Toddlers who dislike spicy food "racist"

Toddlers who dislike spicy food 'racist'
By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent
Last updated: 9:29 AM BST 08/07/2008
Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency.
The National Children's Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care.

This could include a child of as young as three who says "yuk" in response to being served unfamiliar foreign food.

The guidance by the NCB is designed to draw attention to potentially-racist attitudes in youngsters from a young age.

It alerts playgroup leaders that even babies can not be ignored in the drive to root out prejudice as they can "recognise different people in their lives".

The 366-page guide for staff in charge of pre-school children, called Young Children and Racial Justice, warns: "Racist incidents among children in early years settings tend to be around name-calling, casual thoughtless comments and peer group relationships."

It advises nursery teachers to be on the alert for childish abuse such as: "blackie", "Pakis", "those people" or "they smell".

The guide goes on to warn that children might also "react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying 'yuk'".

Staff are told: "No racist incident should be ignored. When there is a clear racist incident, it is necessary to be specific in condemning the action."

Warning that failing to pick children up on their racist attitudes could instil prejudice, the NCB adds that if children "reveal negative attitudes, the lack of censure may indicate to the child that there is nothing unacceptable about such attitudes".

Nurseries are encouraged to report as many incidents as possible to their local council. The guide added: "Some people think that if a large number of racist incidents are reported, this will reflect badly on the institution. In fact, the opposite is the case."

http://www.telegraph.co.u...eport.html


Again, the more I read or hear about the crap going on in the UK, the more Im glad Im in America, of course, all of this is heading our way too.

I have read it all now.

Racist little bastards.

I don;t like my food too spicy either ....oh gawd I'm a racist.

The hotter the better baby!

does it work the other then? If a baby doesn't like mash potatoes, sausages and peas or whatever bland stuff is on the menu but will only eat spicy stuff.... then its being racists against white people. I just wish people would get over themselves. Who ever wastes money on this trivial thoughtless crap should be given a right hard reality kick up the arse!!

I heard something about this somewhere else. I did not get the story. I thought some how "Yuck" had some 'racist' meaning or origin.

But it is dumb. Most kids do not like some foods from any cuisine type. So is a kid from Mexico racist becasue he doesn't like fideo?

sounds like one of those stories where a minor aspect is being blown out of proportion.

I will guarantee you if you read the guide, neither of the phrases used by the author are in there:

Toddlers who dislike spicy food 'racist'

Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency.

Conjecture meant purely to be sensational.

toddlers turn their tastes for food on a whim. Good lord...

shanti0608 said:

Mars23 said:

Really, guys, when you hear one of these wacky news reports, just take 5 mins and Google the name of the organisation in question. It took me literally seconds to find this response on the NCB's website....

Young Children and Racial Justice
Wednesday 9 July 2008

Recent media coverage referring to the NCB publication, Young Children and Racial Justice: Taking action for racial equality in the early years, has misrepresented the content and purpose of this valuable tool designed to support early years professionals in their work.

A spokesperson from NCB said: ‘It is an excellent resource which has been specially designed to help teachers and nursery leaders recognise what is, and just as importantly, what is NOT potentially racist behaviour and attitudes in youngsters in their care.

References to use of the word ‘yuk’, ‘spicy foods’ and reporting young children to local authorities, in this 366-page book, have been misrepresented and misunderstood as a consequence of that.’

‘This book is being funded by NCB from book sales alone – and not from government funding or from any grants, as has also been reported. The sales have been excellent so far which goes to show there is an acknowledged need for books like it. ’

Jane Lane, the author, who is not a member of NCB staff, but an advocate worker for racial equality in the early years sector, said: ‘Children are like sponges and the early years of their lives are critical for helping them understand and learn to respect the opinions, differences, similarities and needs of others.’

http://www.ncb.org.uk/Pag...008772856u

Just found the contents page online (see below). Not too wacky, surely? Just looks like an ordinary, practical guide for people that work in education.

So, you have to ask yourself: does the way the story's been framed reflect something inherently ridiculous about the book, and if not then what is it that the Telegraph (which is pretty much the most elitist newspaper in the UK) find so objectionable about a pretty simple guide trying to help schools formulate policies to make anti-racist practices a reality?



Foreword ix
Cherishing the children of the nation equally xi
Acknowledgements xiii
The British xv
List of abbreviations xvii

Introduction 1
The purpose of this book 3
Apostscript 5
Who is this book for? 6
Terms used in this book 7
Notes 9

1 What do we mean by prejudice and discrimination? 11
Prejudice and discrimination 12
Prejudice into practice 17
Prejudice, discrimination and young children 21
Prejudice, discrimination and adults 24
Afew issues about equality 25
The process of change 29

2 Talking about racism – ‘Getting it’ 31
Institutional racism 33
Institutional racism in the early years 35
Some issues in talking about racism 40
Misunderstandings about what racism is, and is not 40
The power of racism 42
Sex and gender, class and racism 45
Racism and the media 46
Being called a racist 48
Can black people in Britain be racist too? 51
Racism and phobias about religion 52
Xenoracism against white people 53
Solidarity 53
Working within a no-blame culture 56
Side by side, living in the same area 60
Talking about racism in multiethnic settings 61
The power of culture and its implications for racism 63
Early years services and settings as part of the wider society 64
So, what are the implications of racism for all people working in the
early years? 66
It’s only a joke! 70
Terminology 74
What some terms really mean 75

3 How children may learn racial prejudice and the wider aspects of racism 85
Racial attitudes 86
Learning to be prejudiced 89
The effects of racism on children 90
Embarrassed silence 92
Answering children’s ‘difficult’ questions 93
Skin colour 95
What happens when we don’t talk about differences 101
What specific action can be taken to engender positive racial attitudes in
children? 102
Unlearning racist attitudes 104
Living in mainly white areas 106

4 Learning from the past 115
Assessing developmental progress 116
Books and research on child development 117
Language 120
Words and pictures 126
Multicultural education 128
Lessons learned (and some not yet learned) in the early years field 129

5 Thinking about racial equality 131
Child-rearing practices 132
Identity and self-esteem 134
Observation 138
Knowing about history and culture 140
The role of parents and families in helping their children not to learn to be
racially prejudiced 142
Multiculturalism 142
Religion 144
Consultation 148
Training and education 150
Early years settings and services, local communities, neighbourhoods
and society 156
Terrorism, trauma and tragedy 162

6 Developing a race equality scheme or policy 165
The advantages of having a policy for racial equality 168
The role of an equalities coordinator in settings 168
The process of developing a policy for racial equality 169
vi | Contents
The involvement of families in developing a policy for equality 171
Working with families who disagree with the setting’s policy for
racial equality 175
Developing a policy with support 177
Working towards a policy in mainly white areas 179
Employment 183
Meeting together in ethnically specific groups 187
Aframework to support a ‘key person’ approach 188
Taking account of groups that may not yet be included 189
Families of children from minority ethnic groups having disabilities
and/or special educational needs 190
Families and children with mixed race or ethnic backgrounds 191
Travellers, Roma, Gypsies and mobile communities 195
Refugees and asylum seekers 201
Migrants from Europe 203
Working with young children 203
Everyone supporting one another – everyone belonging 215
Responding to emotions – a case study 216

7 Countering racism and dealing with racist incidents 219
Institutional racism and racial discrimination 220
Racially prejudiced attitudes, racist incidents and racial harassment 221
Name-calling 229
How do we know if children have hidden racist attitudes? 230
Procedures to counter and prevent racist incidents 231
Having a policy on all forms of racist incidents and name-calling 234
Assessing the impact of what we do – recognising, celebrating and
evaluating positive changes in children’s racial attitudes 236

8 Legislation for racial equality 239
The Race Relations Act 1976 239
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 247
Monitoring commitment to the Race Relations Act 252
The weaknesses of the amended Race Relations Act 255

9 Government requirements and policies for racial equality 257
The present situation 257
Government practice and racial equality 261
Documentation on the early years, some with implications for
racial equality 262
Guidance on practice in settings 267
Documentation and research on racial equality with early years
implications, and on early years with racial equality implications 269
Requirements, standards and inspections 270
Assesment and research 273
Qualificactions, training and education 278
The need for a national government strategy for racial equality 279
Contents | vii

10 Planning for racial equality across early years services and settings 283
The importance of early years services and settings having a strategic
approach to racial equality 285
Asuggested strategy for racial equality 286
Aframework of interlinked components 288
Taking a strategic approach to the implementation of racial equality 291
Implementing the framework for racial equality 292
The mechanisms to support the implementation of the framework 301
Making it all work 305

Useful addresses and contacts 307
References 315
Further reading 333

Appendix 1: Some thoughts about terminology 334
(a) Terms used to describe people 334
(b) Some other terms 337
Appendix 2: Further points for reflection on the possible reasons for not
addressing racism 341
Appendix 3: Breakdown of mixed identities in UK 344
Appendix 4: Sure Start’s paper on ‘Promoting race equality in early years’
by Jane Lane (2004) 345
Appendix 5: Some of the most significant government documents 351
Acts 351
Other documents 351
Appendix 6: Comments on HM Government consultation paper on the
‘Children’s Workforce Strategy’ (2005) 354
Appendix 7: Recommendations of Sure Start report on Inclusion Pilot
Projects (2003) 355
Appendix 8: Government publications on racial equality with relevance to
early years issues 356
Index 358
[Edited 7/13/08 15:17pm]

thank you, deebee.

deebee said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

IrresistibleB1tch said:

sounds like one of those stories where a minor aspect is being blown out of proportion.

My children are racists?

Wha...?

... there are no words for this....



... leaves ..

Flowerz said:

Byron said:

Mars23 said:

I will guarantee you if you read the guide, neither of the phrases used by the author are in there:

Toddlers who dislike spicy food 'racist'

Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency.

Conjecture meant purely to be sensational.

Ahem:

The guide goes on to warn that children might also "react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying 'yuk'".

That second part is in quotes, in case you missed that lol...which usually means it was taken word for word from the book.

So, the question remains: why the hell is there even a comment about children saying 'yuk' to food in there to begin with?? lol ...Why would ANYONE need to warn educators about this in a book called Young Children and Racial Justice? Unless, of course, that one sentence was the only sentence in the book Young Children and Racial Justice that had nothing at all to do with young children and racial justice.