<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/08/can-it-really-be-this-bad-racism-in-schools-shocks-south-australias-childrens-tsar>
"Tales of schoolchildren pulling off girls’ hijabs, using the N-word, and
accusing other kids of being terrorists have “shocked” Helen Connolly, the
South Australian commissioner for children and young people.
“I kept thinking ‘is this right?’,” she said.
“Can it really be this bad? Because surely we would be doing something about
it.”
In an interview with
Guardian Australia, Connolly says she has been stunned
by the level of racist language used by children in Australia, as outlined in
the
Everyday Racism report, produced by her office.
A separate, recent report from her office also found misogyny and sexism in
schools.
Connolly’s comments are timely amid a national conversation about racism,
Islamophobia, radicalisation, sexism and misogyny escalates after a series of
attacks and murders.
“When I first started, when I was listening to the kids talking about bullying,
I was really surprised by the level of racist commentary in little kids,”
Connolly said.
“All about Islamic State, terrorists, the N-word. I was a bit shocked … that’s
when I started hearing about kids in primary school pulling off girls’ hijabs.
And it just kept coming up every time I connected with kids from refugee and
migrant backgrounds, this everyday racism.”
That racism also comes from teachers and random adults, her survey found.
“Adults think it’s OK to have racist commentary towards children who are just
going about their business, waiting for a bus,” Connolly said. “I was shocked
by the pervasive nature of it.
“The shocking thing for me was this whole resignation to it. There’s just no
point telling anyone, there’s no point talking about it, there’s no point
kicking up.
“I don’t think any of us would understand just how prevalent, persistent,
everyday racism is.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
