Hello parents,


These days the pressure on us as parents is enormous. The society tells us that our children must be “successful” by standards that often don’t make sense. We are told that our children must get good grades, must be “well-behaved,” look a particular way, and so on, or they will not have good lives. Additionally, parents’ oppression sends messages that if our children don’t achieve and act in prescribed ways, it reflects badly on us and we are bad parents.


Each of our children is just perfect as they are. Yes, they will all have struggles, and we can help them with them. We have RC. We have discharge. So, we can be close to our children, play with them, and listen to them. We want them to know we are on their side. It doesn’t mean we go along with [agree with] their patterns, but it does mean we communicate that they are okay, that they are good, and that we like them—just the way they are. We can get closer when things get hard for them.


Our children do not need chemicals in their bodies that interfere with the natural functioning of their brains. Their brains are okay. They may decide they want good grades, or they may want to set goals for themselves in school, but they have all the tools they need to achieve those goals. Figuring out how to struggle against our distresses to achieve our goals is one of the more exciting and interesting things about growing from a child into a grown-up. It strengthens us and makes us happy. It helps us understand that we were born with this ability—to struggle to achieve our goals.


As adults, we get daily messages that we need either prescribed or unprescribed drugs, or alcohol, to be okay. We are told we need them to achieve goals, to “relax and enjoy life,” or to hold back discharge. Discharge is seen as a “problem,” a weakness, or a sign of something inherently wrong with us, rather than a way to heal and be human. This is “mental health” oppression. All of us need to discharge on the bombardment of messages that have come at us since we were little, messages saying we are not okay as we are and that discharge is not a good thing.


It would be good for us to discharge on memories of taking drugs (prescribed or unprescribed) that affected our brains and on drinking alcohol. It’s a great topic for a parents’ support group. If we currently take drugs or consume alcohol, we need to find counselors who can listen without judging us so we can be open about our struggles. We need to discharge on the pressures on us as adults to take drugs, and the pressures on us and our children to take drugs in order to “succeed.” The more we discharge on this, the more we will be able to hold out reality to our children and help them fight for reality. This will be helpful preparation for when they get older, when society offers them drugs and alcohol as a form of pseudo-liberation.


Schools, like all institutions, have been set up according to values of capitalism, not according to the needs of young humans. Young people’s oppression is built in to schools. As parents, we have to figure out how to help our children get the best out of the resources that schools offer but also how to fight the oppression that comes at them.


You are good parents, and your children are good. Your children are fine just the way they are.