Diana...
what an interesting challenge you face!! it seems to me that what
you ran up against may not have been so much the community's reaction to
you trying to educate the children on these important issues,
but what their (probably biased) perceptions of groups like PETA may be.
perhaps they were caught by the sensationalism of seeing the literature
from this group, and were not aware of the entire message that
was given to the children.
so if the community you live in is not chock full of people
who share your sentiments about the earth and your ideals for
living, it seems you will have to either go head to head with them
all, or provide the information in a way that they can understand.
this latter choice will still provide plenty of juicy discussion,
i think.
i'm suggesting this because while it strengthens me to be around
like minded people and to find discussions such as occur here
on listservs like ecofem, i also find it equally interesting to
be amongst those who totally and wholeheartedly disagree with me.
if you can teach the children in that community, you have truly
done an amazing thing! go to it!!
another thing i would suggest that you might try is to let the
discussions be student-driven. obviously there is some interest
in that group about the earth, otherwise no one would have
signed up for the earth club. maybe they can suggest a topic
a week in advance, and let the children research it? (look in
the news, at the library, ask their parents) and then discuss
it the next week? i know you said your group was K-5, and some
of them might not have the strongest reading and/or researching
skills, but it might end up promoting the discussions at home too
so the parents would participate in the class from a distance.
good luck!!
lisa jones
ex-suburbanite
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
