Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Choices count. Comments from another betrayed parent from Chameleons Montessori

Choices count...consciously -or not.I do not need better teachers or schools for my children...I need to become a more congruent, conscious human being who requires more of myself and of the need for integrity. To scorn the near, for the far, is folly. There is no parent training for this...parenting it seems,is the way...Taking my children out of harm's way at the school--did not seem like a choice...at the time. Now I know that readiness prepares the way.

Staying grounded in the reality that everyday is a learning is a continuous balancing act, and there is no sure answer. At best, we get a second chance to do it differently, more consciously. Some of us, may not be that lucky. I know now that a school on a farm with chemical pesticides is not safe for my children--and this is my decision to make. To have been mislead or to have a school presume it to be ok to decide for me,is a violation that I do not take lightly.

What initially seemed like ignorance on the side of the (Bus. Steering) BS Committee has devolved... Through deliberate sabotage of the truth,and disregard for the welfare of vulnerable children, the school has enfringed on my right as a parent to be informed of the dangers that the spraying poses. Continuing to do the same thing and expect a different outcome with more new parents,may seem like obsession for consistency...do not be fooled...this is a twisted way of remaining unaccountable for the trust that was broken.

Not seeing the wood for the trees, or the pest in pesticide...dress it up anyway you want...these poisons pose a serious threat to our children masked by a false idealism of a good school in a perfect environment. As parents we are being asked through conscious living, to not only to take responsibility for ourselves, but also to demonstrate responsibility for what others do to others. This is a big ask, when it seems as though we are barely making it to shore. ( The truth is that "there is no shore, only people on rafts with life jackets" and the water maybe polluted!!!. )The safety we seek can only come from aligning ourselves with what is sustainable...our relationship to the sustainability of water, air, etc.the school has become more like Marc's Steinberg's version of greenhouses in Iceland.I could teach a child about care of the environment...and fancy nature walks...and if the context I chose was poison...that's what he gets.

To believe that a Montessori school could fail in integrity is unfathomable...the penny dropped when I saw the poor immune response and low white/immune cell count during a full blown infection my son had. This is not evidence ...simply because our children's immune systems are made susceptible to what is not usually tolerated in a fully functioning immune response.

So consciousness is the gap between knowing and following through on what is known. What is known? Pesticides being used on the farm are detrimental esp to children with developing immune systems... and have been published as carcinogens. what more do I need to decide, or acknowledge, or let go, in order to act consciously now? As parents we have to do better, when we know better.and when we do, we give others permission to do the same.Be in the know...the future of children has already started...let every decision count...because invariably, it does....consciously-or not.

Masooda Mookadam

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