You might think that adults, seriously bent on ending the oppression of children, would take a close interest in children present [at a recent international conference of adults and younger people,] who had so triumphed over their own oppression as to become articulate advocates for their own cause. You would be wrong.
It's the same old pattern; the hype *understood* is the hype that keeps people fearful and divided EASILY. Any view daring to stand outside of the confines of the prevailing hype (in the mainstream, Left, or Right) gets categorically ignored (when it really counts) and ultimately silenced. So it was for the kids who dared to organize themselves in the 1970s calling themselves Ann Arbor Youth Liberation. They put out 10 YEARS worth of their desires and articulated challenges to *adult chauvanism*, some of which are published here:
www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6904/fpsbk1.html
Did their adults listen? Could they allow themselves to? NOT A CHANCE! Today, we have at least one children's UNION, made up of 15,000 child members and led by child members, and they are attempting to once again speak about their experiences and desires (SOURCE: www.motherjones.com). Can groan-ups listen? I'm TOTALLY skeptical, but i wish the best to the kid labor unions, and hope they LEARN FROM others before them (i.e. the above link) and not be fooled by "nice" groan-ups of whatever stripe.
Here are excerpts from the article (by Anthony Swift) which you can read in whole at the url below:
[...]
More conventional delegates who imagined the children might sing a few songs or do a theatrical turn were in for a rude awakening. Attended by government ministers, union and business bosses, representatives of voluntary organizations and international agencies from 30 countries, the Conference launched a formal international debate that will inform the drawing up by the International Labour Organization (ILO) of a new Convention on Hazardous Child Labour, due in three years
www.oneworld.org/ni/issue292/work.htm
Original: same old pattern: when kids speak up "inappropriately" groan-ups can't take it