Discussion » Questions » Family » When you were 10 years old or younger, did your parent(s) ever have you appear in any political or social issue carrying a sign or making a

When you were 10 years old or younger, did your parent(s) ever have you appear in any political or social issue carrying a sign or making a

statement in a public setting such as a picket line, strike, sit-in, protest, rally, press conference, town hall meeting, political convention, etc.?

~

Posted - July 7, 2020

Responses


  • 10052
    No. 
      July 7, 2020 6:14 PM MDT
    2

  • 53332

     

      Thank you for your answer.

    :)

      July 7, 2020 6:14 PM MDT
    2

  • 10553
    Of course not.  My parents didn't use their children as instruments.  
      July 7, 2020 9:11 PM MDT
    2

  • 17558
    I got to hold the baby Jesus in the Christmas pageant when I was 9.  I was Mary. 

    I don't think this really counts.

      July 7, 2020 9:31 PM MDT
    1

  • 53332

    Nope. 

    ~

      July 7, 2020 10:36 PM MDT
    1

  • 2706
    No. My family was about as non-political as you could get. :)
      July 7, 2020 10:41 PM MDT
    3

  • Nope. My parents didn't exploit me like that. At 10 I was more interested in Pokemon than politics. 


    Actually, I'm still more interested in Pokemon than politics. :D

      July 7, 2020 11:06 PM MDT
    4

  • 44520
    LOL
      July 8, 2020 8:40 AM MDT
    0

  • 16591
    Both parents were members of the Labor Party. Election time, the car was festooned with homemade cartoons, stickers etc about what a lousy job the other side was doing (Dad fancied himself as a cartoonist and was actually reasonably good), as well as a poster of the local Labor candidate attached to the front fence.
    Regularly attended monthly party meetings, not much in the way of demonstrations.
      July 8, 2020 1:40 AM MDT
    3

  • 53332

     

      By “regularly attended”, are you referring to your parents or yourself, and if the latter, was it when you were 10 and younger?
    ~

      July 8, 2020 1:44 AM MDT
    1

  • 16591
    They did. I didn't really get interested until a few years later, and joined a much more radical branch when I was 16. Teens are usually more progressive than their parents.
      July 8, 2020 5:15 AM MDT
    2

  • 13276
    I've always wondered if individual promotional efforts like that actually change any minds or make much of a difference in election outcomes.
      July 8, 2020 5:08 AM MDT
    2

  • 5808
    Maybe
    never knew them
       
      July 8, 2020 6:39 AM MDT
    3

  • 44520
    Mom was too busy working and raising six children to be political.
      July 8, 2020 8:41 AM MDT
    2

  • 546
    Yes. I once attended a CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) event with my parents back in the 1980s. I don't remember whether it was more like a protest or an awareness-raising event, but I remember helping to hold up some kind of sign or banner. I was outdoors at the time - it might have been a public square, a park, or the forecourt of a town hall. CND was the only political cause my parents ever enthusiastically supported in those days - I was ambivalent about it, in that I was anti-Bomb but in favour of nuclear power, whereas CND were 100% anti-nuclear. 
      July 8, 2020 12:08 PM MDT
    0

  • 53332

      Approximately how old were you when these events took place?
    ~
      July 8, 2020 12:44 PM MDT
    0

  • 546

    I would estimate 9 years old, possibly 10. I seem to recall that we didn't get much of a reaction from passers-by, except from one dishevelled old drunk who cursed and harangued us for a few seconds - I couldn't make out what he was saying but he was probably accusing us of being communists. Another thing I remember was that there were some quite horrifying images on display of people suffering from radiation sickness or radiation burns (well, horrifying to me at the time anyway). One picture that really got to me was of a woman with hideous boils or tumours all over her face - if I'd been wavering on the nuclear bomb question before, that was enough to convince me! 

    And what about you, Randy? Did you take part in any public events of this nature?

      July 8, 2020 2:27 PM MDT
    1

  • 53332

     

      No, I was never made to give a statement nor carry a picket sign. 

    ~

      July 8, 2020 2:34 PM MDT
    0

  • 7788
    Growing up, my parents weren't involved in much. However, there was this one time my mom was involved in a contract dispute with the union and the hospital she worked at. I actually got involved by protesting with her the entire day. Eventually, her union settled things and she was back at work in a couple of weeks. I think I was 8 years old at the time.
      July 8, 2020 2:43 PM MDT
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  • 4624
    Not a political campaign, no.

    But he insisted that I campaign at the primary school for a cooler design of uniform for the girls.

    On ANZAC Day, Aussie school kids have to march to an assembly at a war memorial to commemorate all the  soldiers who died in all our wars.
    On one particular day, it was so hot standing in the sun that I and several other girls passed out.

    The uniform was a dark green, pleated nylon tunic over a white shirt - four layer of synthetic and the dark colour absorbing lots of heat.

    Dad asked me to go around to all the girls during play break and ask that they go on strike for a cooler uniform.

    Someone must have told a teacher.

    When the bell for return to class rang, my teacher pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to be a martyr.
    I knew exactly what she meant, but feigned innocent ignorance, "What's that, Mrs Murray?"
    She believed my ploy and took pity on me (no punishment).
    She asked what had prompted my campaign.
    On hearing the story she said she would inform the headmaster and get him to ring my father.

    I have no idea what was said, but it was the only time in my life when my father backed down from anything.

    To this day, I feel intense shame about my lack of courage when it comes to activism.
    But I can used the pen. At least that's something.


      July 9, 2020 12:46 AM MDT
    0