Hi Everyone,
Are we really dealing with poor and wealth shaming? This is what I mean.
Earlier this week I read an article online titled, High School Bans Canada Goose Coats to Combat ‘Poverty Shaming’. The other coats that are being banned at the high school in England after Christmas break are Pyrenex and Moncler. Since I am familiar with the Canada Goose brand, I know it is known world wide for being one of the warmest coats on the planet. I am not familiar with Pyrenex or Moncler but do I really have to be? They are winter coats that are expensive. Or at least that is what the article leads me to believe.
So Woodchurch High School in Birkenhead, England is going to ban warm coats after their Christmas break, the coldest part of the winter, because some people feel ashamed that they can’t afford to own one. Does that make sense to you? Oh and I know; someone or maybe a group of someone’s will think I am insensitive, mean and cold hearted. But am I? Maybe I just know that there is a real world out there. Maybe I ask questions like, “Who is (really) running the show here? The kids or the parents” Because let’s face it, every child has pressured their parent, care-giver, or guardian. Parents are constantly being bombarded to do things that they don’t want to IF they have not set boundaries!
When I was raising my daughter and she asked me to buy her something that I couldn’t afford, or allow her do something that I didn’t agree with the answer was always, “No,” with a bit of an explanation for the times I thought I should give one. If she asked for more details, I gave them to her. If she persisted the answer was, “No,” again. For the times she asked a third time, I would ask, “What part of no are you not understanding?” That question usually stopped everything.
I knew what I could and could not afford. I also knew that because my daughter went to an affluent high school for our city, she did not have the warmest coat, the coolest clothes, the best back-pack, or whatever. She may not have always liked that, yet she understood that it was better to have a decent place to live, a bit of money in the bank, food in the fridge and some extras. Was she shamed? Not really. She said, “If I was, she never really noticed.”
If feeling less than is on your radar, you will always feel less than. It is that black and white. And it will never matter how much money you do or do not have.
If you are a parent who buys things you can’t afford, the only thing I can say is shame on you for allowing your child to pressure you. Just who is running the show?
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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