I have a 10 year old son who's school is participating in the American Cancer Society's "Relay For Life" fundraiser. When he brought the sponsor form home I told him we do not give to the ACS or any other charity that uses it's donations to fund animal testing. He is HUGE into animal rights so of course was thrilled to NOT participate. They were told to wear purple and during this walk they will raise money for every lap they complete. So here's the dilema... He want's to silently protest by handing in a blank form and wearing red instead of purple, but still walk the relay laps. I now he won't keep quiet about his opinions and I don't think people will understand and I'm worried it will bite him in the a$$, so to speak. My idea was, no pledge form at all, red shirt is fine and walk with your class. Just in case anyone questions him, I gave him a list of 21 cancer charities that DO NOT fund animal testing to keep in his folder. I said if anyone asks, your family is going to pledge money on your laps to any charity off of this list the you choose, because they help people without hurting animals. The Relay is in 6 days, any advise or thoughts on the subject would be appreciated! Thanks

That sounds like an okay compromise. How old is your son? (Also, why a red shirt?)
And . . . just out of curiousity . . . why don't you post that list here?

When the American Cancer Society was founded over 100 or more yrs ago,cancer was a rare disease,now just as cancer or the diagnosis of cancer has risen so has the finances of the ACS and every other established "cancer charity" like the uk one,Cancer Research uk previously called Cancer research campaign and imperial cancer research fund and has been around over 150 yrs and is still collecting.

Cancer research is a fraud

When the American Cancer Society was founded over 100 or more yrs ago,cancer was a rare disease,now just as cancer or the diagnosis of cancer has risen so has the finances of the ACS and every other established "cancer charity" like the uk one,Cancer Research uk previously called Cancer research campaign and imperial cancer research fund and has been around over 150 yrs and is still collecting.


*sigh* You would climb a tree to tell a lie if the truth was on the ground.

Now let's try to stay on topic.

I think that sounds like a good idea overall. The red shirt might be a little distracting and could work against him, but it makes sense if the group won't let him wear purple if he doesn't have funds to pledge (not sure if this was the reason for wearing red, but just guessing). The message you gave him to deliver is a good one, and it's very responsible of you to choose to donate money to animal-friendly charities. :) Not sure if that helps, but just an opinion to offer.

*sigh* You would climb a tree to tell a lie if the truth was on the ground.

Now let's try to stay on topic.

I'm getting a kick out of your comments tonight. :lol:

That sounds like an okay compromise. How old is your son? (Also, why a red shirt?)
And . . . just out of curiousity . . . why don't you post that list here?

They said 10 years old. You can find the list at CaringConsumer.com (http://www.caringconsumer.com/resources_charities.asp).

I personally like the idea. I also wonder why a red shirt? My mom died from cancer back in 1987. I don't know that I would support ACS, but I would support anyone from the above list. Yet if I had cancer, I don't think I would want to know how they came up with my drugs, I would just take what I told to. I personally would rather the boy wear a shirt "honoring" someone who died from cancer that others might regonize.

That is a dilema. I believe that one has to choose where and when to "fight" for animal rights.

I love the idea of having a list of cancer charities that do not test on animals on hand. You may also want to have a very diplomatic written explanation of your son's actions (or non-actions) -- that way he won't have to get into any arguements with anyone and his ideas will still be shared. Discussion can often lead to arguements and that doesn't get anyone anywhere. You could help him write up the explanation and, like I say, have it so that it explains his opinions but in a very diplomatic way. If anyone asks him about why he is wearing red or handing in a blank form he can simply give the writeup to that person. He could say "I choose to give to these cancer charities and I've written down my reasons why".

Thank you for all of your responses. I think I will work on making him a t-shirt honoring my grandmother. That was a wonderful idea. She died of lung cancer (non-smoker) when he was a baby. OK, the red shirt... this was his idea, I should have explained it, I forgot. He is wearing BLUE jeans and a RED shirt, red and blue make purple. He thinks of it as his way of supporting the cause without supporting the ACS. Pretty clever, but again, something that can be taken the wrong way and come back to bite him. I love the idea of him writing bout his beliefs. He is an amazing writer and had won many awards for his stories and poems, in and out of school. Why didn't I think of that? Part of me is still thinking he should just go with the flow and that we'll just not hand in a pledge sheet. I guess it's more MY dilema than his! He KNOWS what HE wants to do! Ahhhh, the joys of parenting. 5 more days to think about it!

So what happened?

You're not going to believe this. After all that, it turned out that his G&T Artists program had a trip to the beach during the Relay. He didn't even have to do it anyway! :)

Lol :)