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Protecting Our Kids From Toxic Chemicals and Toxic Schools– September 24, 2011 The Precautionary Principle is a term used by those who work in the field of environmental health. And I think it should be applied to other aspects of life – especially as they pertain to children – such as education. The Precautionary Principle (which I describe in detail in my book Natural Life Magazine's Green and Healthy Homes) seeks to avoid harm by encouraging caution in situations where there is a strong possibility of harm but incomplete proof. The proponent of an activity or product is responsible for establishing that it will not result in significant harm. In other words, when a product or an activity raises threats of harm, precautionary measures should be taken even if not all the cause and effect relationships are established scientifically – that is, it shouldn’t be made available. The Precautionary Principle is used in many ways. For instance, tornado and hurricane warnings are issued on the presumption that, although full scientific certainty of their paths is not possible, there is sufficient concern to caution people so they can get out of the way of potential harm. To me, a precautionary approach is just common sense when we’re talking about the well-being of children. However, there are many dangerous products on the market containing materials that can be toxic to children. Many of the chemicals in consumer products have not been thoroughly tested, nor have their multiple and cumulative effects been studied on children, whose smaller size and still-developing bodies might make them more vulnerable to negative effects. So why do these products become available? Because corporations are in the driver’s seat. A great deal of scientific research – perhaps the majority – is funded by the companies that manufacture or use these chemicals. And there is a long history of obfuscation and covering up the facts, and manufacturing doubt about the dangers of chemicals. Joel Bakan, in his new book Childhood Under Siege – How Big Business Targets Children (Penguin, 2011), puts it this way: “The bias of the current regulatory system – lobbied for by industry and cultivated through its influence – is to wait for full knowledge before imposing bans or restrictions on chemicals.” But corporate greed is not limited to the consumer products industry. Corporations are increasingly having a negative influence in the education industry, in the same way that corporations have sickened and killed children by denying the dangers of lead poisoning for decades. The testing industry alone was worth three billion dollars in the U.S. in 2008. In his previous book The Corporation (which is now a film), Balkan quoted Benno Schmidt, Jr., a former president of Yale, as saying the potential for growth in the education industry is “almost unimaginably vast”…“bigger than defense, bigger than the whole domestic auto industry.” Whether the schools are publicly funded or run directly by the for-profit sector, companies make money from standardized curriculum and texts, and from the efficiencies created by rote learning, rigid discipline, centralized control, and longer school days. And none of that helps kids to learn or to think. In fact, as I wrote in Challenging Assumptions in Education, there is evidence that they are all harmful in one way or another. Fortunately, an increasing number of parents are using the
Precautionary Principle to protect their children from the dangers of the
education industry, in the same way they try to protect them from toxic
chemicals through careful purchasing of toys, personal care products, and
organic food. I am often asked why I chose to help our daughters avoid school
rather than trying to change the system from within. I always reply that I had
enough evidence of potential harm not to risk their well-being while I was
advocating for change. That’s called the Precautionary Principle.
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