The morality of using children in Independence Day celebrations

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Kidicious


Do you learn how to use "citizenship" and "democratic" that way in school?

I'm sure I did. Your point?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly


I'm sure I did. Your point?

Do you know where the lies stopped?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Kidicious


Do you know where the lies stopped?

Dude, you really need to loosen the tinfoil.

[Kidlicious]

I just come here for fun. Hell, I used to be a teacher.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Lorizael


If there isn't some option to opt out of this that the parents and the child can take, then that kind of starts to bother me.

No parent would EVER object to something like this, and it's a set of private institutions, but this is a question of morality, not legality.

[Elok]

I don't see the moral quandary. Little children are also not qualified to give informed consent to risky medical procedures, and parents make those decisions for them when need be. Why get hung up on something as trivial as this?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by LordShiva
QFT. Nobody is going to think "Oh, one day every year I would dance around to music, so now I need to be a fascist."

QFT.

[aneeshm]

Elok, I agree that in practical terms, this is trivial and negligible. But I'm asking the question more as a matter or principle.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Re: The morality of using children in Independence Day celebrations

Originally posted by aneeshm
I am of the opinion that young children are not qualified or old enough to give informed consent as to whether or not they wish to participate in these functions, of whether or not they are patriots or nationalists.

Originally posted by aneeshm
But I'm asking the question more as a matter or principle.

I'm curious to know what principle you're defending. Should young children be kept out of school all together, because they are too young to consent in the process of education? Should they be raised without religion, since they are too young to consent to their submission to religious rites? Should they, in fact, do anything other than run around in feral packs, occassionally killing their fat, asthmatic, bespectacled playmates? By whose authority?

[Alexander's Horse]

kiddies wave flags, dance around, its fun for them. Many would have no idea what a national day was. I can't see the harm.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Elok
I don't see the moral quandary. Little children are also not qualified to give informed consent to risky medical procedures, and parents make those decisions for them when need be. Why get hung up on something as trivial as this?

As far as I'm concerned they do give their consent to be little patriotic morons, but that doesn't make teaching them to be like that morally correct. Since they are children their consent doesn't really matter as you point out.

[General Ludd]

The problem is inherent with the educational institutes. When kids aren't being forced to pledge allegiance, they're being forced to do something else.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
kiddies wave flags, dance around, its fun for them. Many would have no idea what a national day was. I can't see the harm.

Then why make it a national day, and not a fun day?

[Shrapnel12]

So you're all saying you're just clones of your parents? You've never found one thing to disagree with them on?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Shrapnel12
So you're all saying you're just clones of your parents? You've never found one thing to disagree with them on?

No, we're all saying that being forced to participate in Patriotic holiday celebrations didn't have any ideological effect on us whatsoever.

Now, as it happens, I'm also quite patriotic -- but far to the left of my parents and the community I grew up in; OTOH, I was similarly compelled to participate in religious celebrations, and am now quite areligious.