?).

Paula

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/7/03 12:16:57 PM, aisliin@... writes:
> << Does
> anyone have any personal stories to tell about how
> politics or urban legends impacted your kids or your
> family in their use of the internet or elsewhere? >>

Oooo, this just happened today and I was wanting to share it without
someone. Rain was emailing a friend and called me to ask what I thought
of what she had written. The friend had forwarded an email that said
something along the lines of "forward this to all your friends to help
this child who is dying of cancer", and Rain was supicious.

I was especially impressed because she's pretty new at email (and to
writing in general), so most of the info she has about urban legends she
has apparently got from listening to my rantings for 7 or 8 years...

Anyway, she gave me permission to forward this on. It's more readable if
you mentally put a question mark after wife and change "there" to
"they're". OTOH, I've never seen her write anything using parentheses or
quotation marks before, so that was cool. And, of course, she clearly
knows her spam....

>>>Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 12:02:46 -0700
Subject: sham

hey b***** this is rain and i was wondering, do you believe the people
that send out the E-mail like"my son just got brain cancer and A.O.L. is
helping me and my wife" there urban legends or bad people making good
money(with no kid)anyway i'm not sending it to anybody until i get proff.




luv rain <<<

Dar

[email protected]

> In a message dated 7/7/03 12:16:57 PM, aisliin@... writes:
> ><< Does
> >anyone have any personal stories to tell about how
> >politics or urban legends impacted your kids or your
> >family in their use of the internet or elsewhere? >>
>

Oh boy I have a ton of mail since last Thursday!!! I am responding to this
because I accidentally opened it while trying to sort email.

Two weeks ago, after another weekend of my DH power washing our street, he
asked that I call the city and find out why we never see a street sweeper. Our
house is a year old. I called and was told that our street had not been
"bonded" yet, so I would have to contact the builder and find out when they would
sweep the street. So I did. Builder states, "No the street was bonded about a
year ago, the city is responsible, call the city."

Now I'm getting frustrated. I start to wonder what is included in my $6K a
year property taxes. I was sure I saw public services on the bill. So I call the
city back. I'm put on hold while the representative "checks" the street
sweeping maps. She comes back to say, we are not on it, call the builder.

Now DH is pissed. He says, "Didn't you, Kass & Kree work on the mayors
campaign?" Lightbulb moment..."hey, yeah we did..." DH says, email him. So I did.
During election time the girls and I worked on his campaign, because he is a
supporter of homeschooling (or so he says) and although we have different
political views, he was kind and my kids had a great time learning about elections.

So I went there...email from an HS mom, who's children worked to have him
elected and had been in his home on several occasions, and that being one of the
highest tax brackets for this city, without which all the new crap we are
getting would not be possible, yada, yada, yada. Then I hit the nail on the head
when I brought up that at the end of our street is the new elementary school.
So for the health and well being of the city's children, some thing must be
done. (The streets were attracting mosquitoes and algae was building.) And that I
no longer felt my DH and my water should be the ones mantaining the streets
of our city.

That all started at about 9:30 am. 2:00 pm here comes a street sweeper. I
don't know who sent it, I only know it came. I was happy and sad at the same
time. Glad I was heard, sad I had to bitch to be heard. But the girls learned that
when you jump through the hoops people throw out, when you get tired of doing
so, just go above them. It may not always turn out the way you want, but at
least you will have given your best shot, especially when you want to see
change.

Rhonda


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