Kids picking oranges in Florida for the needy?

I have to say that i'm a little upset. My grandaughter, 11 yrs old, is in a programme sponsored at her school, (I dont know if its mandatory or volunteer) whereby she goes into school and taken to pick oranges for awhile before school.

Has anyone heard of this little program before? And since when do the needy need oranges????? I mean its not like bread or milk....

This smells to me like a Communist program.

I am going to call her tonight and get more information, but i have to be tactful because my son and wife are not hip to the new world. They dont like to hear something shocking from me,

Would you be worried?

edit-Sorry, I had to rewrite, I mistook the grand daughter for daughter.

Forced volunteerism-kind of a double negative huh?

As bad as I am, I would probably have my kid wired for sound. Either that or home schooled.

Charity is fine, forced charity will teach the kid to hate it. Remember ever having to do anything mandated at school?

I volunteer, mandated charity is not charity. If getting better grades for it, it is wrong. One must learn to give freely and not expect anything in return. Hopefully it is not a continuous long term thing. If one time okay.

These are my opinions.

To broach the subject with the parents-

This will take tact. Are the parents open and logical people? If so, just wade in and tell them your concerns.

If they are not that way, more freewheel types, trustful of everything. Approach it by broaching the subject by what you have seen on TV or videos here on how some teachers are teaching things to children that they may not approve of.

You must know what they believe, I myself always believe in honesty and shooting straight from the hip. People cannot give you too much sidestepping with that attitude.

If they think it is not a problem, do not push, alienation is no good.




[edit on 1/19/2010 by endisnighe]

Kids are being taught to care about others.

If they are picking oranges for the needy - GREAT!

Let these kids grow up knowing that they need to care for others.

Please do not brainwash them.

Oranges would be a good souce of Vit C...

We still joke at Christmas how our grandparents used to get an Orange at Christmas as a present... some still keep to that tradition.

Helping out in our communities is good.. but should not be mandatory..
mandatory breaths a little resentment into it all, and kills the spirit of goodwill a little.

I used to help with the havest festivals at school delivering small packages to the elderly and those in my community in need (SE UK) it was mandatory in the school (RC)

We felt compelled, and that left me feeling rather bitter about the whole expereince, the sad part is that I would have done it as a volunteer..


[edit on 19/1/10 by thoughtsfull]

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Everything is mandatory at school - but children learn from that - because a lot of life is mandatory.

And children need to be shown the way - little kids rely on adults for that - and I am pleased that schools are still trying to teach something.

On the one hand, i think its great for kids to learn to help their communities. But i grew up in a Communist country and this is one of the first things they do. Is it to teach them values or is it child abuse, taking advantage of very young kids putting them to work in the fields for free?

I dont know, i just know i dont like it. It doesnt sit well with me. I guess you have to have lived under Communism to really understand the indoctrinations and their ways.

I'm proud of my grandaughter doing humanitarian work, dont get me wrong, but i hope its just that and nothing else.

I know in Communist countries Voluntary= Mandatory.

reply to post by learningtofly


On the basis on my expereince of life, we would collect and make up care packages for the elderly and those in need twice a year, during the havest festival and during the winter.. one was mandadory, one was voluntary (cold dark nights)

In the mandatory one you did the minimum you could get away and in usually in bad grace.. while in voluntary one it was joyfull and happy, even tho it was [] cold, wet and miserable.

I make the compaison between those two, and come to the conclusion that creating a positive voluntary enviroment to help is better than creating a negative mandatory enviroment.

Allowing someone a choice, even little ones can be very positive.

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Yes, the positive works better.

A lot of us are in the negatives, which invites negatives..

Let's get positive - your thoughts are very powerful.

Well it may not mean anything and i may be over reacting, i will have to ask more questions...I just wondered if anyone was sending their children this year off to pick cotton or oranges or whatever needs picking.

reply to post by dgtempe


Well, who knows?

With the state of the world now, maybe they will have to, I don't know.

I am just saying, whoever picks cotton or oranges, they are doing a meaningful job.

If she's going in to pick oranges before school, it's an extra-curricular program, and I'd be willing to wager that it's a program offered for them to volunteer. Kids are highly globally conscious these days, and if offered a chance to help a cause at that age, 99% of them will. I don't think there's any reason for you to be alarmed, she's doing something positive, and most probably she has that tremendous feeling of having done a good deed before she even has to sit down and crack a book. Good for her, and good for the school and the growers for working out a program that benefits everyone involved in it.

They aren't "learning to care for others" as much as they are learning that authority will force them todo what authority claims is "right." you can force compassion and any attempt to do so will likely result in raising a child to become distrustful even hateful toward that authority.

Did any if the parents sign off on this forced labor? If not and I were one of those kids I'd jus fall back off a ladder and sue the hell out of everyone involved in this bull.

If a school wants to encourage volunteerism offer extra credit or some goofy trip to a ace nobody cares about like DC and then let the kids volunteer. Forcing their hand doesn't teach compassion. It teaches hate and mistrust.


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One Question to the OP:
Why do you think: "this smells to me like a Communist program."?
Do only communist have to help? Or ist it because this oranges are almost red? Where is the logic?

Red and Black
Forced volunteer programs
......little communist signs, believe it or not.
If its not logical to you, i guess you are not very familiar with Communism.