Adults Exploiting Children for Political Advantage
by Dale Tyler

Innocent children are being used by their parents and calculating politicians to make political points. Of course, this is nothing new, but it seems to me that it is becoming more pervasive and callous. Children inherently depend on their parents and other adults to guide them along the path to maturity. Along this path they are very impressionable and can easily be mislead by those they trust.

The most recent example is from the mother in Ladera Ranch who apparently told her daughter that the proposed power plant will kill all of the children in Ladera. This 8-year-old child then told the Orange County Register (April 14), “I thought of a plant because it's like a power plant but it's good," said Lily, 8, as cars roared by honking. "I don't want diseases caused by the air and I want it to be a good community. I don't want children dying." This is the worst kind of exploitation. There is no credible evidence that the power plant will cause any illness or mass deaths of children. In fact, this parent exposes her child to a far greater likelihood of death while the child is a passenger in her car or minivan. However, this self-centered parent thinks nothing of actual risks but prefers to frighten her children instead so that gullible journalists can quote the poor child.

While there are likely to be some impacts associated with building the natural gas peaker plant inside the already exiting substation owned by San Diego Gas and Electric (SDGE), the irrational reaction exhibited by some residents of Ladera is hardly unusual. These are classic NIMBYs, consuming electricity at their residences while objecting to the production of the same. I wonder if these NIMBYs will stop using power during summer peaks? I bet they will have their air conditioners running at full power, because in their eyes they are more important than the rest of us. The builders of Ladera failed to provide sufficient infrastructure, and some of the residents don't want to shoulder their fair burden. Instead, they want power plants built in some other place while they clog the roads through Mission Viejo and other cities.

Another example of parents taking advantage of their children, although less egregious, is the use of children to protest cuts to education funding to their schools. The problem with this scenario is that parents and teachers are using the affection and respect the children have for these same teachers to create fear and uncertainty in the children. Budget cuts are a fact of life when a family or government takes in less than it spends. If a parent in these families lost their job, would they tell their children about starvation? I think not.

Every state program from education to food inspection to lifeguards has its proponents. So it is not surprising that parents of schoolchildren would be upset that less tax money is going to schools. It is reasonable that these parents should do everything they can to have as much money as possible flow to their favorite government program. In the process, they should remember that theirs is not the only worthy cause and that even cuts in every program supported by state government may be the fairest way to solve this problem and make the best of what they have. Cutting the fat, especially in CUSD, by firing every person at the CUSD headquarters making more than $65,000 a year, selling the building and putting the remaining staff back in the schools might replace much of the lost money.

The final example of using children for political gain is the worst of all. Recently, a child died in Mission Viejo of childhood leukemia. One of our local politicians, Diane Greenwood, used the death of this child to highlight her desire to run for office by claiming this child's death was directly caused by EMF from power transmission lines in her area. While there is a suspicion that EMF at high levels might contribute to the incidence of childhood leukemia, there is no solid proof of a link in this case and so any attempt to connect the child's death with Ms. Greenwood's favorite cause is taking advantage of a tragic situation. I think that any politician who uses the death of anyone as an excuse to campaign is beneath contempt.

We all need to be on guard against those who would use children to further their own ends. Adults can debate and discuss matters reasonably and understand the nuances of hyperbole and posturing. Children see things as black and white, love and hate, and should not be made afraid by their parents or politicians, especially for political gain.