As a Michigan Public Radio; an affiliate of NPR, reports:
Foster children in Michigan would use their state-funded clothing allowance only in thrift stores under a plan suggested by State Senator Bruce Caswell.As Caswell himself puts it:
Caswell says he wants to make sure that state money set aside to buy clothes for foster children and kids of the working poor is actually used for that purpose.
He says they should get "gift cards" to be used only at Salvation Army, Goodwill or other thrift stores.
First of all, let's talk about what this is NOT about. This is not about me having any problem with second hand clothing. I buy second hand & I never throw cloths away. There is a Goodwill not far from where I live and I ALWAYS take them there.
This is about singling out an already disenfranchised group of CHILDREN for deferential treatment & robbing them of ALL choice in the process. Little choices mean a lot to someone with very little. It's those little things that make a person feel empowered in some way. Besides, people should have the option to NOT buy certain things second hand like underwear and shoes.
Also; as someone who thinks we should pass things like our clothes on, this just serves to stigmatize the buying of second hand clothes even more. Taking all other choices away from orphans turns the buying of second hand clothes INTO a punishment because it's something they HAVE TO do "unlike kids with parents," they will tell themselves.
Lastly, I have a serious problem with the idea of orphans being limited to buying clothes from the Salvation Army. Why? The Salvation Army is notoriously anti-gay. Because of people who run that organization, gay people and same-sex adoption are much less further along in this country then they should be. I wonder how many of those kids would have safe, loving, same-sex parents if organizations like the Salvation Army would welcome themselves into the 21st century.
Nice Article , orphans should have the choices as would a child with a family has
ReplyDeleteI agree. If their allowance is a set amount, it shouldn't matter where they spend it.
ReplyDeleteI read your article about Michigan State Senator Bruce Caswell and I am in total agreement with you.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of my thoughts I'd like to share:
1. I think his comment ("Nobody knows where you bought your clothes from") is ridiculous. I grew up in a middle school and a high school where if you bought shoes (as an example) from either Goodwill or the Salvation Army, you could get ridiculed. Speaking from personal experience, I know. I don't know if it's the same at every school, but in a somewhat small town where people kinda know you, it's easy to pick out who buys what from which store.
2. I don't think there's anything wrong with buying from either store. I bought a pair of barely used jeans at Goodwill, and also found some NBA and NHL jerseys there in good condition. That being said, however, I think that by limiting foster kids to buying strictly from a thrift store only fuels the stigmatization of foster kids ("they're poor" and all that stupid jazz).
3. Also, I think it's LUDICROUS what he's proposing. There are several, better ways of going about this. As far as gift cards go, why not make state funded clothing allowances in the form of gift certificates, similar to a food stamp? You can use food stamps at a lot of places (like Wal-Mart, Target, or wherever else that supports that) and the places that do allow them keep track of what you buy with those stamps; why not create a system similar to that for clothes, especially considering you'd be getting a set amount?
Those are my two (or three) cents.
Cheers,
Axel Law
Yeah, they are also trying to shut down a school in Detroit that caters to pregnant teens... My state is in deep shit.
ReplyDelete@Everyone Thanks for commenting. I rarely ever get comments & I so enjoy them.
ReplyDelete@Axel You make some good points...but then again, what else is new? lol
@tat OMG I heard about that. Here's a link to a good piece from the dailykos about it. They turned on the sirens on those police cars to drown out their chanting. You know if that happened in the berbs there would be hell to pay. http://bit.ly/fiblbq