At what age did you attend your first rally/protest/demonstration?

[grntuscarora]

My spouse feels that kids have no place at rallys and demonstrations. He is leery of kids being used by adults to further agendas that they are too young to understand. I agree with him to an extent. But I feel that our 14-year old should be allowed to attend peaceful street demonstrations with me, if only to teach her that this type of expression is as integral a right as voting is.

As background, I was raised by extremely conservative parents, who felt that the only decent place to effect change was the ballot box. Demonstrations, rallies, protests, and marches were strictly for the "riff-raff". It has taken me decades to overcome my upbringing and realize that voting is only one way to promote my hopes for this country. I want my kids to feel that peaceful street activism is a right that should be utilized. I don't want them to waste decades finding the courage to hit the streets, as I did.
So my question is, based on your experiences, should my teenager be left at home, or be allowed to attend with me (sans signs). And how 'bout my 8-year old?

[rug]

1. 17.

[cbayer]

2. 14 - Democratic National Convention in Chicago

Life changer.

[Mz Pip]

6. Me too.

I was 19.

[cbayer]

23. Did you attend the Jefferson Airplane concert in Grant Park around the same time?

[Mz Pip]

41. I remember music in the park

but can't put any names to what I heard. I do remember being in a OM circle with Alan Ginsberg. They rest of it was pretty much of a blur until the night. That I remember.

[GReedDiamond]

3. 16...it was an anti-Viet Nam war rally...

...which I helped to organize, at my high school.

That was 40 years ago.

I thought we'd be way past this bullshit by now.

[southernyankeebelle]

4. The child will learn a lot about government protests. I don't see anything

wrong for parents bringing their children as long as there is no fighting. Peaceful protest are the best.

[marlakay]

5. I took my kids to the capital in Sacramento

in the 80's to protest funding in the schools. It was during Reagans time. We went with a bus from the kids school. It was non partisan and about getting money for the schools not right or left. I remember holding signs and balloons. It was good for my kids to see a peaceful protest showing that we stood up for education in our country. My kids were about 7 & 9.

I wasn't political then, I just voted at election and that was it. I don't even remember how I got involved or who asked me. I was a busy mom working full time and raising kids.

I think it would depend on if its something the kids understand. Mine understood we were there to ask for more money for the schools. If the kids didn't want to go it would be one thing, I would never force them. Mine wanted to go it was fun. I remember chanting but don't remember what we said.

[Inspired]

7. I was 8 yrs old and attended an LBJ rally with my family.

It was an interesting time. I remember being confused by the protesting going on about the war.

[McCamy Taylor]

48. Same here.

[MarianJack]

8. 14...

...at a 1970 Vietnam Moratorium in Washington DC. It was 2 months before my 15th birthday.

My first political rally was in 1968 for Bobby Kennedy in the Philadelphis suburbs. It was a few months before my 13th birthday.

My wife and I have taken our son to political events since he was about 6.

PEACE!

[Recovered Repug]

9. Do your kids want to attend?

If they're taken because they want to go, I don't see a problem with that. If they're taken because you want them to go, I'm not sure how much they'll get out of it - especially the younger one.

[grntuscarora]

16. I want them to go.

Not because they will necessarily understand the issues, but because they will see that peaceful street activism is NOT disreputable, but an important right to be utilized. Like when I take them with me when I go to vote....

As I said, my spouse feels differently.

[Recovered Repug]

25. In that case, I think I'd talk to the 14 year old and try to

convince her to go willingly. The kids that I know (and me when younger) are very good at letting their parents no their displeasure. The only thing see may learn is resentment.

[stevedeshazer]

10. I attended a rally for Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 at age 13.

I took my son to a rally against G.W. Bush's illegal war in Iraq at age 13 (2002), which happens to be exactly nine years ago today.

Kids are perfectly able to understand peaceful demonstration, protest, and support in a public forum.

Just don't go Phil Parlock and use them as tools. Let them observe and decide for themselves.

Peaceful protest is one of the few ways to effect change.

[WhiteTara]

11. I was 21 when I first began demonstrating

and marching. My last march was during *stolen administration and I am trying to figure out how to be in Washington on October 6.

[rurallib]

12. 17 - anti-war rally on the local college campus

was curious more than anything. Pretty much changed me overnight.

[Golden Raisin]

13. About 15

when I attended political rallies for Bobby Kennedy when he ran for Senator in NY. By college I was marching & protesting the Vietnam War in Washington, DC & elsewhere. I frequently wonder when the youth of America today are going to hit the streets.

[mrs_p]

14. 12 or 13

nuclear subs at bremerton naval base

[Renegades of Funk]

15. 18

I was turn 18, when Obama visited NYC. Me and a few of my friends (libertarians) wanted to protest the war....I wound up holding up signs supporting HCR...awkward lol

[DeSwiss]

17. I was 7.....

...it was 1959 in Cleveland Ohio -- I marched with my mom and other kids and parents along with the local chapter of the NAACP for better school books. We were still reading old racist books from the 1940s. She taught me that the days of just taking it and being quiet were over.

- Still applies now. Even more so......

[Gormy Cuss]

18. I was routinely attending rallies protesting the demo of low income housing at age 10..

Anti-war rallies, by age 12. In neither case were my parents with me, although they knew where I was and I had to have a designated adult who would watch out for me (at the housing rallies, those "adults" were hippie-light college students.)

IMO your teen is certainly old enough to handle anything that happens since you'll be there. The eight year old would be fine at low key events like some rallies but demonstrations? That's a bit dicier. At that age a kid can easily be traumatized by a single negative event.

[leftofcool]

19. 16 anti-vietnam rally.....8 is way to young but 14 is okay with parental guidence

[Betsy Ross]

20. My mother says I was about 2.

It was very early civil rights, in the 50's. Mom pull us in a wagon. My first demonstration by choice was at the age of 13 or fourteen, again civil rights in the 60's. It was downhill after that with the Viet Name war.

[Cleita]

21. I was twenty-six and it was about Viet Nam. Before that we didn't

seem to have any protests other than the civil rights marches in the south, which I didn't do because I wasn't in the south. It was in the evening after work and most of the protesters were young between eighteen and thirty. The police treated the protesters very badly, physically assaulting those in the front of the protest and I was glad there were no children there. I think parents sometimes bring their children because they don't have baby sitters, but they should be careful that it will be peaceful and that the law will be peaceful. I have done a few war protests at the beginning of the present wars. They were in daylight. People brought their kids and for the most part people stepped out of their stores and cheered us and the police smiled at us. There was a small group of five anti-protesters who supported Bush in the first protest I attended and I live in a pretty red county. But there was no violence.

[Luminous Animal]

22. I was 10 and I wanted to go. If I had tried to keep my then 13 year old daughter home

from the Iraq invasion protests, there would have been hell to pay. She was (and is) a passionate and committed anti-war activist. She had also volunteered for people running for office since age 10.

I have no problem taking a child of any age to protests... they are indoctrinated in so many ways, what harm could a little democratic indoctrination do?

[EFerrari]

24. Picket line with Mom when I was about 5. My sons went with me

to protests since about the same age.

[KT2000]

26. 17 - for Kent State

tear gas and riot police with night sticks because we stopped the I-5 freeway in Seattle.

[Lady President]

27. Under 2 -- for Nixon

I attended a rally with my parents for then President Nixon when I was about 18-20 months old. I went to low-key political events my whole life (fundraisers, picnics, ice cream socials). I didn't attend a protest or large scale rally until I was in my late teens. Personally, I think it's a good thing. Being part of the political system was always part of my life and considered normal, even expected as a good citizen. That said, it would depend on the maturity of the child before I would take them to a protest that might become heated.

[amerikat]

28. 16. March on Washington 1971.

Camped out in Potomac Park. Police came through in the early morning(asleep at the time)
with trucks equipped with load speakers saying the protest permit was revoked. Get out now!
We went to our rally stations. Most got arrested. They filled the local stadium with
protesters. I was grabbed by two cops and put on a bus bound for the stadium I guess.
Somebody read the small print( in case of emergency kick out windows here). We all escaped
and were never read our rights or even formally arrested.

The local churches were in emergency mode and fed us all and gave us a place to sleep,
a healthy breakfast and wished us well and let us know that they would be there with
like services for the duration.

Took me a few days to cough up all that teargas. I returned to high school in NJ.
To this day I consider those few days as a highpoint in my life. When I got back to NJ
we organized a walkout on the anniversary of the Kent State killings. Everyone
that participated got a days suspension, I got three days for organizing the affair
and had to see a psychiatrist before being admitted back to the school.

About your question. I left my church at the age of 12. If a child gets enlightenment
on their own, any age above five makes sense to me.

[BobbyBoring]

52. I was there too

At the tender age of 15 going on 30.

[amerikat]

76. DuPont circle was the target.

The churches fed us well. They rocked. I was a lonely volunteer
against the ways of war. They knew that also, and provided for us
anyway. I still think about those nameless, poor, disenfranchised
that fed us all. It was good food. Nourishing stick to your ribs food worthy
of feeding a rebellion

[Luminous Animal]

78. Meet too! I was 13 years old. My 17 year old aunt took me.

It was frightening and exciting and illuminating.

[NYC_SKP]

29. 10 years old, RFK, within ten days of his murder.

And, like millions, changed by it forever.

:cry:

[handmade34]

30. how will your 14yo learn if not at your side?

...does she want to go? whether she goes or not, she is old enough for honest discussion and first hand experience (as long as it is not civil disobedience or apt to be violent)

I attended my first rally, on my own, at 17 and took my kids in utero and in strollers. I would never force an older child to go that didn't want to and I would never put my child in harms way. An 8yo is old enough if they want to go and are able to discuss the issues. I agree that signs are inappropriate for kids to hold and the kids shouldn't be coerced...



"Learning is not a product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” ~Albert Einstein

[grntuscarora]

33. I agree, but

how do you know when a rally/demonstration will disintegrate to violence? My few experiences this past year have been mainly positive. But one rally unexpectedly turned dark and I remember being glad I didn't have the kids with me to worry about. It seems there is an element of risk in all street activism.
Again, this is something my spouse and I are going back and forth about....

[handmade34]

36. as parents

we want our children to be intelligent and well rounded and we also want them safe... you use common sense and take your children to events you can safely assume are going to be non-violent, and if by some very small chance there are problems, you use your parental skills to get your kids to a safe spot, the same as if any unexpected emergency came about... it is rather silly to try to avoid your children being exposured to healthy activities (and I do believe that most rallies, protests and political get togethers are healthy, smart and good for our society) just on the small chance 'something' might happen.

[Wait Wut]

75. You can't ever know for certain...but,

...I left my son home when I protested the rodeo here. He was 8 at the time. It's freakin' Arizona and I know better. However, at an outdoor concert I was working an Amnesty Int'l booth. That was safe because the only ones there were people like "us". He was about 6 or 7 (and had a blast!!!). I also left him home when I worked the Greenpeace booth because they tend to draw a lot of unwanted attention. Political rallies are iffy. Back in Chicago, I didn't have a problem taking my son to Dem rallies. Here? I'm not sure I'd feel as comfortable because of the over-zealousness of the teapers and Cons.

Best bet is be prepared to leave. Look for neutral areas when you arrive, a restaurant, store, etc. Make a mental note of where security is. Cops will protect the kids no matter what, especially when their mother has a completely frantic look on her face. They should be able to point you in the right direction to get them out of harms way.

But, honestly, just pick easy ones at first.

[Lisa0825]

31. 34... the build-up to the Iraq War. nt

[applegrove]

32. I was 16 or 17. It was a huge demonstration against unemployment in the early 1980s.

It was such an emotional event. People bused in from all over the country. Parliament Hill was filled. I remember the solidarity and the peacefullness.

[sfwriter]

34. In high school, I accidentally lead one...

I was 14. A truly miserable geek.

The jocks were protesting a cancelled pep rally. I came dow to watch the show. I never attended pep rallies, but a PROTEST over one... that was interesting. The school rang a bell and told them to leave and the crowd started to break up. I was surprised... I thought they should at least resist a little, so I jumped on a trashcan and told them they were doing it wrong. I got a round of "Hell no, we won't go" going and then yelled, "Cheerleaders to me!" They took over cheering as I said, " anyone get pulled off this trashcan two men will take his place."

Cops came in then and plucked me off the can.

I was questioned all afternoon. "You are obviously the leader..."
"No I'm not."
"But you want to save the pep rally?"
"Nope, don't care."
"You were standing on a can leading them."
"umm... Better check with them."

"Is that student your leader?"
"Clark, No! He doesn't care"

It went like that for an hour, with me cast someplace between Spartacus and Kieser Söze.

"How many rallies have you seen Clark at?"
"Umm... none. Never goes."
"Then why did he organize the rally?"

Parents were gathering now.

It was an afternoon of observation and eye rolling. They finally let me go.

[grntuscarora]

38. Bwahaha!

That brings back alot of high school memories.
In h.s., I would have been the quiet "goody-two-shoes" secretly cheering you on!

[Rick Myers]

35. 13

[CBHagman]

37. I was in my 20s.

It was on a college campus and entirely peaceful. Which is not to say that security wasn't watching us like hawks.

To respond to your spouse's concerns, it is important that a young person be of an age to understand something of the issues and not merely echo the parents or, worse still, be duly trotted around by parents, educators, and/or members of houses of worship just to be warm bodies in the cause.

I'd add too that there are occasions when a demonstrator's safety cannot be guaranteed.

That said, by age 14 one is closing in on adulthood and ideally is taking a lively interest in the issues. In fact age 12 is not too early for many people. I'd say your average peaceful demonstration or similar ought to be fine...as long as both parents are agreed, and the young person truly wants to be there and behave responsibly.

[socialist_n_TN]

39. Vietnam protest in 1970.......

I was 17. It was in the south so it was small, but peaceful.

Now that I think about it though, there was one mini-almost riot the year before when I was 16. A bunch of us were at the park listening to music and they tried to shut it down. A group of us locked a park "policeman" (not really an official cop) in a storage closet. We took his keys away when he went in to shut off the power, closed and locked the door, and broke off the key in the lock. Then we packed up the amps and other equiptment and high tailed it before the real cops showed up.

I would have brought my daughters to protests when they were 14 if they wanted to go. The 8 year old would be a little more problematic. It would probably depend on the circumstances.

[Webster Green]

40. 20 years old

It was the 'Confront The Warmakers' protest at the Pentagon in 1967. We marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon. Lots of tear gas, confrontations with troops, and arrests. We encircled the Pentagon, joined hands and tried to levitate the place. The Fugs played. I watched from nearby as the famous photo of the protester placing a flower in the barrel of a soldiers rifle was taken. I decided to stay with a group sitting on the steps of the Pentagon after the protest permit had expired. They hauled us all off to a federal detention center.

That was the protest depicted in the movie 'Forest Gump'.

[LeftyMom]

42. My high school used to have walkouts to protest shit all the damned time.

So 12 I think? Maybe 13, depends on when in my freshman year the first one was, I forget.

[mitchtv]

43. it must've been in '64 or 65. I'd be 19 or 20

I met up at the old Women's House of Detention in the viliage to protest for legalizing marijuana. I met Allen Ginsberg for the first time,many years ago

[postulater]

44. 18 madison Vietnam

Just finished my Philosophy of NonViolence final and walked around Bascom Hill to sit in the sun. Cops rushed us and lifted me up with a club around my neck. Put me in jail, University gave up trying to kick me out when the charges were dropped by the judge. I decided right then who the bad guys were. My 16 year old daughter begged to come with me to Madison last winter for the Walker rallies. I'm glad she came, she wears her Recall Walker button all the time and is learning well.

[Joe Fields]

45. I was 5 years old.

[lpbk2713]

46. I heard Tip O'Neill speak when I was around 10 or 12.

That guy could really motivate a crowd.

[X_Digger]

47. Well, I was being carried in a UMWA strike when I was 3 :)

I remember another one when I was.. umm.. 8 or 9, and then one when I was in high school.. so, 16 / 17?

[Zorra]

49. 11.

They were bulldozing down our woods, so all the kids got together and had a sit in to try to stop them.

[MineralMan]

50. 19. I had dropped out of college and drove from CA to Selma, AL

to participate in the civil rights march there. I saw Dr. King speak in Montgomery after crossing the Pettus Bridge.

[raccoon]

51. 18. nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

53. 16 anti-Vietnam War.

[Greybnk48]

54. I was 11 and I went by myself to see JFK speak at

the Levittown shopping center, Fall 1960. It was awesome and I was hooked--as a Dem. My sister went and saw Nixon speak at the same place a week or two later, but I didn't go. I didn't like him; too swarthy. LOL!

[GliderGuider]

55. At 12 my parents took me to a CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) march.

I also saw a SNCC organizer speak in my home town that same year (1963). My parents insisted that I go to the meeting with them, and it was a crucially formative experience for me.

The urge toward social justice forms strongest when it's formed early and with parental guidance. Your teenager should go. I feel you have a moral duty as a parent to take them.

[Jakes Progress]

56. 16

Civil Rights rally in Houston.

[indurancevile]

57. jr high school. it was about the right to wear jeans. lol.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

58. 21. I was just discharged from the Marine Crotch. Anti-war ralley.

"Hey, Hey, LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?"

[Blue_In_AK]

59. 20-21 or so.

1966, civil rights in Houston. People didn't demonstrate a whole lot before then where I was living.

I think it's fine to take kids to peaceful protests. It teaches them participatory democrasy.

[NNN0LHI]

60. 13 years old. 1968 Democratic National Convention - Chicago

The whole world is watching.

Don

[Liberal_in_LA]

61. early 20s

[WinkyDink]

62. 18. 1969. It's now part of Official Penn State history videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co93JSvDdxU&feature=relmfu

[tilsammans]

63. Vietnam War protest at 18 in 1970 n/t

:patriot:

[mdmc]

64. I was five years old

I still remember it..

[w8liftinglady]

65. Three years old... at a MLK Jr rally with my mom and aunt

My sons have been to antiwar protests with me at the ages of 8 and 14.Their brother was on his 2nd tour in Iraq.

[bigwillq]

66. 10 or 11

For a school referendum.
My mom was on the committee to help build a new school. It passed!!! :bounce:

[JohnnyRingo]

67. I burned my draft card at the court house square in 1970

I neglected to realize at the time that was the only ID they accepted to buy beer in Ohio, but at least it ended a war.

Hahahaha

[mrmpa]

68. 12, I was the leader..................

I was a safety "girl" we did hall patrols, keeping fire doors open at end of day & lunch, other assorted duties. Safety "boys" did outside patrols and crossing kids at corners. The boys got a picnic at the local amusement part. We girls got nothing. I started a petition, got a lot of signatures, but no rewards coming our way. Got other safety girls to not go to their posts at lunch. If asked why they weren't at their posts they were to tell the nuns, they had quit.

We didn't get to go to the amusement park, but we did get a movie and treats one afternoon.

[Justpat]

69. I was in my early twenties

but my daughter was raised in an very active Friends Meeting in NJ. She has been going to demonstrations since age 4.
She is a now a wonderful young woman with a powerful sense of social justice.

[H2O Man]

70. 15

When I think of it that way, I guess I've been doing it for quite some time.

[TBF]

71. Do strikes count? My dad had us painting signs and we got to go to the line with him -

when we were pretty young (6 or 7)

Other than that protests in college

[Brickbat]

72. I've been bringing my kids to protests and rallies and demonstrations since they were babies. My

daughter was three days old when I took her to her first rally -- a rally at the UAW hall for Mondale, about 10 days after Wellstone died.

[JohnnyRingo]

79. Good for you

More workers should be as involved.
I have nothing but hope for your children.

[Brickbat]

81. Thank you, you are kind.

They have marched against war, they have protested visits by Bush to our state, they have marched in labor parades and on picket lines, and they've been to countless party and union meetings, sitting in the corner with a book and some crayons. We make it a family thing. :)

[Wait Wut]

73. 7

My sister (who is 10 years older) took me everywhere with her. I also passed my first petition (to save baby harp seals) when I was 8. My son was going with me to protests when he was 4. He was helping me put together booth packets by the time he was 7.

Choose protests, etc. wisely, however. If there is ANY threat that it could become confronational or violent...leave the kids at home. If the kid gets bored/tired, leave or find a trusted friend or relative to occupy them until you're ready to leave. And, this is a personal choice but, don't make your kid wear t-shirts or carry signs (unless they're old enough to choose to do so). I find it disgusting to see some 4 year old carrying a sign that they can't even read, much less understand.

Explain to the kid why you're there (in the simplest of terms) without brainwashing them. Children are (usually) smarter than we give them credit for. They can make up their own minds about some issues. Scaring the living bejeesus out of them is sick.

A 14 year old is plenty old enough to attend. She's also old enough to take a walk to the nearest restaurant and wait it out if it turns out to not be her thing. Encourage her to bring a friend along (with the parents permission, of course) to make it more comfortable.

Just be honest with them. Let them know that this is YOUR choice and that they need to form their own opinions. Kids are awesome when they're left to think on their own. I've learned a lot from my son over the past 28 (HOLY SHIT!) years.

[Bennyboy]

74. 1972, 17...

The Alhambra Theater was going to be torn down to make room for a Safeway in Sacramento.

We tried, but lost. I know them the game was stacked...

[Hosnon]

77. I agree about young children. I see them as emotional pawns.

Regardless of the position.

But if she wants to attend, let her. 14 is certainly old enough to have reasoned opinions and be involved

[Raine]

80. In my 20's, it was against Raygun and what he was doing to PATCO. nt