Who's teaching who?

Dear Editor:As a parent of a small child, I took great offense to the content of the article "Gallatin Kids Learn Benefits of Green" (3/26/10) in which the author states that the goal of the pilot program authorized by the City Council and DUSD superintendent is to "empower Downey students to teach their parents about the significant environmental benefits of reusable shopping bags." So let me get this straight: Our local government officials think it is appropriate to indoctrinate our children into a way of thinking that our kids are then supposed to teach us parents at home? This sentiment reeks of - dare I say it - Nazi tactics. It's a parent's job to teach their kids, not the other way around. Why doesn't the city spend the money trying to teach adults about the benefits of reusable bags? Because adults know how inconvenient reusable bags are to the average, stressed out working parent who has a million things to do every day and can't always remember to have their children bring everything they need to school, much less grabbing a handful of reusable grocery bags to take to the store. Besides, who says plastic bags aren't reusable? I use them to clean up after my dog on walks and to take my lunch to work. I'm very disappointed in the Downey leadership that thought this would make a good pilot program to expand into DUSD schools. - Alaina Niemann, Downey

********** Published: April 2, 2010 - Volume 8 - Issue 50