Positive Role-Modeling

A couple of weeks ago a Maryland mother was in a mall when her baby got hungry.  She sat down on a bench and began nursing.  Shortly after she started, she was approached by someone at the mall and asked to cover up or move to the mall's nursing room.  But they didn't know the law, and being a lawyer and a new mom, she did.  In Maryland, as with most other states, breastfeeding in public is not just allowed but mandated as a right by law.  The nursing mother stayed right where she was and continued nursing.

She then organized a peaceful "nurse-in" at the mall this past weekend.  150-200 moms, kids and dads participated with the mall's blessing.  It went off without a hitch and mall officials said it gave them the opportunity to educate their employees about the law.

As for the mother involved in the incident, she first filed a complaint with the state's Attroney General but feels that the real mission--raising awareness--was accomplished by the peaceful protest.

She could have taken a much more volatile tactic.  She could ahve organized a protest or some such thing.  but instead, she approached the issue in a pro-active way which almost always accomplishes more.