Do you remember taking the little orange Unicef boxes with you while trick or treating on Halloween night? While you were getting your pillowcase filled with goodies from the neighbours, you also were collecting pennies for third world kids. This was probably the first experience we all had as children to understand that there was a whole world out there that was very different than what we found in our backyards. Poverty, hunger, lack of clean water, lack of proper shelter... kids and their families who needed us.
Unicef has been a leader in educating our youth about giving. Empathy and understanding of other cultures, awareness of our responsibilities as citizens of a global village through the opportunity of being a part of a fundraiser. This year, you didn't see the little boxes for the first time in 50 years. Instead, Unicef launched a new type of campaign for school kids to take part in. The official launch in this province took place at my son's school, with his class taking part. Over the years, Garden Creek School has been a leader in the province for collecting the most change in the Unicef boxes than any other school as a result of an interactive and proactive lesson plan to inform the kids of the importance of raising the money. By the time the little orange boxes would arrive to bring home, they were pumped. Consequently, it made sense to kickstart the new approach in the Grade 4 class.
An excerpt from the Unicef website...........
So.................my son and his friends came home pumped about helping to build schools in Malawi. For each 20 dollars raised, a "brick" would be provided for the new school in Malawi. It's wonderful that their worlds have been expanded to understand that so many other children in this world don't have access to an education, and how privileged they are to be able to attend school and to live in such an opulent community compared to so many others. This is a lesson we all need to learn. Giving and sharing of our bounty is a value I wholeheartedly belief and espouse. So....................why did I have such an adversive feelings about this campaign?
The average amount collected per box across this country was a mere $1.65..........I guess it wasn't worth it trying to expand on that? Instead, an envelope arrived home in every kids backpack with meagre instructions as to how this Unicef campaign was supposed to work. Why? Because all the organization was looking for was a cheque written out by the parents. In this province, young children are not allowed to go door to door soliciting for money or selling chocolate bars or anything else, and I agree with this. It was getting out of hand. However, as soon as I got wind of the change in Unicef plans, something got stuck in my craw.
I have no qualms about supporting Unicef's efforts. I fully understand the need to give. I want to give. What I'm adverse about is the fact that Unicef is now exploiting our children. It has gone from an organization that was TEACHING through fundraising in a manner that offered an opportunity for young ones to FEEL and DO themselves. Filling up the little orange box when I was young was a eye-opening process and when I took it back to school, I felt that I had done something for the betterment of other children. I saw how this process impacted my own children too. What lesson has been learned this year (despite the ongoing talk mail updates from the school about how "proud" the kids were with the amount they were amassing etc ) ???? They have learned the facts and they have learned how to return an envelope with a cheque in it to their teacher and be praised for it. There is a complete disconnect here.
What other fundraising non-profit organization has easy access to a bunch of wide eyed easily impressionable individuals? Does the Heart and Stroke Foundation get to conduct a rally in February? What about Oxfam? World Vision? They may just want to jump on this bandwagon, because the guilt ridden Moms and Dads managed to fork out enough cash to double the amount raised through the orange boxes. I'm happy for the kids of Malawi, I truly am. I'm not happy with this approach..................
Unicef has been a leader in educating our youth about giving. Empathy and understanding of other cultures, awareness of our responsibilities as citizens of a global village through the opportunity of being a part of a fundraiser. This year, you didn't see the little boxes for the first time in 50 years. Instead, Unicef launched a new type of campaign for school kids to take part in. The official launch in this province took place at my son's school, with his class taking part. Over the years, Garden Creek School has been a leader in the province for collecting the most change in the Unicef boxes than any other school as a result of an interactive and proactive lesson plan to inform the kids of the importance of raising the money. By the time the little orange boxes would arrive to bring home, they were pumped. Consequently, it made sense to kickstart the new approach in the Grade 4 class.
An excerpt from the Unicef website...........
While the campaign continues to fund UNICEF’s many programmes worldwide, 50 per cent of proceeds from this year’s campaign will benefit schools in Malawi as part of the Schools for Africa programme, a joint initiative between UNICEF and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. “In my 28 years working with UNICEF around the world, I have seen how making education accessible to children can transform entire communities,” said Nigel Fisher, president and CEO, UNICEF Canada. “Education enhances the lives of children, giving them the knowledge necessary to protect themselves from disease and to take on productive roles within society.”
The Schools for Africa programme supports the construction and rehabilitation of schools in six African countries including Malawi, and provides educational materials and teacher training to improve children’s quality of education.
So.................my son and his friends came home pumped about helping to build schools in Malawi. For each 20 dollars raised, a "brick" would be provided for the new school in Malawi. It's wonderful that their worlds have been expanded to understand that so many other children in this world don't have access to an education, and how privileged they are to be able to attend school and to live in such an opulent community compared to so many others. This is a lesson we all need to learn. Giving and sharing of our bounty is a value I wholeheartedly belief and espouse. So....................why did I have such an adversive feelings about this campaign?
The average amount collected per box across this country was a mere $1.65..........I guess it wasn't worth it trying to expand on that? Instead, an envelope arrived home in every kids backpack with meagre instructions as to how this Unicef campaign was supposed to work. Why? Because all the organization was looking for was a cheque written out by the parents. In this province, young children are not allowed to go door to door soliciting for money or selling chocolate bars or anything else, and I agree with this. It was getting out of hand. However, as soon as I got wind of the change in Unicef plans, something got stuck in my craw.
I have no qualms about supporting Unicef's efforts. I fully understand the need to give. I want to give. What I'm adverse about is the fact that Unicef is now exploiting our children. It has gone from an organization that was TEACHING through fundraising in a manner that offered an opportunity for young ones to FEEL and DO themselves. Filling up the little orange box when I was young was a eye-opening process and when I took it back to school, I felt that I had done something for the betterment of other children. I saw how this process impacted my own children too. What lesson has been learned this year (despite the ongoing talk mail updates from the school about how "proud" the kids were with the amount they were amassing etc ) ???? They have learned the facts and they have learned how to return an envelope with a cheque in it to their teacher and be praised for it. There is a complete disconnect here.
What other fundraising non-profit organization has easy access to a bunch of wide eyed easily impressionable individuals? Does the Heart and Stroke Foundation get to conduct a rally in February? What about Oxfam? World Vision? They may just want to jump on this bandwagon, because the guilt ridden Moms and Dads managed to fork out enough cash to double the amount raised through the orange boxes. I'm happy for the kids of Malawi, I truly am. I'm not happy with this approach..................
1 comment:
I have never agreed with schools using children as a fundraisers. It always makes me mad when I get those annoying messages asking to raise money for this or that...I remember the "magazine campaign" we used to have to do in junior high. A big company would come in and set up all kinds of inaccessable prizes on the stage of our theatre and try to convince us that if we sold X amount of subscriptions we would receive this or that prize. I hated it. I hated having to feel the pressure of going door to door selling stuff. I never agreed with chocolate bars either because I always ended up eating them and my parents had to pay for it.
Some parents can afford to give while many others cannot and the child who comes back to school with an empty orange box is made to feel like they have failed the other little kids who need their help across the world.
Nope, I don't believe in using children to raise funds for things. It isn't fair to them. Send adults around with the orange boxes from door to door just like the people who collect money for the Kidney, Cancer, Alzheimer's and various other associations.
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