The Nestle Boycott: a family story

Back in the late 1970's and into the 1980's there was such a thing as the Nestle boycott. 

On the surface the boycott was a bunch of consumers deciding they didn't like the practices of a big money grubbing corporation. 

But really it was mothers finding out about other mothers with babies dying from formula mixed with dirty water.  The whole concept was intolerable to anyone who had a child of their own.

The whole scheme was advertised and sold to families of in poor countries by the Nestle corporation and it was at fault for countless deaths and lots of serious infant illness in those third world countries.

It was concerned parents around the country deciding that they couldn't be supporters of such a thing.  Disgusted by the thought of it all.

I was a child in those days but my mother explained what was happening to us, her family.   She posted a list products not to buy or have anything to do with on the refrigerator. Right beside the grocery list.

We substituted for products we had once used and everyone in our family knew the reason why.  We pointed out commercials on television to our mother, saying, we cant buy that now because babies are dying.

Even us, children, in our humble home, knew that every little bit of not supporting Nestle was a step in the right direction.  

The boycott was eventually a success. 

I'll never forget that.  To this day I cant see the word Nestle without remembering that time.  

What the politicians who decided to create a game called Standardized Testing, with their intent to use children to fail their neighborhood schools and punish their teachers, didn't realize was that using children to get to adults is never going to be a game they could win.

We live in a selfish adult world that doesn't really understand children, parenting or families.

I can see why the overly confident masterminds at ALEC thought this was a good game to make up pass out to society and call "law" but
politicians should have known better than to mess with a parent's love. 

There is hardly anything more powerful in the world.