Categories: protest
Tags: Parenting
Date: 07 November 2009 07:29:29
Lesson 2 - Make it Fun For Children Protesting can be a pain for ickle people dragged around by their parents. To help you and them enjoy it here are a few simple ideas: 1) Design your own cause related t-shirts. For the Make Poverty History demo in Edinburgh Third Party designed her own t-shirt and helped me and Surfing Madness design ours. 2) If there are face painters about use them as a resource to make it fun. Again MPH saw us wandering about with face paint. However, have some cleansing wipes handy...when we went onto a more serious event in the evening we had to do some washing it off in the toilets. 3) Start near the front of the demo so you can take some breaks which will mean you fall back. 4) Teach them the chants, but make sure you are ready to beep / change words as required. Also be ready for them to sing them elsewhere when you are least expecting it. Will never forget the day Third Party went off into Sunday School singing "Education is a right, is a right, is a right, education is a right, not a priviledge" to the tune of London Bridge, having been on one of the "Stop the Fees" demos. 5)Feeding time can be used as a way to do bribery and corruption. The big anti-war demo saw us head off to the Hard Rock Cafe afterwards. It provided both a reward for Third Party and a way to turn the day into even more of an experience, as well as being a convienient place to eat. 6) Remember for many London based demo's Hamleys is only a quick detour away. Plan it so you start near the front and then go and join the demo further back a little way up the route. Be prepared to lose the placard though.