My children were made to watch this ceremonial drag act at school and remain silent for 3 minutes, in respect of a racist bigot whose billionaire family conquered, exploited and murdered 100's of millions of "non-white" subjects throughout the commonwealth. They sent our fathers into a World War for the creation of the UN Military Dictatorship. Would the time not have been better spent educating the kids by telling them the true history of the Monarchy and how they aquired the throne?

just a short note to say i agree wholeheartedly with the comments made by the mother/ father who expressed disgust at their children's enforced silence at their school. having a small child of my own i am increasingly forced to confront the fact that if i do nothing and go with the flow re my child's education, i have no one but myself to blame when, after they have been thoroughly processed by the state education system, i am left with another brainwashed passive consumer of the status quo. our children accept it because we accept it.

i am desperately looking for an alternative to state education but short of founding an anarchist primary school ( and i am thinking why should i stop short of that? does one exist??) how can we raise children to retain their wonderfully unconditioned freshness of approach? how can parents jump off the educational conveyor belt and raise free thinking adults of the future?

"i am desperately looking for an alternative to state education but short of founding an anarchist primary school ( and i am thinking why should i stop short of that? does one exist??) how can we raise children to retain their wonderfully unconditioned freshness of approach? how can parents jump off the educational conveyor belt and raise free thinking adults of the future?"

--i myself was taught time and arithmetic and other stuff, by my mother before i started school. some would say that even this much "education" is worthless/evil, but hey, i don't want to be a chemist or 'scientist' anymore. really, i just wanted to learn.

for one, if parents would stop allowing the state to make them feel pressure about "education" of the kiddies (my mother wants me to go back to college).

since children--even adult ones--can 'condition' themselves w/ help from their environ(ment), all the caretakers have to do is nurture this as the degreed educators will attest to. give them genuine love; don't let the office/factory drag your spirits down and that fuckin' boss abuse you to where you come home and pass on the abuse to the children. it can help to focus on the fact that you have the opportunity to love when you leave this bleek setting--to love your children who most likely will love you unconditionally from the 1st. you have something wonderful to come home to and that should make you happy (alas, we tend to feel that we need to deal w/ crap to make a 'happy home' so we suffer society and work and...we forget that home is where the heart is, even if you live in a cardboard box).

the messed up thing is the state (here in the US) wants to scar the kids emotionally, then drug them (fucking assholes!). the state wants zombie workers, fodder for the machine. in the US, the mayors of cities are starting to take over "troubled" school districts: this isn't quite federalization cuz it's the local government, but it really doesn't matter, with the Cocaine-Cola vending machines and the US Military recruiters molesting and threatening the kids, the machine still has those grubby fingers in the pie of humanus. (as well, the Boy Scouts of North America is starting to make a comeback, along with other "fundamentalist" organizations--i can just hear the little scouts singing "we are the children, leaders of the future, and we the children swear to you--loyal devotion...and to die with dignity")

as far as being an example to children, you can't let them see that you may feel defeated or down. reflect their love and wonder.

though i still find wonder in the glowing flowers and the forma of nature, the child in me feels the boot to the face that society and authoritarianism provides; i'm fighting to realize the light that is me and that we are all of, and to not see death (as g.w. bush, ashcroft, t. blair, a. sharon, mugabe, and any other dictators) but Life.

indeed, there is only Life :)

...and definitely help give them the confidence to challenge authority and their thought processes.

when i was in about 5th grade, i had a "Big Brother"--a professional type mentor who spends 'quality' time with ya--who was great. stand up guy (lawyer), beautiful intelligent female companion (wished they were my parents in fact); one day, he came to a teacher conference that was scheduled cuz i got in a bit of trouble (i stayed in trouble in school :).

in short, he almost made the teacher cry w/ the logical bombs he dropped on her about the circumstances of the meeting; he berated her about how she essentially made a big issue out of a little affair. it was great and more parents and adults need to stand up to the schools.

he was, however, respectful. i've gone to bat for younger people and when they see that a caring adult is not going to cower, this gives them the gumption to take stands for themselves and others from then on.

Yes, I know people whose kids were forced to watch this stuff at school, and told off for talking through it> It may be why people cant take a side step from given reality to see something else, even when they consider themself revolutionary. Too wrapped up in their programming. Schooling doesn't matter in the end if kids are encouraged to not believe, but to build their lives on their own experience - even though a lot of authoritarian issues get in the way.
Anyway back to the queen mum, or more accurately Chief Toad, - you could have a look at Lenin, but why not this creature. I found the funeral bizarre and entrancing in its ritual> Click tjhe link for more...

kids do not have to go to school, it is perfectly legal to home educate them, and there are several groups in the uk that help support home education

they are

education otherwise

home education advisory service

education now


f**k the system, home educate